Kate Walker here, keeping the light on Robbins Reef. Building lighthouses on shifting sandy shores presented special problems. In 1852 the new Light-House Board decided to discontinue the Gulf’s first coastal lighthouse at Frank’s Island, because the Northeast Pass of the Mississippi Delta was shoaling badly, in favor of a tower at the mouth of… Continue reading Kate’s Corner #40
This premiere episode of the new U.S. Lighthouse Society podcast, with host Jeremy D’Entremont and co-host Cindy Johnson, was recorded at the Exeter Inn in Exeter, New Hampshire. In the first episode, Jeremy and Cindy talk about the origins of navigation in early society, and there’s a trivia question with prizes to be sent to… Continue reading Light Hearted – Episode 1, Sophie Blackall
New USLHS podcast “Light Hearted” premieres on Monday, June 3! Check this space this coming Monday, June 3, for the premiere of the new U.S. Lighthouse Society podcast Light Hearted. In the first installment, host Jeremy D’Entremont interviews Sophie Blackall, author/illustrator of the Caldecott Medal winning children’s book Hello Lighthouse. Jeremy and co-host Cindy Johnson… Continue reading Lighthouse News of the Week
Kate Walker here, keeping the light on Robbins Reef. Lighthouse Inspector Snow told me about the resignation of W.H. Rugg, keeper of the Farallon Island Light Station in 1887. The Board replied that the resignation should not be accepted, but that Mr. Rugg should be removed, to take effect from 11 August 1887. As one… Continue reading Kate’s Corner #39
California Department of Parks and Recreation requests $12.2 million for Pigeon Point Light Station A budget request for the California Department of Parks and Recreation was recently submitted to the State Legislature. Included in the request is $12.2 million for stabilization and rehabilitation of Pigeon Point Light Station near Pescadero. The tower has been closed… Continue reading Lighthouse News of the Week
Thomas Patrick O’Hagan, Mosquito-Ponce Inlet Lighthouse’s second principal keeper (1893-1905), and principal keeper at Amelia Island Lighthouse (1905-1925), was stationed at many other U.S. Light House Service stations during his fifty year career. Two of his sons became keepers, and a third worked as a mate on USLHS tenders. O’Hagan has some fascinating stories to… Continue reading Journals of Florida’s Keeper Thomas Patrick O’Hagan, Part 3
Restoration of Burnt Coat Harbor Lighthouse on Swans Island, Maine, underway Restoration work on Burnt Coat Harbor Lighthouse began in April, thanks to the Friends of the Swans Island Lighthouse. Tito Masonry LLC of Portland is doing the work, which started in mid-April and is expected to cost about $172,000. The restoration of the masonry… Continue reading Lighthouse News of the Week
Captain Joshua Card here at Station Portsmouth Harbor. Today I want to tell you about Keeper James Burke, a native of Portsmouth, New Hampshire. James Burke began his career as a keeper, as I did some years earlier, at remote Boon Island, a jumbled pile of rocks some nine miles off the southern Maine coast.… Continue reading The Kaptain’s Kolumn #14
Thomas Point Shoal Lighthouse was built in 1875. It has been a beacon on Chesapeake Bay keeping boaters safe from the Thomas Point Shoal. This iconic lighthouse is the last surviving screwpile lighthouse on Chesapeake Bay and has been a National Historic Landmark since 1999. The lighthouse was transferred to the City of Annapolis, the… Continue reading Save the Thomas Point Shoal Lighthouse
Ten of British Columbia’s Light Stations upgrading to renewable power Twenty-seven of the remote light stations on the coast of British Columbia, Canada, are still staffed by resident keepers. The stations have been powered by diesel generators up to now, but ten of the stations will soon be upgraded to solar and/or wind sources. The… Continue reading Lighthouse News of the Week
