Ten of British Columbia’s Light Stations upgrading to renewable power
Twenty-seven of the remote light stations on the coast of British Columbia, Canada, are still staffed by resident keepers. The stations have been powered by diesel generators up to now, but ten of the stations will soon be upgraded to solar and/or wind sources.
The goal is to have the light stations run almost entirely off wind turbines, solar panels, and battery banks, said Shaun Loader, a senior project engineer with Fisheries and Oceans Canada. Not only is the shift to wind and solar power easier on the environment, it also reduces the need for costly and difficult fuel deliveries to the lighthouses.
Click here for more on this story.
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Visitors may be charged for parking at Portland Head Lighthouse
In the latest chapter in a debate that has gone on for years, town leaders in Cape Elizabeth, Maine, heard public comment Monday night on a plan to charge for parking at Fort Williams Park, home to iconic Portland Head Lighthouse. Under the plan, there would be a charge for visitor parking from May 1 to November 1. The town council is expected to vote on the plan next week.
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Little Red Lighthouse to open for tours in June
Jeffrey’s Hook Lighthouse, better known to the public as the Little Red Lighthouse (made famous by the 1942 children’s book “The Little Red Lighthouse and the Great Gray Bridge” by Hildegarde Swift), stands in Fort Washington Park in New York City. It’s rarely opened for the public.
On Friday, June 7, and Friday, June 14, noon to 1:30 p.m., the lighthouse will be open for tours courtesy of Untapped Cities. The tours will be available for up to 30 people on each day on a first come, first served basis.
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The J. Candace Clifford Lighthouse Research Catalog is open!
We have completed the initial development of the J. Candace Clifford Lighthouse Research Catalog. named in honor of Ms. Clifford, our historian, who passed away in August 2018. Currently there are over three terabytes of information available, but this is an ongoing project that will be further improved and expanded over the next few years as we refine the data and collect additional information.
The data is divided into four major categories: Places (Lighthouses, Depots, Lightship Stations, Etc.), People (Keepers, Lightship and Tender Personnel, and other Lighthouse related people), Objects (Fresnel Lenses, Dwellings, Fog Signals, Etc.), and Vessels (Lightships, Tenders, Utility Vessels, Etc.) The data are further defined by Collections/Donors such as data from the National Park Service, the USCG Historian’s Office, Individual Researcher’s Collections, the National Archives, etc.
The data within our Catalog is free for all to use and accessible over the internet and made possible through generous donations and the support of our members. It is the largest collection of U.S. lighthouse information currently available on the Internet. We hope you will like using it.
Nothing of this magnitude could be built by a single individual and our project required the input of several Society personnel along with summer interns, volunteers, and others.
Click here to start using the Catalog
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Coming in early June – USLHS podcast “Light Hearted”
Featuring interviews with people throughout the lighthouse world and hosted by author/historian Jeremy D’Entremont. Each episode will be accessible on this site and on iTunes. Watch for more news!
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U.S. Lighthouse Society News is produced by the U.S. Lighthouse Society to support lighthouse preservation, history, education and research. You can receive these posts via email if you click on the “SUBSCRIBE” button in the right-hand column. Please support this electronic newsletter by joining the U.S. Lighthouse Society if you are not already a member.
If you have items of interest to the lighthouse community and its supporters, please email them to Jeremy at Jeremy@uslhs.org
Jeremy D’Entremont is the author of more than 20 books and hundreds of articles on lighthouses and maritime history. He is the president and historian for the American Lighthouse Foundation and founder of Friends of Portsmouth Harbor Lighthouses, and he has lectured and narrated cruises throughout the Northeast and in other regions. He is also the producer and host of the U.S. Lighthouse Society podcast, “Light Hearted.” He can be emailed at Jeremy@uslhs.org
Great job, Jeremy and friends. I know personally how excited Candace was about her work for the USLHS and that she was looking forward to the new developments and potential projects for the USLHS and all lighthouses. She would be beaming at what you and your colleagues are doing. Making her research available along with others’ valuable contributions is a game changer.
Thank you so much for that comment, Cheryl; it is sincerely appreciated! Candace was and continues to be an inspiration to all of us, and her work lives on in the Research Catalog, in her books, and in so much of the work she did across the lighthouse world. And thank you, Cheryl, for all you do.