Lighthouse News

White Island Lighthouse in the waters offshore of New Hampshire, is on one of a series of granite rocks called the Isles of Shoals, subjected to wind and waves battering the island and light. Access to this lighthouse, built in 1821, was hazardous at best, and hauling supplies up the treacherous rocks was dangerous. So as often happened in the lighthouse world, a small railway was built to haul the goods up from the tenders that brought supplies to the keepers.

Ten thousand handwashed bricks later, the St. George Lighthouse Association has reason to celebrate. On September 15, 2007, a bricklaying ceremony will kick off the rebuilding of the Apalachicola, Florida lighthouse that collapsed into the sea in October, 2oo5. Damaged by erosion and tropical storms, including Hurricane Dennis, the lighthouse collapsed into a pile of rubble. Volunteers with the association vowed to replace the lighthouse and cleaned and palletized for storage every one of the bricks making up the 75 foot tower. With recent legislative action, the final funds have been procured and the rebuilding will begin.

Ongoing efforts to reopen Buffalo (New York) Lighthouse and turn the waterfront acreage it sits on into a recreational park have been given a jumpstart by Sen. Hilary Rodham Clinton and Rep. Brian Higgins. The lighthouse is owned by the Coast Guard, but is leased to the Buffalo Lighthouse Association who have spent over $300,000 restoring it in 1985. The city of Buffalo installed a $100,000 brick walkway. The light and surrounding 31 acres has been closed to the public since 9/11, due to the adjacent Coast Guard facility, which is being used mostly for storage and maintenance sheds, with a few temporary offices and sleeping quarters.

The Coquille River Lighthouse, the last beacon built on the Oregon Coast and an unusual octagon shape, is finally getting some major restoration work, appropriately during Oregon’s Lighthouse Month (August). Coquille Light, built in 1895, has suffered from years of neglect and improper caretaking, and estimates of the full cost of repairing weather damage, vandalism and neglect are running close to $1 million dollars. Currently, the state has budgeted $610,000 dollars for the beginning phase of the work. Because it’s not an active aid to navigation any longer, funding has been hard to get.

The US House and Senate committee Committee on Thursday approved a $35 million dollar package for the Water Resource Development Project in New York, with 7 million dollars earmarked for rebuilding the point at Montauk Point Lighthouse, according to the EastHampton Star. Montauk Point Lighthouse is the oldest lighthouse in New York, having been commissioned by George Washington and built in 1796.

The point has eroded 200 feet into the Atlantic over the past two hundred years, and the Army Corps of Engineers has determined the best way to keep the light from tumbling into the sea would be to extend the point itself with a 12.6 ton quarry stone armor, 840 feet in length with a crest of 40 feet elevation. The bottom of the armor will be 12 feet below the existing level.

St. Mary’s Lighthouse, in Whitley Bay, North Tyneside, UK will be getting a fresh coat of paint on its 109 year old exterior, according to a story on the BBC News. Also included in the planned work is replacement of the glazing in the lantern room and electrical work. The North Tyneside Council is also looking at a master plan for St. Mary’s Island and its popular light in the future.

In September 2005, the Council took steps to protect this iconic lighthouse and island from unauthorized development and reaffirmed the island’s status as a conservation area. St Mary’s Island is renowned for its lighthouse, rocky landscape, causeway and wildlife. In early 2006, public access to the island was improved by the addition of a ramp.

According to the Post and Courier of Charleston, South Carolina, work to stabilize the badly eroded Morris Island Lighthouse has begun. A barge has been placed next to the lighthouse to allow for the completion of a coffer dam, which will allow for the blocking of seawater from the base of the lighthouse, and enable it to be stabilized with cement and the base to be capped.

The preservation effort was funded by a $500,000 grant from the state, federal funding and local cities, especially the nearby Folly Beach.

Various bits of lighthouse news from around the internet…

Would you like to be by the sea?

An eighteenth century former lighthouse keeper’s home is for sale in Norfolk, UK, according to an article from the Eastern Daily Press. The home is one of two that sandwich the red and white lighthouse tower at Happisburgh. Built in 1791, it has two double bedrooms, a sitting room with fireplace, kitchen-dining room and bathroom, with a large cellar containing a games, study and storage areas. It comes furnished, and is listed at £247,500. Its only drawback is that in one hundred years, three quarters of the land between the lighthouse and the sea may be swallowed up due to erosion.

The Detroit (Michigan) Free Press has a story today about efforts to restore Michigan’s oldest light, Fort Gratiot Light in Port Huron. Restoration costs are expected to be near $800,000 USD, and the group working to preserve it has in hand a $400,000 federal grant to start the restoration. The tower has holes in its sides where the bricks have popped out, and a ten foot crack on the north side that allows water to get in, freeze and thaw, causing more structural damage.

Pemaquid Point Lighthouse, the only lighthouse to appear on United States Money (the state quarter issued in 2003) is undergoing a $105,000 USD facelift this year. Thanks in part to a $50,000 grant from Lowes Charitable Educational Foundation and the National Trust for Historic Preservation, work has begun on stripping the layers of paint from the exterior and repointing the mortar. A $10,000 grant from the Maine Historic Commission awarded to ALF has also been earmarked in part for this project. The work is being done by J.B. Leslie Masonry Contractors of South Berwick, Maine, and is expected to take up to eight weeks for completion.