Episode 131 –Orient Point Lighthouse is a cast-iron, so-called “sparkplug” type lighthouse in a location known as Plum Gut, between Plum Island and Orient Point at the northeastern tip of Long Island, New York. In 2013 the property was auctioned under the guidelines of the National Historic Lighthouse Preservation Act of 2000. The winner of the auction was Randy Polumbo, an artist and the founder of the New York City eco-construction company, Plant. Randy plans to make the lighthouse available for artists, writers, and composers who want to be “lost at sea for a week or more.”

Tarrytown Lighthouse on the Hudson River in New York went into service on October 1, 1883, about 20 miles north of New York City on the east shore of the Hudson River. Westchester County recently announced a major restoration project. Westchester is led by County Executive George Latimer, who took office in January 2018 as the ninth County Executive.

Episode 132 –The Outer Banks, a 200-mile-long chain of barrier islands, stretch from southeastern Virginia to most of the North Carolina coast. Currituck Beach Lighthouse—the northernmost of the light stations on the Outer Banks—began service on December 1, 1875, to fill a 40-mile gap on the coast between the lights at Cape Henry, Virginia, and Bodie Island, North Carolina. After automation in 1937, the site fell into disrepair until the nonprofit Outer Banks Conservationists renovated the station’s buildings and opened the site to the public in 1990. Meghan Agresto has been the resident site manager of the Currituck Beach Light Station for more than 16 years. 

Episode 133 –Congress appropriated $4,000 for a lighthouse near the mouth of the Bass River on Cape Cod in 1850. Oxen hauled building materials across the local marshes, and the Bass River Light went into service on April 30, 1855. In 1938, the property was bought by State Senator Everett Stone and his wife, Gladys. The Stones began to have overnight guests, and their hospitality became so popular that they soon opened it to the public as the Lighthouse Inn. Members of the Stone family remain involved with the inn’s operation today. Greg Stone is president, and his wife, Patricia, is the general manager.

Ralph Krugler is the historian for the Hillsboro Lighthouse Preservation Society in Florida. He’s spent several years researching the history of the light station and he’s put together an extensive book on the subject. Volume one is now available, and he also has a new children’s book called Let’s Visit the Lighthouse.

Episode 134 –Block Island Southeast Lighthouse, Rhode Island, went into operation on February 1, 1875. The building is an architectural showcase that’s totally unlike any other lighthouse ever built in the New England region. It was one of the last in the country to be automated and de-staffed, and it was moved back from the edge of an eroding bluff in 1993. Restoration has been ongoing, and most recently the interior of the building has been renovated and new exhibits have been installed. Lisa Nolan is the executive director of the Southeast Lighthouse Foundation, and Dr. Gerald Abbott is the president.

Episode 135 – Josh Liller has been the Historian and Collections Manager for the Loxahatchee River Historical Society and the Jupiter Inlet Lighthouse & Museum in Florida since 2014. Jupiter Inlet Light Station has a museum on the site that features 5000 years of local history. Josh also serves as historian for the Florida Lighthouse Association, and he gives presentations related to local history throughout the year. He’s the co-author of the revised edition of the book Five Thousand Years on the Loxahatchee, and he was the editor of the second edition of the book The Florida Lighthouse Trail.

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