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Lighthouse News of the Week

News of the week December 2, 2022

Cape Hatteras (NC) Lighthouse is getting a facelift. Here’s what’s happening.

Cape Hatteras Lighthouse was built in 1870 and is the tallest brick lighthouse in the United States

The National Park Service gave officials the green light by approving a plan to renovate and improve access to the Cape Hatteras Lighthouse on Monday.

Cape Hatteras, NC – photo by J. Candace Clifford

Before approval, the project had to pass a ‘Finding of No Significant Impact’ (FONSI) for the environment, according to a news release. 

Now, the changes can begin. 

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Prohibition rum runners and deadly shipwrecks: Pescadero’s Pigeon Point (CA) Lighthouse turns 150

Landmark that hosts daytrippers and hostel guests alike is about to undergo renovations.

A lighthouse that has stood sentinel over San Mateo County’s rugged coast since the presidency of Ulysses S. Grant turned 150 on Nov. 15.

Pigeon Point, CA – photo by Steve Okonek

The 115-foot tall Pigeon Point Lighthouse in Pescadero — among the tallest lighthouses in the U.S. — has overseen some of the biggest commercial shifts in American life over the past century and a half, and the dangerous waters it watches over have pulled no shortage of mariners to their deaths. Today, it’s a historic site that attracts visitors from around the world who stay at the hostel on the property, but it’s also a landmark in need of repairs, which are finally on the way thanks to recent funding.

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Warrior Rock lighthouse is Oregon’s smallest; it’s an easy year-round hike

Drive out to Sauvie Island, take Reeder Road all the way to the end, and hike the Warrior Point Trail three miles until it emerges from the forest onto the beach. There you’ll see it: Warrior Rock Lighthouse, the smallest lighthouse in Oregon.

Warrior Rock, OR – USLHS archives

The journey to reach the tiny Columbia River lighthouse, found near the northern tip of Sauvie Island, is beautiful yet understated, and a perfect year-round adventure close to Portland.

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Kenosha’s (WI) Southport Lighthouse, museum open for holiday talk, tours

KENOSHA — Typically only open May through October, the Southport Light Station Museum, 5117 Fourth Ave., will be open 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Saturdays, Nov. 26 and Dec. 10 and 17, “to help Santa navigate his way to Simmons Island,” officials said.

Kenosha (Southport), WI – USLHS archives

Santa Claus will also be visiting the neighboring Kenosha History Center, 220 51st Place. (The CEO of Christmas will be at the History Center 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. on those three Saturdays. He will visit with children at no charge while parents take their own photos.)

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Lighting up the Biloxi (MS) Lighthouse this Thursday

The Biloxi Lighthouse will be lighting up for Christmas starting this Thursday.

Bilox,i MS – photo by Brian Margavich

The lighthouse will be covered in Christmas lights. The public is invited to the lighting as Mayor FoFo Gilich flips the switch and lights up the landmark.

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Of lighthouse keepers and birdwatchers; volunteering at Tawas Point (MI) lighthouse

LANSING – The sun was already perched high above Lake Huron when I stepped through the mayfly-covered screen door of the keepers’ quarters, down three creaky steps and into my first day as lighthouse keeper at Tawas Point in Iosco County.

Tawas Point, MI, – photo by Chad Kaiser

My keeper duties were not set to begin until noon, so I decided to spend my first free hours exploring my new temporary home on foot.

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The hidden gem of Big Sur: The Point Sur (CA) lighthouse

BIG SUR, Calif. — It’s easy to get distracted by the beautiful costal scenery and pass by the poorly marked locked gate at Point Sur, but if you join any one of the weekly tours, Jim Oswald or any other tour guide with the Central Coast Lighthouse Keepers group will open the gate and take you inside the Point Sur lighthouse.

Point Sur, CA – photo by Ralph Eshelman

“People come all the time that [say] they’ve driven by this for 30 years and never come up here,” said Oswald.

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Grand Traverse (MI) Lighthouse Holiday Lights Hikes

Self-guided hike/scavenger hunt with 3D glasses ending at the Lighthouse. Enjoy hot cocoa, s’mores at the bonfire, tour the decorated lighthouse in 1920’s holiday decor, children’s activities & much more.

Grand Traverse, MI – photo by Thomas A Tag

Click here for more details

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Coast Guard team installs new beacon for Harbor of Refuge (DE)

It takes a team to keep the Harbor of Refuge Lighthouse operating as an active aid to navigation. The Delaware River and Bay Lighthouse Foundation Inc., a Delaware nonprofit corporation, owns and maintains the structure.

Harbor of Refuge Lighthouse, DE – photo by Robert Bachard

While the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers is responsible for the century-old Harbor of Refuge breakwater, or outer wall, the U.S. Coast Guard Aids to Navigation Team Chincoteague maintains the light and fog signal.

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Museum to remember 6 fallen Coast Guardsmen at Oswego (NY); 80th anniversary ceremony

OSWEGO — The H. Lee White Maritime Museum will honor six U.S. Coast Guardsmen who died 80 years ago while trying to exchange keepers at the Oswego West Pierhead Lighthouse during a storm.

Oswego Harbor West Pierhead, NY – photo by Thomas A Tag

The event, which is by invitation, will take place Sunday from 1-3 p.m. at the Lake Ontario Conference Center in Oswego and conclude with a Coast Guard vessel traveling to the harbor for a wreath-laying ceremony near the lighthouse.

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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 D’Entremont at Jeremy@uslhs.org

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