Point Sur Lighthouse (CA) to reopen soon
California’s Point Sur Lighthouse, situated on a dramatic volcanic outcrop on the central coast, has been closed for the past 14 months as repairs have been completed to one of its five access bridges. The repairs are nearly complete; tours of the lighthouse will soon resume and new volunteers are being sought.
Potential volunteers will be asked to complete a free training, including evening lectures at the Monterey District State Parks office on Garden Road in Monterey and on-site visits to shadow experienced volunteers. The park receives between 4,500 to 6,500 visitors each year, peaking in the summer months. Volunteers are asked to lead a minimum of 12 self-scheduled tours each year. As compensation, volunteers gain free access to state parks, the opportunity to arrange private tours for friends and family and excellent wildlife viewing while on-site.
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Stonington (CT) Old Lighthouse Museum renovation underway
Members of the Stonington (Connecticut) Historical Society, town officials, and select dignitaries got an inside look at the Old Lighthouse Museum‘s $1.3 million restoration project yesterday afternoon, marking the first time the building has opened since it closed for the season in 2019. Phase I construction on the building, which includes necessary demolition, renovation, and restoration, has begun. Consigli Construction, a New England construction company based in Medford, Massachusetts, began work on the building in October.
The construction is part of a $2.75 million project that will be completed in two phases. The second phase will include the construction of an addition to the building that will expand interior space by nearly 1,000 square feet, with the space serving as an entrance vestibule for the museum and extended exhibit space.
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Tours being offered to Pomham Rocks Lighthouse (RI)
Friends of Pomham Rocks Lighthouse, a chapter of the American Lighthouse Foundation, is offering tours of Pomham Rocks Lighthouse in East Providence, Rhode Island, on 12 dates in 2020. Visits to the island are aboard the Lady Pomham II on select days only.
Led by experienced and knowledgeable tour guides, you will learn about the history of the lighthouse, the keepers, and tour the historic interior, including an optional climb to the lantern room where you will enjoy beautiful views of Narragansett Bay and the working port of Providence.
Click here for more information and to book a tour
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Chesapeake Chapter of U.S. Lighthouse Society honoring lighthouse keeper Otho Bounds in Allen, Maryland
The Chesapeake Chapter of the U.S. Lighthouse Society is placing a special bronze Lighthouse Service marker at the grave of Keeper Otho Bounds on Saturday, April 4. The planned ceremony will honor Bounds, (1867-1957), who served as a keeper of at least seven Chesapeake Bay lighthouses from 1892 through 1936. The ceremony is open to the public and is free of charge.
Bounds called the village of Allen his home, and with his wife raised seven children. He died at age 89, in 1957, and is buried in the Allen United Methodist Church. Over his career, Bounds manned the light fires at Craighill Lower Front, Lower Cedar Point, Sharps Island, Hooper Island, Seven Foot Knoll, Sandy Point, and Love Point lighthouses.
Family wanting to attend the April 4 service program, at Bounds’ gravesite at Allen United Methodist, is requested to call 443-235-1084.
For more information, click here
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Currituck Beach Lighthouse (NC) to delay opening for climbing until after April 1
The group that owns and operates the Currituck Beach Light Station in Corolla, North Carolina, has announced it will delay opening its climbing season opening until next month at the earliest. The decision by Outer Banks Conservationists comes as events and activities across North Carolina are postponed or canceled in response to the COVID-19 coronavirus pandemic.
It remains to be seen how much of an effect the COVID-19 pandemic will have on the lighthouse world; there will probably be more cancellations and changes in plans with lighthouse-related events and openings in the coming weeks.
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Long Beach Opera (CA) delays performances of opera “The Lighthouse”
Because the governor of California has determined that gatherings of 250 people or more should not take place for now, the Long Beach opera cannot go forward with its planned performances of The Lighthouse later in March. The hope is that the opera will be performed at a later date. Based on a true story, The Lighthouse is a haunting opera with an atmospheric score by the lauded English composer Peter Maxwell Davies. Part detective mystery and part ghost story, The Lighthouse tells the tale of three officers who were sent to relieve three lighthouse keepers in the Flannan Isles in Scotland, only to find they had vanished into thin air.
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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.
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