News of the week October 13, 2023
Restoring the Tawas Point (MI) Lighthouse
Located in an area often referred to as the “Cape Cod of the Midwest,” Tawas Point Lighthouse at Tawas Point State Park in Iosco County is a fixture of the scenic Lake Huron shoreline.
Before Tawas Point State Park became a destination for thousands of tourists each summer, East Tawas was a 19th-century lumber and fishing town at the mouth of the Tawas River. Known to local bands of the Anishinaabek, hundreds of years before the arrival of Europeans, this same area was used for hunting and fishing by native peoples.
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Volunteers work at historic Sabine Pass (LA) Lighthouse, prepairing to replace stairwell
Cameron Parish, La. (KPLC) – One of Cameron Parish’s oldest landmarks is getting some TLC.
If you have ever wondered what it’s like to restore and preserve a piece of history, it will prove to be a daunting task
“We are moving forward constantly. It may seem slow, but it is a big project,” Andrew Tingler said.
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The light went out on the Florida Keys’ Alligator Reef lighthouse 10 years ago. Then came a rescue.
One of the six lighthouses watching over the coral reefs in the Florida Keys is shining again after going dark a decade ago.
Thanks to the fundraising efforts of a group of Islamorada people who own the title to the 150-year-old Alligator Lighthouse, solar-powered lights in the 135-foot high structure make its presence known in the dark of night.
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Did you know NJ has these many lighthouses? Fun event lets you visit them all
The 24th Annual Lighthouse Challenge of New Jersey, the longest-running challenge in the country that draws thousands each year, will take place on Oct. 21 and 22.
The challenge is to visit 10 land-based lighthouses, three lifesaving stations, one museum, and one virtual site over the two-day weekend, said Pary Tell, chairwoman of The Lighthouse Challenge of New Jersey.
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Busy St. Joseph (MI) Lighthouse tours this year
Tours of the St. Joseph Lighthouse were full this year, showing the second highest number of visitors ever recorded.
Heritage Museum and Cultural Center Director Marco Tomasi told St. Joseph City Commissioners this week the 2023 season has recorded 6,925 visitors and generated more than $16,000 in sales.
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Shining a light on Ireland’s lighthouse lodgings
In early October 2023, 60 lighthouse, marine and tourism leaders met for the three-day Great Lighthouses of Ireland conference to plan future growth for lighthouse tourism in the country
In 2022, over 622,000 people visited lighthouses and lighthouse tourism experiences, according to Tourism Northern Ireland.
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Wrecked by Katrina the West Rigolets (LA) lighthouse could get a new life as a fishing camp for rent
A walk in the wetlands north of Fort Pike reveals wooden pilings from a pier that once led to the West Rigolets lighthouse.
They can be seen sticking out of the ground, but go further out by the water and they disappear.
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Cape Hatteras (NC) Lighthouse lens is reassembled after a temporary move during museum renovation
The original Cape Hatteras Lighthouse lens has been reassembled at its new and permanent location within the Graveyard of the Atlantic Museum after being temporarily moved during the museum’s lengthy renovation project.
The roughly 20-foot-tall structure, which has been housed within the museum for the past 18 years, was painstakingly taken apart and relocated to a secure and on-site storage area in March, while work progressed on the museum’s total renovation.
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Historic Marblehead (OH) Lighthouse Fresnel lens nearly turned to scrap
Thanks to Bob Boytim and other village employees, people attending the Marblehead Lighthouse Festival on Saturday, Oct. 14 will have the opportunity to view an historic piece of local history that was nearly lost to the scrap heap. Boytim was responsible for preserving the Paris-made Marblehead Lighthouse Fresnel lens, which is on permanent display in the Keeper’s House Museum located at Marblehead Lighthouse State Park.
The Fresnel lens, which featured 128 prisms, guided ships to safety from the time it was installed in the Marblehead Lighthouse in 1903 until it was removed in 1969, according to Marblehead Lighthouse Historical Society President Tom Hartman.
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The tale of the haunted Seul Choix Point (MI) lighthouse
The smell of cigar smoke lingers as visitors walk through the dark living quarters of Gulliver’s Seul Choix Point Lighthouse.
They’d think someone was there because of the smell. But no. Instead, it’s the smoking spirits that inhabit the 1895 lighthouse on the Upper Peninsula shore of Lake Michigan.
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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