With its harbor at the mouth of the Pequonnock River, Bridgeport, Connecticut, became a center of trade, shipbuilding, and whaling. This episode of Light Hearted features two interviews related to the history of lighthouses in the vicinity of Bridgeport, with Bruce Williams and Phil Blagys. Captain’s Cove Seaport is a major attraction in Bridgeport, with… Continue reading Light Hearted ep 37 – Bruce Williams and Phil Blagys; Bridgeport, CT, and Black Rock Harbor Lighthouse

In 1864 the Elbow Reef Light Station went into service at Hope Town, a small settlement on Elbow Cay, one of the barrier islands off Great Abaco Island in the Bahamas. The lens and rotation equipment, made in the early 1900s by Chance Brothers of Birmingham, England, is still in place today. The fuel is… Continue reading Light Hearted ep 36 – Annie Potts, Elbow Reef Lighthouse Society, The Bahamas

The Flying Santa tradition goes back to December 25, 1929, when a floatplane pilot, William Wincapaw of Friendship, Maine, loaded his plane with a dozen packages. He flew to lighthouses around the Midcoast Maine area and dropped the modest gifts for lighthouse families as a way of showing his appreciation for the work they were… Continue reading Light Hearted ep 35 – Brian Tague, Friends of Flying Santa

The jagged ledge known as Whaleback lurks menacingly on the northeast side of the entrance to the Piscataqua River. Portsmouth, New Hampshire, on the Piscataqua, was established as an important port for shipbuilding and trade before the American Revolution, and wrecks occurred around the ledges at mouth of the river with sickening regularity. The first… Continue reading Light Hearted ep 34 – Jim Pope, keeper of Whaleback Lighthouse, Kittery, Maine

Pigeon Point Lighthouse is tied for the tallest lighthouse tower in California at 115 feet, and it’s a favorite of sightseers and photographers. In September of this year, California State Parks officials announced that more than $9 million in state funding will go to the lighthouse for a major renovation that will take place over… Continue reading Light Hearted ep 33 – Pigeon Point, California

This is a special edition of Light Hearted, devoted to a discussion of the movie The Lighthouse. The Lighthouse is directed and produced by Robert Eggers, who co-wrote the screenplay with his brother Max Eggers. Shot in black-and-white, the film follows two lighthouse keepers (portrayed by Willem Dafoe and Robert Pattinson) who start to lose… Continue reading Light Hearted special edition – “The Lighthouse” movie discussion

This podcast is devoted to lighthouses and lightships, but today’s episode takes a slight detour to a related subject. The U.S. Lifesaving Service is sometimes referred to as a sister service to the Lighthouse Service. Wood Island is a small island about a quarter of a mile inside the mouth of the Piscataqua River in… Continue reading Light Hearted ep 32 – Sam Reid, Wood Island Life Saving Station, Kittery, Maine

The first lightship in the United States was established at Chesapeake Bay in 1820, and the total number in the U.S. peaked in 1909 with 56 locations marked. From 1820 until 1983, there were 179 lightships built for the U.S. government. The official use of lightships for navigation in the United States ended in 1985.… Continue reading Light Hearted ep 31 – Greg Krawczyk, Lightship Chesapeake; Penfield Reef, CT, ghost story

In part two of Jeremy D’Entremont’s two-part interview with Sally Snowman, keeper of Boston Light Station on Little Brewster Island in Boston Harbor, Sally discusses Sammy the Boston Light Dog, subject of a children’s book that Sally wrote. Sally and Jeremy then share some of the ghost stories of America’s oldest light station. Sally tells… Continue reading Light Hearted ep 30 – Keeper Sally Snowman, Boston Light, pt 2

In 1989, the U.S. Coast Guard was planning for Boston Light on Little Brewster Island in Boston Harbor to be the last light station in the United States to be automated and destaffed. Instead, Congress mandated that the station be operated and staffed permanently by the Coast Guard. In 2003, the active duty Coast Guard… Continue reading Light Hearted ep 29 – Keeper Sally Snowman, Boston Light, part 1