A Beautiful Landmark Preserving Local History

Fourteen miles southeast of Beaufort, SC stands the beautiful Hunting Island Lighthouse. The first lighthouse on this island was built in 1859 at a height of 95-feet, but short lived. By 1862 the lighthouse was reported to have fallen into the sea. However, conflicting stories make it unclear whether it was destroyed by erosion, or actually blown up by the Confederate Army during the Civil War.

In 1875 a new tower was constructed of interchangeable cast-iron sections so it could be taken apart if necessary. Due to the aggressive high tides and erosion the tower did have to be disassembled in 1889 and reassembled at its current site, one and a quarter miles from where the original tower was located. This lighthouse was built on an eight-foot thick concrete foundation. Distance from the ground to the top of the tower is 140-feet, and there are 181-steps to reach the top. The tower itself is 121-feet high and its walls are lined with brick. A second-order Fresnel lens was used until its retirement in 1933. Although an inactive light, this lighthouse is a beautiful landmark preserving local history.

The lighthouse is part of the Hunting Island State Park and is open daily to the public for viewing and climbing the stairs. The red brick in the foreground of my picture outlines the foundation where the one and a half story, twelve room, keeper's dwelling was located prior to being destroyed by fire.

The Only U.S. Twin Light in Official Operation

The Cape Ann Light Station was established by the Commonwealth of Massachusetts. Their authority and funding provided for building this twin-light station on the northeast side of the fifty acre Thacher's Island, Rockport, MA. The original twin rubble masonry lighthouses were built in 1771 and stood 298 yards apart. The north tower was only 39 feet high and the south tower 35 feet high. They were oriented in a northeast-southwest alignment. 

Both of the aforementioned lights operated until 1861 when they were replaced by the pair of 124-foot high cut granite structures pictured below. Each tower is 30 feet in diameter at the base, 18 feet at the top, and the lantern rooms equipped with first-order Fresnel lenses. Originally, both towers displayed fixed white lights. When the beacon in the north tower was extinguished in 1932, as an efficiency move, the south tower light was changed to a more intense flashing white beam. The light was later changed to red and continues to be operated by the U. S. Coast Guard as an official aid to navigation. Cape Ann Light Station is the only twin light in official operation in the U.S.

 In 1980, Thacher's Island became the property of the Town of Rockport, the same year the south light was automated. At the time of my 2001 visit, the property was managed by the Thacher4's Island Association in cooperation with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. One of its notable achievements was the successful restoration of the long-neglected north tower, which was relighted in 1989 as a private aid to navigation. That same year and for the next several years, the Association operated a launch for island visitors until a winter storm in 1995 destroyed the landing ramp. The group hoped to renew the trips once the landing area was restored, and most likely have done so before the time of this posting.

Where The Pilgrims Landed

Plymouth Rock (America’s Cornerstone) located at Plymouth, MA is the symbolic stepping stone from the old world to the new. In 1741, Thomas Faunce, elder of the Plymouth Church, identified the Rock as the place where the Pilgrims first landed. Elder Faunce’s father, who was a passenger on the ship Ann in 1623, presumably heard it firsthand. In the late 1700s, the desire to have a lasting symbol of the forefathers quickly brought the Rock to the forefront of the popular consciousness.

Now situated in the portico on the waterfront, Plymouth Rock is approximately one-third its original size. Over the years the Rock has been in various locations where souvenir hunters chipped away at it. Finally, officials relocated the rock on the waterfront and provided protection for viewing. A piece of the Rock, equal in size to the piece on Plymouth’s waterfront, can also be seen in the Smithsonian Institute in Washington D.C.

Would the Pilgrims have felt safer arriving at Plymouth if there had been a lighthouse to guide them? I believe it's safe to say they and their leader, William Bradford, would have been thankful for a lighthouse. Instead, they landed safely at Plymouth Rock without a lighthouse and established the town of Plymouth in the 1620s. 

The first lighthouse at Plymouth wasn't built until 1768. It began with two lanterns located at opposite ends on the roof of the keeper’s wooden dwelling. This lighthouse was replaced in 1803 by twin lighthouses built thirty feet apart and twenty-two-foot-tall. Known to locals as "Gurnet Lighthouse," they stood at the southern tip of the 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.) Officials tore down the northeast lighthouse in 1924.

A couple of years ago, I was provided the picture below of the Gurnet Lighthouse after it had been remodeled. I lost track of his name, but my thanks to that Plymouth lighthouse enthusiast who followed my blog. 

The "To Scale Model"

Everyone knows all books have a cover, but they may not know every author does not involve their self in designing and preparing details of their book cover. Most authors, I believe, leave the cover design to their publisher.

In the case of my book, The Wickie, I was determined to design the cover myself. There were no pictures available to me of the original 1857 Umpqua River Lighthouse, so early in the process I realized it would be a harder task and more time consuming than imagined. Through determination and creative photography, I was able to accomplish my goal of bringing that first Oregon lighthouse back to the banks of the Umpqua River via my book cover.

However, this achievement would not have been possible without the "to scale model" pictured below. Colin MacKenzie of the Nautical Research Center in Petaluma, California built the detailed model several years ago from the engineer drawings. His work and generous donation of the model to the Umpqua River Lighthouse Museum, Winchester Bay, Oregon made it possible for me to take pictures of the model. Those pictures, and others I took of the river, were used to design the front cover for my book. The cover is pictured to the right side of this blog post.

The Clock Mechanism - A Fact

While writing “The Wickie,” I deliberately chose several pictures to use in the book. I felt pictures would help my readers enjoy the story, learn, and have a better feel of the times. After selecting a publisher and we began communicating details of the book, I learned pictures are normally not used in fiction books. However, the company conceded to using my pictures, and I approved the higher cost to publish. 

Several times in my book, the lighthouse keepers refer to a clock mechanism. The photo below is one of several photos used in the story. Although the genre for “The Wickie” is fiction, there are several historical facts weaved into the story. One of those facts is the clock mechanism.