News of the week September 29, 2023
Maritime history and some fall colors included in Door County, WI, Fall Lighthouse Festival
Door County – For those who like historic maritime beacons mixed in with some fall colors, the annual Door County Fall Lighthouse Festival might be something to experience.
The event kicks off Friday, and at Eagle Bluff Light house in Fish Creek, preparations are underway.
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The Women who survived time at Oregon’s ‘Terrible Tilly’ lighthouse
Mimi Morissette values her seaside property, the acre-wide Tillamook Rock, a mile offshore of Ecola State Park in Northwest Oregon, at $8 million. Others see the isolated, dynamite-blasted basalt outpost, shaped like a sea monster, topped with a battered lighthouse and overrun by 2,000-pound Steller sea lions, as something destined to be swallowed by the Pacific Ocean.
The future of the abandoned 1881 Tillamook Rock Lighthouseis as unpredictable as the unrelenting ocean forces that have hurled waves, wind and rain at the two-foot-thick ashlar-stone fortress. Storms have pounded steel doors and cast-iron railings, lifted concrete and pummeled the lantern room’s glass panes with sizable pieces of the rock itself.
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Crew lands on remote Oregon ‘Terrible Tilly’ lighthouse for first time in years. Here’s what they found
Five volunteers braved a brief but chilling helicopter ride Tuesday to return from “Terrible Tilly,” the abandoned 142-year-old Tillamook Rock Lighthouse, a watery mile off northern Oregon’s coast.
The four men and one woman, age 29-58, had camped three nights on the exposed basalt outpost and spent their days cleaning up the stone fortress to ready it for sale. They also collected artifacts to raise money for more maintenance work.
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Looking Back: Few liked the newly painted white Charlevoix, MI lighthouse
CHARLEVOIX — This Looking Back, fourth in a series, plus one for next week, celebrate the 75th anniversary of the installation of Charlevoix’s south pier light. It was put in place on Sept. 30, 1948, the fourth light to be built on the piers that provide entry from Lake Michigan into Round Lake.
A celebration of that anniversary event, for adults and children, will take place in the pavilion at Lake Michigan Beach on Saturday, Sept. 30, between 2-4 p.m. No admission charge. This will be followed by a fundraising sunset cruise aboard the Beaver Island Boat Company’s Beaver Islander from 6:30-8:30 p.m., boarding at 6 p.m. Historical narration of Charlevoix’s maritime highlights provided by this writer along the way. Tickets are still available, $75 per person, all proceeds going toward the lighthouse’s ongoing preservation. Call (231) 547-0373 or order online at chxhistory.com. Mark your calendars.
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White Shoal Michigan lighthouse launches messages in bottles offering free stays
The caretakers of a historic Michigan lighthouse are offering free stays at the landmark in an unusual contest involving messages in bottles tossed into the Great Lakes.
The White Shoal Light Historical Preservation Society announced the “message in a bottle contest” as part of the lighthouse’s 113th anniversary celebrations.
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Contracts awarded for repairs to Cape Hatteras Lighthouse (NC), addition of pathway
Buxton, NC – The National Park Service recently awarded two contracts for work in Cape Hattera National Seashore’s Hatteras Island District in Buxton.
Construction activities along Lighthouse Road and the Cape Hatteras Light Station are expected to begin in the coming months.
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At 150, Yaquina Head Lighthouse stands as a monument to another era on the Oregon coast
When the Yaquina Head Lighthouse was lit for the first time in 1873, its purpose was to let mariners know where they were – a milepost of sorts at sea. Today, thanks to technology, a tower of light is hardly needed to show the way. And yet, Yaquina Head is not only a much loved fixture of the Oregon coast, but a relevant one, both an icon of navigational aid and a monument to another time.
“What were once reference points on the marine highway, are now reference points on the human highway,” said Jay Moeller, chief park ranger at the Yaquina Head Outstanding Natural Area from 2002 to 2021. “It’s like an anchor in time. We can reflect upon how we have personally and as a society navigated changes in technology and cultural values over the past 150 years.”
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Welsh lighthouse on beautiful island named one of TripAdvisor’s top global attractions
A stunning Welsh lighthouse set in a spectacular location with views of striking cliffs, an impressive winding coastal path and an array of wildlife has been ranked in the top 10% of attractions in the world by TripAdvisor. South Stack Lighthouse on Holy Island, Anglesey acts as a “waymark for coastal traffic” and as a “landmark and orientation light” for vessels crossing the Irish Sea, VisitAnglesey says, and has become a popular destination in its own right.
But anyone wanting to visit the gorgeous site is in for a tough challenge, as it’s only accessible by following a snaking 410-step, 300ft path down the cliffs on the edge of Holy Island – then 410 steps and a 300 foot path back.
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What’s it like to spend a week in a historic Door County, WI island lighthouse? Reporter shares her experience at Pottawatomie lighthouse.
ROCK ISLAND — “Sure!” I said when asked by a group of friends to serve as a volunteer docent (or tour guide) with them at the Rock Island State Park lighthouse.
One of the perks of the unpaid position includes living in the house, built in 1858, for the week you are there.
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Minimal storm impacts to Cape Lookout, NC Lighthouse: Keepers Quarters Museum to reopen
HARKERS ISLAND, CARTERET COUNTY — Officials with Cape Lookout National Seashore say that Tropical Storm Ophelia left minimal impacts.
One of the jersey barriers in front of the Summer Kitchen was knocked over. There are no major issues with the dock and crews working to resolve the minor ones.
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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