News of the week June 16, 2023
I’m a 95-year-old lighthouse keeper. Here are my keys to a long, happy life: ‘There’s always something worthwhile’
For over a decade, Buddy Grover, 95, has served as a volunteer lighthouse keeper at the third tallest masonry lighthouse in the United States.
Grover, who will be 96 in September, does his job for free and says serving at Absecon Lighthouse in Atlantic City, NJ gives him thing that money can’t buy.
* * *
Lighthouse keeper’s granddaughter, 103, has close ties to Old Saybrook’s Lynde Lighthouse (CT)
OLD SAYBROOK — While local officials agree that Lynde Point Lighthouse, slated to be given away by the federal government, is an important symbol to the town, a 103-year-old Westbrook resident has closer ties to it than most.
The daughter and granddaughter of lighthouse keepers, Westbrook’s Margaret “Bucky” Bock, knows a thing or two about lighthouses. Bock has made a study of local history — as a member of both the Westbrook and Old Saybrook Historical Societies, “retiring” when she turned 103.
* * *
Barnegat Lighthouse (NJ) reopens to guests after $1.3M renovation
BARNEGAT LIGHT — The 217-step journey above the Jersey Shore is in reach for visitors again after the state completed a $1.3 million overhaul of the lighthouse at Barnegat Lighthouse State Park.
“This is an exciting day to be here,” Rebecca Fitzgerald, administrator for the New Jersey Parks Service, said from in front of a statue of the lighthouse’s builder, U.S. Army Maj. Gordon Meade.
* * *
Take a rare look inside the historic Milwaukee, WI, breakwater lighthouse
* * *
See who may soon become the new owner of old Plymouth (MA) lighthouse
PLYMOUTH – Plymouth Light Station/Gurnet Light is looking fora new owner. And the group already caring for the historic site hopes the Coast Guard will grant them ownership of the 7.8-acre property.
Project Bug & Gurnet Lights, Inc. President Dolly Snow Bicknell says her organization submitted a letter of interest to the Government Services Administration last week after the administration recently classified 10 lighthouses under its purview throughout the country as “excess property.”
* * *
Michigan City Old Lighthouse Museum (IN) celebrates 50 years with LaPorte County pop-up exhibit
MICHIGAN CITY — The pop-up exhibit at the LaPorte County Historical Society Museum celebrates the 50th anniversary of the Old Lighthouse Museum.
The exhibit, set up in the front corner of the museum, features a timeline of the OLM’s history, including the building of the lighthouse in 1858 and its renovation in 1904. The lighthouse was sold as government surplus in the 1960s, museum Director Danielle Adams said. Soon after, the Michigan City Historical Society bought the property, recognizing its importance as the only lighthouse in Indiana, and turned it into a museum.
* * *
Historic Hudson-Athens (NY) lighthouse could collapse into Hudson in five years
The Hudson-Athens Lighthouse, which still acts as a navigational aid, is one of only seven remaining lighthouses on the Hudson River
ATHENS — A group of Twin Counties history buffs are rushing to raise millions of dollars to prevent a landmark 19th-century lighthouse from collapsing into the Hudson River.
The Hudson-Athens Lighthouse was constructed in the 1870s to warn ships about a tidal sandbar in the river, which it still does to this day. But wear and tear over the decades has caused the structure’s base to deteriorate. An engineering study completed in 2022 warned the lighthouse, one of seven remaining on the Hudson, could fall into the river in the next five years.
* * *
Huntington (NY) Lighthouse Ospreys Birth 3 Chicks
Huntington Harbor, NY – The Huntington Lighthouse ospreys are parents! The mom and dad gave birth to three chicks – their first known offspring since they built their nest a the harbor two years ago.
“We’re thrilled that our resident ospreys are finally parents,” said Pam Setchell, president of the Huntington Lighthouse Preservation Society (HLPS), in a news release.
* * *
Photos: Frank Billingsly gets a look inside Bolivar (TX) Peninsula’s iconic lighthouse under restoration
HOUSTON – KPRC 2′s own meteorologist Frank Billingsley got a personal look inside an area iconic landmark this month.
What icon? The Bolivar Peninsula Lighthouse
The Bolivar Peninsula’s Lighthouse was built in 1872 on the eastern end of Galveston Island. At a towering 117 feet, it served as a black-and-white striped welcoming beacon that guided thousands of ships into Galveston Bay from its perch on the Bolivar Peninsula for 61 years.
* * *
Mainer solves mystery over silent film’s lighthouse
An expert for the East Machias publication Lighthouse Digest solved the mystery surrounding the location of a lighthouse shown in 1919 silent movie “Out Yonder.”
“The lighthouse isn’t a real one,” Debra Baldwin said.
* * *
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