The Old Out and The New In

Every year at this time, we tend to look back and remember events that occurred in our lives during the old or outgoing year. Some of those events brought sorrow and pain while others brought joy and happiness. These emotions are examples of changes occurring in our lives, but most everyone looks forward with new hope that the New Year will bring better days for them and their families than the previous year.

Quite often I use the expression, “Nothing Stays The Same,” to summarize a change that occurred in my life. It can apply to people as well as things on earth. 

The Castle Hill Lighthouse in Rhode Island, pictured below, is an example of change. When the lighthouse was built in 1890, the lantern room was equipped with a fifth-order Fresnel lens with a red light. The engineers and people who installed that light probably thought it would be there indefinitely. However, in 1957 when the lighthouse was automated, the Fresnel lens was removed and replaced with a 300-mm plastic lens. It was the old out and the new in that created change for many lives. However, that new light continues an active light.

                                  
                            HAPPY NEW YEAR!

The Light Longest Remembered

This time of year people seldom think about lighthouses. Our thoughts and attention are devoted toward the Christmas season. We spend time shopping for family and friends, giving gifts, sharing food and fellowship, and enjoying the sparkle of colorful lights. Each year as part of our celebration, we talk about the beautiful Christmas lights. But, the one light that has been remembered longer and talked about more years than the light from any of the lighthouses is the Star that shone bright in the Bethlehem sky the night Jesus was born in a manger.

                            Merry Christmas

A Canadian Beauty - Bunker Island Lighthouse

Located at Bunker Island in Yarmouth Harbor, Nova Scotia, Canada, the Bunker Island Lighthouse is better known by the locals as the "Bug Light" and is the third lighthouse built here. The first lighthouse built in 1874 had a wood tower. The second lighthouse tower, also made of wood, was built on top of the dwelling in 1924. The Keeper, his wife, six children, and two dogs occupied the dwelling. The third lighthouse, pictured above, was built in 1959 of concrete. At the time of my visit here in 2001, this was an active lighthouse with a red light.

Remembering Pearl Harbor and The Lighthouses of Hawaii

Let me be clear about this post. There is no intention on my part to take away or decrease the honor and respect we should have for those individuals who gave their lives defending the USA. This post is only to highlight the lighthouses.

On Dec 7th 1941 at 7:48 am, over three-hundred-fifty Japanese Fighter Planes attacked the United States at Pearl Harbor in Hawaii. This attack destroyed many lives and property, and started World War II. 

 In school as a young boy, I learned about the attack on Pearl Harbor. For you it may have been a different time and place. In fact, you may have a loved one who was there and told you of his or her personal experience that dreadful Dec morning. No matter when we learned of it, each year since the tragedy we are reminded via various media of the tragic event. As it should be, the spotlight is on the attack and the loss of lives. To my knowledge, none of the reports say anything about whether or not lighthouses were impacted. This week as I remembered Pearl Harbor, for some reason I wondered about the lighthouses.

So, did the attack on Pearl Harbor have any impact on Hawaii's lighthouses and their keepers? My research revealed several examples to the affirmative, but for brevity I'll share these few.
 

The Barbers Point Lighthouse pictured below, the Makapu'u Lighthouse, and Diamond Head Lighthouse are all located near Honolulu on the eastern end of the island of Oahu. These three are part of the major lighthouses mentioned below the picture. Most likely, the Keepers for each of these lighthouses saw some of the fighter planes flying overhead or nearby their lighthouse that morning.

The Head Keeper at the Barbers Point Lighthouse documented his observation of the attack. In a letter he wrote a few days later, he described several events which occurred at his light station that morning. About one of those events he wrote the following: "At 8:00 am many planes were seen overhead, both Japanese and ours. Dog fighting continued for twenty minutes, bullets hitting the ground in bursts. Then all planes headed south, our planes chasing them. Seemed to have come from the windward side, and left the island on Barbers Point side." (Credit: LighthouseFriends for the quote from Keeper's letter.)

                                              (Credit: Kraig Anderson; LighthouseFriends)

Throughout the islands of Hawaii there are a total of forty-three (43) lighthouses. Nine (9) of them are classified as major lights and thirty-four (34) are minor lights. After the attack on Pearl Harbor, every lighthouse had its light darkened and continued dark for the duration of the war. (Credit: LighthouseFriends.)

During the war, the Keeper's Dwelling at Diamond Head Lighthouse housed a Coast Guard Radio Station. 

I've been to Hawaii and visited the Arizona Memorial in Pearl Harbor, but regret I was not able to visit a lighthouse.

A Canada Beauty - The Cape Forchu Lighthouse

Located near Yarmouth, Nova Scotia, Canada, the Cape Forchu Lighthouse sets on a point reaching out into the Gulf of Maine. The first tower was built here in 1839 and the double story keepers dwelling was built in 1912. This current tower is 75-feet tall and built in 1962. Keepers at the lighthouse were discontinued in 1993 due to automation. In 1996 the Friends of Yarmouth Light Society opened the 1912 keepers house to visitors, and restored the station grounds.

At the time of my visit here in 2001, the lighthouse continued as an active light. A small museum occupied part of the keeper's house and a tea room was located in the assistant's house. I was privileged to meet a Mr. Smith who used to live in the lighthouse with his parents and seven brothers and sisters. He was eighteen years of age when his father became the lighthouse keeper, and Smith helped his father by working some of the night shifts. He told of seeing his father having to use an axe to chop ice away from the entrance door of the tower so they could get in. Mr. Smith showed me the room where he lived in the house, and the rooms where his siblings lived. 

This lighthouse holds the distinction of being the last lighthouse in Nova Scotia that was tended by resident light-keepers. Of all the lighthouses I saw and visited in Canada, this one is my favorite because of Mr. Smith. He provided history about the lighthouse and his personal experiences as an assistant to his father, one of the Keepers of The Cape Forchu Lighthouse. 

The Plymouth (Gurnet) Lighthouse and The Pilgrims' Connection

Would the Pilgrims have felt safer and more welcome to Plymouth with a lighthouse there to guide them? I think it's safe to say they and their leader, William Bradford, would have certainly appreciated a lighthouse to help guide them to shore. Instead, they landed at Plymouth Rock without a lighthouse and established the town of Plymouth in 1620. The Plymouth Lighthouse was not built until years later.

 Known to locals as "Gurnet Lighthouse," the Plymouth Lighthouse stands at the southern tip of a sandy peninsula known since the Pilgrim days as the Gurnet. (The word Gurnet derives from a fish of the same name and is plentiful along the Devonshire Coast of England.) 

Gurnet was also the site of the first "twin light" station in today's United States. John and Hannah Thomas owned the land where the Commonwealth of Massachusetts established the two lighthouses in 1768. Essentially it was a small wooden house with a lantern attached to either end of the roof. John, and later his widow, operated the station for several years, giving Hannah the distinction of being the country's first female light keeper.

Both wooden towers were destroyed by fire in 1801. They were temporarily replaced by a single beacon, while a second set of towers were built, 30-feet apart, in 1803. These towers, in turn, were superseded in 1842 with a pair of 34-foot pyramidal ones, used also as range lights to help mariners clear Browns Bank. In the 1920s, the Bureau of Lighthouses concluded its push to do away with twin-light stations. Therefore, Plymouth's northeast tower was then deactivated in 1924 and taken down. The southern light, pictured above, is the oldest wooden lighthouse in the U.S. Its fourth-order Fresnel lens flashing the light was automated in 1986 and since has operated on solar power. In December 1998, the U.S. Coast Guard relocated the lighthouse further back from the edge of the eroding sand dune.

At the time of my visit here in 2001 the lighthouse remained active. Due to the distance from my viewpoint to the location of the lighthouse, I used a 500mm lens with a 2X coupler in order to get this imperfect picture of this historical lighthouse.

A Canadian Beauty - Fort Point Lighthouse

Built in 1855, the Fort Point Lighthouse is located near Liverpool, Nova Scotia, Canada.

The original lighthouse consisted of the front half of this pictured structure, and its first light was provided by a series of lamps fueled by oil. Those lamps were later replaced and the light electrified in 1951. Keepers maintained the lighthouse until 1964 when it was automated. During their tenure, in addition to maintaining the light, keepers were responsible for sounding a hand cranked fog horn in response to vessel signals during fog and thick weather. Additions were made to the structure over the years to improve living quarters for the keeper. This very distinctive "hunchbacked" lighthouse marked Liverpool's inner harbor until the light was deactivated in 1989.

The town of Liverpool began caring for the lighthouse as early as 1970 and later took possession of it and the surrounding land. To preserve its history, the lighthouse and attached dwelling were restored and turned into a museum. The lighthouse is located in what is now known as Fort Point Lighthouse Park.

I visited this beautiful Canadian lighthouse in 2001.

Lighthouse Terms

Throughout this blog and in my book, The Wickie, I used terms that relate to lighthouses. We all want to understand the meaning of words we read to enable us to enjoy the read without our mind stumbling for a definition. My purpose in this post is to define terms that some folks may have been uncertain of their meaning. Terms like: Lantern Room, Watch Room, Service Room, and Wickie. To help in this endeavor, the picture below of the Umpqua River Lighthouse identifies where the aforementioned rooms are located in the lighthouse. Click on the picture for an enlarged view to enhance reading the names.

 Lantern Room: Glassed-in housing at the top of a lighthouse tower containing the lamp and lens.

Watch Room: The room immediately below lantern room where some supplies and oil were temporarily kept and where the keeper prepared the lantern for the night, and after that stood watch. The clock mechanism or works used to rotate the lens was also kept there. 

Service Room: Next level below the watch room. Storage for tools, brushes, etc used to perform service and maintenance to the light, lens, and clock mechanism.

Wickie: A nickname given to the lighthouse keepers. The name was created from the task the keepers did of trimming wicks of the lamps. (After electric lamps replaced oil lamps, the  keepers no longer had to trim wicks, so the name has not been used for many years.)

What's The Difference?

During the years I've posted this blog, I've used terms that some have revealed they do not fully understand their meaning. My hope is the following narrative and picture will help answer the title question for this post.

What's the difference between a Light Station and a Lighthouse?

Light Station refers to the complex containing the lighthouse tower and all the outbuildings, i.e. the keepers living quarters, fuel house, boathouse, fog-signaling building, etc.
The term lighthouse normally refers to the tower and lantern room.

The picture below of Tybee Island Light Station is a good example of a light station.

What's the difference between the nighttime and daytime signature of the lighthouse?

Nighttime signature is the light itself and the number of flashes it makes in a complete revolution in a specified amount of time. The color of the light is also part of the nighttime signature.

Daytime signature of the lighthouse is the unique color scheme and/or pattern that identifies a specific navigational aid during daylight hours. For example, the daytime signature for the Tybee Island Lighthouse is its black tower with a wide white band around the middle of tower.


 

Lighthouses - The Oldest

During the years I've posted my blog, I've tried to mention the date when a particular lighthouse was built, but never made a concerted effort to group or identify the first lighthouses built. However, in an effort to change things a little and answer questions, in this post I show three different lighthouses in the first built category. They are: (a. First lighthouse built in the world, (b. built in the United States, (c. and the oldest existing lighthouse in the U.S.

First lighthouse built in the world was on the small island of Pharos, Alexandria, Egypt. The Pharos lighthouse foundation was built of stone and the tower of masonry. The lighthouse's lower portion was square with the middle portion octagonal and the top of the tower circular. The tower stood approximately 400 feet high. Its light was lit c.280 BC and deactivated between 1303/1323. (Credit to: Wikipedia Encyclopedia. No picture due to copyright and this lighthouse I did not visit.)


The Boston Light in Massachusetts was the first lighthouse built in the United States. It was built on Little Brewster Island in 1716 of granite blocks. The 1716 lighthouse was destroyed during the Revolutionary War but was rebuilt in 1783 to a height of sixty-six feet. In 1859 an additional fifteen feet was added to the tower. The structure is located about nine miles from downtown Boston. The current tower, pictured below, is eighty-nine feet total height, and the lantern room houses a second-order Fresnel lens. At the time of my visit here in 2001, this lighthouse continued in operation and manned by the U.S. Coast Guard.

 The oldest existing and continuously operating lighthouse in the United States is the Sandy Hook Lighthouse in New Jersey. It was built in 1764 and is located on the grounds of Fort Hancock, NJ. Since construction, it has undergone reconstruction to ensure continued operation. This lighthouse is twenty-nine feet in diameter at the base and fifteen feet in diameter at the top. Its lantern room houses a 45,000 candlepower light which can be seen for nineteen miles. The U.S. Coast Guard transferred ownership of the lighthouse to the National Park Service in 1996. At the time of my visit here in 2001, this was an active light.

A Canada Beauty - Cape Spencer Lighthouse

The Cape Spencer Lighthouse is located at Mispec Beach, Saint John, New Brunswick, Canada. This is the fourth lighthouse built at Cape Spencer.

The first lighthouse built here in 1873 was square and made of wood. Its tower was 35-feet high from the base to top of lantern room. A keeper's dwelling was attached.

In 1918 a new concrete tower was built a few yards away to replace the wooden lighthouse. The new tower was octagonal in shape, painted white with a red band around the middle of the tower. That lighthouse was replaced by a metal skeletal design tower in 1971.
 
The current tower, pictured above, was built in 1983 and replaced the skeletal tower. Adjacent to the lighthouse is a fog horn. At the time of my visit here in 200l, this continued an active lighthouse.

A Canada Beauty - Mulholland Point Lighthouse

The Mulholland Point Lighthouse is located at Campobello Island, New Brunswick, Canada. This lighthouse was built in 1885 to serve as a guide for the many small coasters and freighters passing through the narrow Lubec Channel. The light was turned off after the Roosevelt Memorial Bridge was built in 1962. At the time of my visit here in 2001, the lighthouse was not open to the public.

A Wisconsin Beauty - Rockwell Lighthouse

Located on Lake Winnebago at Oshkosh, WI, the Rockwell (Brays Point) Lighthouse was built in 1911 with private funds. William Bray tried to convince the government to erect a lighthouse at the point where the Fox River empties into the lake, however, he was unsuccessful. He built the lighthouse with his own funds, and assumed the cost of upkeep and responsibility of keeping the light lit. The lighthouse was a part of Mr. Bray's private harbor improvements and his own pleasure boats. He transformed the entire point into a showplace where he entertained friends and colleagues. President William Howard Taft once visited here. The beacon was considered a government licensed light, however, after 1917 when commercial use became substantial; the government then realized the importance of the light and paid its expenses for a time.

This lighthouse is one of the most ornate of all Wisconsin lights, with white and cream colored stucco walls and delicate black ironwork. Numerous windows line the tower and a short staircase leads to a doorway at the light's base. During the late 1950's the light was turned off and the tower fell into disrepair for a number of years. The light was later restored and then re-lit in the summer of 1986 by the owners of the property.

This privately owned and operated lighthouse is in a residential area. The beacon operates year round and is controlled by a photo sensor that automatically turns the light on, day or night, when the sky darkens. The owners of the light are listed with the U.S. Coast Guard as the official lighthouse keepers. At the time of my visit here in 2002, this was an active lighthouse.

A Wisconsin Beauty - Neenah Lighthouse

Located in Kimberly Point Park, Lake Winnebago, Neenah Point, WI, this lighthouse tower was built in 1945 at a height of 40-feet. The light marks entrance of Lake Winnebago to the lower Fox River. In 1954 the tower height was raised to 49-foot. Focal plane of the light is 50-feet above water, and the light was active at the time of my visit here in 2002. The lighthouse was privately maintained, and there were public restrooms at the base of the tower.

A Wisconsin Beauty - Fond Du Lac Front Range Lighthouse

Located in the Fond Du Lac Yacht Harbor, Lake Winnebago, Fond Du Lac, WI, this decorative eight-sided light tower is a picturesque landmark will known to the local residents. Translated, Fond Du Lac means "end of the lake." The locals know the light as Lakeside Park Lighthouse. The structure replaced an ordinary red light that previously marked the harbor entrance.

The lighthouse is the brainchild of a Fond Du Lack lumberman, W.J. Nuss, and was built entirely with donated building materials and private funds. The cornerstone was laid in 1933 and the base is composed of stone. The white, Cape Cod style tower stands approximately 66-feet tall and measures 12 feet in diameter. Funds to purchase the light to top the tower were raised by the local yacht club. A stairway allows the public to climb to the open walkway atop the tower where the observation platform is 44-feet from the ground. In the early 1960's the tower was closed to the public when it was deemed unsafe. However, in 1967 the tower was saved through repairs, and then restored in 1993.

At the time of my visit here in 2002, the light was operational during the boating season, May-Oct. Boaters utilize the red light atop the white tower by lining it up with another light behind the boathouses, similar to a range light system.

A Wisconsin Beauty - Rawley Point Lighthouse

The Rawley Point Lighthouse, also known as the Twin River Point, is located at Two Rivers, WI. It's not clear exactly when a lighthouse was first constructed here. Records indicate the first lighthouse in this area was built in 1853 at Twin Rivers Point. The original lighthouse had a brick tower that stood 100-feet tall and was attached to the keeper's dwelling by a hallway. The remains of the original circular tower can be seen at the right side of the big house, behind the tree and in front of the iron tower. In 1894 the top portion of that tower was demolished and the remaining shorter tower, with cone shaped roof, became part of the keeper's quarters in 1895. One result is a curious and unique round living room which remains inside the dwelling. A fire damaged the keeper's quarters in 1962.

The current eight sided pyramidal erector style lighthouse is the only one of this type on the Great Lakes. It stands 111-feet high and is the second tallest lighthouse in WI. It is an alteration and expansion of a lighthouse relocated from the Chicago River Light-station in 1893 after the World's fair. The light tower has a central iron stairway containing 132-steps with support supplied by a maze of exterior steel frames. There's a double-decked set of watch rooms with ornate fencing, placed one atop the other, below the lantern room. These dual watch rooms are another unique feature among WI lights. The light tower was constructed next to the two and a half story keeper's dwelling. In 1920 the light was electrified. The original third-order lens continued in use until 1952 when a piece of the lens broke and it was replaced with the current twin-bull's eye rotating beacon, which can be seen for 28-miles.

At the time of my visit here in 2002, this was an active lighthouse, however, the tower and quarters were off limits to the public. The Coast Guard utilized the quarters for housing and as a military recreation cottage

A Wisconsin Beauty - Plum Island Range Lighthouse

This lighthouse is one of three lights in the Plum Island Range Light system.  They are located north of Gills Rock, WI in the middle of the treacherous Death's Door Passage. Michigan Lake links Green Bay between the end of the main Door Peninsula and Washington Island. The original Plum Island Lighthouse, built in 1848, was later moved to Pilot Island.

The Plum Island Range Lights were constructed in 1895 and are located on the southern end of the island. The rear range light, pictured above, consist of a tubular and skeletal shaped 65-foot tall tower, and is capped with a red lantern top and ventilator ball. The lantern room houses a fourth-order Fresnel lens which projects a fixed red beam of light. A spacious two story keeper's dwelling and a fog signal building stand nearby. This range light displays a metal banner with red stripes on either side of a middle white stripe, which serves as a day marker. The banner is located on the right side of the tower. Click on the picture to enlarge, making it easier to see.
 

At the time of my visit here in 2002, the Coast Guard considered the Plum Island Lights as surplus property and were considering the State would take over the island as a possible new State Park.