Congress appropriated $4,000 for a lighthouse near the mouth of the Bass River on Cape Cod in 1850. Oxen hauled building materials across the local marshes, and the Bass River Light went into service on April 30, 1855. The government deemed the lighthouse unnecessary after the advent of the Cape Cod Canal and a new… Continue reading Light Hearted ep 133 – Greg Stone, Lighthouse Inn, Cape Cod, MA; Ralph Krugler, Florida historian/author

The Outer Banks, a 200-mile-long chain of barrier islands, stretch from southeastern Virginia to most of the North Carolina coast. The islands were a haven for piracy in the 1600s, but later an important commercial fishing industry developed in the region. Currituck Beach Lighthouse—the northernmost of the light stations on the Outer Banks—began service on… Continue reading Light Hearted ep 132 – Meghan Agresto, Currituck Beach, NC

Orient Point Lighthouse is a cast-iron, so-called “sparkplug” type lighthouse in a location known as Plum Gut, between Plum Island and Orient Point at the northeastern tip of Long Island, New York. After its 1958 automation, the Coast Guard considered tearing it down and replacing it with a simple pipe tower, but a public outcry… Continue reading Light Hearted ep 131 – Randy Polumbo, Orient Point, NY; George Latimer, Tarrytown, NY

Elinor DeWire is an award-winning author, editor, public speaker, educator, and blogger based in Connecticut. She began her writing career with freelance stories for a Florida newspaper, and in 1987 she published her first book, Guide to Florida Lighthouses. Since then, she’s authored some twenty books about lighthouses. From 1991 to 2000 Elinor wrote two regular… Continue reading Light Hearted ep 130 – Author Elinor DeWire; new Mid-Atlantic lighthouse postage stamps

Point Cabrillo is in Northern California, about midway between San Francisco and the border with Oregon. The point is named for Juan Rodriguez Cabrillo, an explorer who sailed the California coast on behalf of Spain in 1542 and ‘43. It took a series of shipwrecks in the vicinity and pleas from mill owners and mariners… Continue reading Light Hearted 129 – Jen Lewis, Point Cabrillo, CA

Use this player to listen to the podcast: Chris Overcash is the Senior Engineer and Deputy Director of Coastal Resilience for EA Engineering, Science, and Technology in Maryland. Chris has more than 20 years of experience in the fields of coastal, civil, and environmental engineering. His background includes projects in marine and coastal design, dredging,… Continue reading Light Hearted ep 128 – Chris Overcash – Climate change & Thomas Point Shoal Lighthouse, MD

The lighthouse at Piney Point in Maryland –14 miles from Chesapeake Bay up the Potomac River — was established in 1836, making it the oldest lighthouse on the river. The conical brick tower is 26 feet tall. In 1980 the property was transferred to St. Mary’s County. The County licensed the St. Clement’s Island-Potomac River… Continue reading Light Hearted ep 127 – April Havens, Piney Point, MD; Lee Radzak, Split Rock, MN

Listen to the podcast using this player: Ireland’s Hook Lighthouse is the oldest continuously operating lighthouse in the world. The tapering headland of Hook Head is in the southwestern part of County Wexford, on the southeast coast of Ireland below Dublin. In the fifth century, a monastery was established on the peninsula. According to tradition,… Continue reading Light Hearted special edition – Noel Lynch, Hook Lighthouse, Ireland

Listen using this player: Eighteen-acre Rose Island, about a mile offshore from Newport, Rhode Island, has a commanding position in Narragansett Bay’s East Passage. The waters around Newport were busy with passenger steamers, fishing boats, and freighters in the mid-nineteenth century. On July 20, 1868, Congress appropriated $7,500 for a lighthouse on the island, and… Continue reading Light Hearted 126 – Brian Tefft, Rose Island in Newport, RI