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Lighthouse News of the Week

News of the week December 23, 2022

San Francisco Bay’s East Brother lighthouse seeks innkeeper ‘couple’ for 2-year job

Are you in a happy, healthy relationship? Do you hate having cell service? Prefer being in relative solitude? Are you a good cook? Do you love being in the literal bay?

East Brother lighthouse, photo by Chad Kaiser

It’s a lot of questions at once, but all are relevant for applicants who want in on a once-every-two-years job opening at East Brother Light Station, which houses a teeny 1874 lighthouse-turned-bed-and-breakfast on an island in the San Francisco Bay.

Click here to read more

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Lighting the way for 150 years: Yaquina Head (OR) Lighthouse prepares for sesquicentennial

The stewards of Oregon’s tallest lighthouse are sprucing up the popular landmark on Oregon’s central coast for its 150th anniversary in 2023.

Yaquina Head – photo by George Collins

The 93-foot tall Yaquina Head Lighthouse was completed in 1872, but the lamp on top wasn’t lit until the following year because of a 19th century version of, get this, supply chain problems.

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We Bet You Didn’t Know This Small Town In New Jersey Was Home To Sandy Hook, The Oldest Lighthouse In America

New Jersey’s coastline is one of the most beautiful in the nation, and it’s a hub for ship traffic. That means one thing – lighthouses. These old-school towers were invaluable in preventing costly ship crashes for hundreds of years, but only a few are still active today thanks to modern technology. One of them is the Sandy Hook Lighthouse, located on the famous barrier spit off the coast of the small beach town of Highlands. But this New Jersey lighthouse is so much more than just another spot for lighthouse buffs – it’s the oldest operating lighthouse in the United States.

Sandy Hook – photo by J Candace Clifford

While other lighthouses in the United States were built first, they were torn down and rebuilt – while the Sandy Hook Lighthouse is still standing proud. Part of the Gateway National Recreation Area, it is open for short tours seven days a week, so you can see it for yourself.

Click here to read more & see photos

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Saugerties (NY) Lighthouse trail closed in advance of storm surge

Dec. 21—SAUGERTIES, N.Y. — Saugerties Lighthouse officials have closed the site’s trail until further notice in anticipation of a storm surge.

Lighthousekeeper Pat Landewe said the trail was closed on Wednesday and will reopen after the surge fully subsides.

Click here to read more

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Fort Rodd Hill and Fisgard Lighthouse National Historic Sites (Canada) Management Plan Tabled in Parliament

COLWOOD, BC , Dec. 16, 2022 /CNW/ – National historic sites reflect the rich and varied heritage of Canada and provide an opportunity for Canadians to learn more about our diverse history. Parks Canada’s network of national heritage places represents the very best that Canada has to offer and tells the stories of who we are, including the histories, cultures, and contributions of Indigenous peoples. 

Fisgard – William Foran wikimediacommons

The management plan for Fort Rodd Hill and Fisgard Lighthouse National Historic Sites was tabled in Parliament recently. Reviewed every 10 years, management plans are a requirement of the Parks Canada Agency Act and guide the management of national historic sites, national parks and national marine conservation areas.

Click here to read more

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Become a Lighthouse Docent at Baileys Harbor Ranges (WI)

The Ridges Sanctuary is opening the Baileys Harbor Range Lights for the first time to a new experience: resident docents. In 2023, volunteers will have the unique opportunity to live in the Upper Range Light while fulfilling duties as a range light resident docent.

Baileys Harbor Range Rear, photo by Thomas A Tag

The new opportunity will begin in May 2023 and is available for five-day sessions (Wednesday-Sunday) each week until mid-October. 

Click here to read more

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Annual ‘First Day Hike’ to Makapuu Lighthouse (HI) returns for New Year’s 2023

HONOLULU (KITV4) — Oahu’s annual First Day Hike to the Makapuu Lighthouse is back for the first time since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Makapu’u Point – photo by Thomas A Tag

The sunrise hike along the Kaiwi scenic coastline is one of the best-attended first day hike events in the US.

Click here to read more

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Sick Irish lighthouse keeper rescued in biting winds (1962)

Mr John Crowley (26), who had earlier in the week reported sick by radio telephone to Orlock Head coastguard, was landed at Larne and taken straight to Moyle Hospital, where later he was said to be “comfortable”.

Maidens Rock Ireland – photo by Kelly MainImage (Irishlights.ie)

Keeper Crowley, who was unmarried, had been stationed on the Maidens Rock for about 18 months. There were two other keepers on watch duty.

Click here to read more

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Kathy Mastako’s new book ‘The Lighthouse at Point San Luis’ chronicles the colorful history of the iconic landmark

Unless you take a guided tour or happen to arrive at Avila Beach from the north by sea, you might never see the collection of structures that make up one of our very few local lighthouses. It’s a relic of the past, first becoming operational in 1890 and eventually becoming automated in the 1970s. 

San Luis Obispo, photo by Marie Vincent

These days, modern electronic aids to navigation have made lighthouses generally obsolete, but at one time, the Point San Luis Lighthouse was essential. Now, the people who lived in the remote location are given their due in Kathy Mastako’s exhilarating and painstakingly researched new book The Lighthouse at Point San Luis.

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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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