Episode 75 –Toledo Harbor Lighthouse was established in 1904 in the western end of Lake Erie, marking the entrance to the Toledo Shipping Channel and the approach to the Port of Toledo on the Maumee River in Ohio. Resident keepers staffed the lighthouse until its 1966 automation. Today the lighthouse is in the care of the Toledo Harbor Lighthouse Preservation Society, an all-volunteer nonprofit organization with more than 500 members. Sandy Bihn, interviewed in this episode, is the founder and president of the Toledo Harbor Lighthouse Preservation Society.
Episode 76 – Scotch Cap Lighthouse was established at the southwest corner of Unimak Island, the largest of the Aleutians, in 1903. It was the first station established on Alaska’s outside coast. In 1940, a new concrete-reinforced lighthouse and combined fog signal building replaced the original structure. On April 1, 1946, a massive earthquake struck the North Pacific, spawning a tsunami that traveled north to the Aleutian Islands. The lighthouse was destroyed, and five Coast Guard keepers were killed.For the past two and a half years, author Peter Kaufman has been researching and writing about the 1946 Scotch Cap disaster. His work will be published as a book. He talks about the disaster and his research in this interview.
Episode 77 – Split Rock Lighthouse is located on a 127-foot-high cliff on the northwest shore of Lake Superior in Minnesota. By the late 1960s, the Coast Guard deemed the lighthouse obsolete and it was discontinued as an official aid. Today the light station is the centerpiece of Split Rock Lighthouse State Park. Lee Radzak became the lighthouse site manager in November 1982. Lee and his family ended up spending almost 37 years living at the light station. When he retired, an extensive search for a new site manager led to the hiring of Hayes Scriven, who moved to the site in late 2019. In this interview, Lee and Hayes compare notes on life at one of America’s most iconic light stations.
Episode 78 –The U.S. Lighthouse Service constructed the Staten Island Lighthouse Depot on the former site of the New York Marine Hospital. The depot, which began operation in 1864, was the key manufacturing, storage, supply, and maintenance center for the Lighthouse Service’s Third District. In 1998, the former site of the U.S. Lighthouse Service Depot was selected as the location of a National Lighthouse Center and Museum. Linda Dianto has served as president and is currently the Executive Director of the museum. For more than a decade, Linda has devoted her energies to the cause of developing the National Lighthouse Museum.
Episode 79 –With its long coastline and about 790 islands, Scotland has been home to a large number of lighthouses. Ian Duff worked as a keeper at 13 Scottish lighthouses between 1976 and 1992. He spent about five years at Skerryvore, a remote station off the west coast of Scotland. Ian has remained involved with lighthouses since his retirement as a keeper. Today he is the president of the Association of Light Keepers (ALK).
Episode 80 – Hilton Head Rear Range Lighthouse overlooks the award-winning Arthur Hills Golf Course at the Palmetto Dunes Oceanfront Resort. Greenwood Communities and Resorts has completed a new renovation, which included repainting and the replacement of doors and windows. Clark Sinclair has been a member of the Palmetto Dunes staff since 1983 and has been teaching golf since 1986. He’s also a point person for the lighthouse. Photographer Mike Leonard lives in Yarmouth, Maine. His work is frequently seen nationally on the Weather Channel. Mike gives some helpful hints for better digital photography.
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U.S. Lighthouse Society Historian Jeremy D’Entremont is the author of 24 books and hundreds of articles on lighthouses and maritime history. He is a past president of 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’s weekly podcast, “Light Hearted.” He can be emailed at Jeremy@uslhs.org