By Sue Clark on Oct 11, 2007 in News | Comments Off 
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On October 7, Newsday posted a story about the repair of the foghorn at Huntington Lighthouse in Huntington Bay, New York. The warning device had fallen silent when an underwater electric cable failed three years ago. The Coast Guard installed solar panels, but they only generated enough electricity to power the light, so the foghorn remained quiet. Recently they added new panels to the lighthouse, which will generate enough power to sound the booming foghorn again.
By Sue Clark on Oct 10, 2007 in Lighthouses For Sale | Comments Off Print This Post
In keeping with the recent rash of government lighthouse sales, Point No Point Lighthouse in Maryland has gone on the auction block. Another offshore light, this one was established in 1905 at the entrance to the Potomac River on the Chesapeake Bay. It’s an octagonal building, two and a half stories of brick on a cast iron and concrete caisson. It is still an active aid to navigation, so whoever buys this one will have a solar powered porch light.
By Sue Clark on Oct 10, 2007 in News | Comments Off Print This Post
It’s not only Point Cartwright in Queensland, Australia, that went pink for National Breast Cancer Awareness Month (October). The Wollongong Breakwater Lighthouse in Wollongong, New South Wales, is also decked out with a lovely pink glow, joining in with hundreds of other buildings in support of breast cancer research. The lovely photo below was taken on October 3, 2007 by Tina Hanneman, who kindly gave me permission to use this picture.
By Sue Clark on Oct 9, 2007 in Lighthouse Keeper Jobs | Comments Off Print This Post
After the recent purchase of Fourteen Foot Bank Lighthouse by Michael Gabriel, a California attorney, the Delaware News Journal has located the last lightkeeper of the station for a recent interview. Matthew Lomot, who pulled duty at the lighthouse from February 1967 until January 1970 shares his three top tips for living in a lighthouse.
- Bring along plenty of food, water and fuel. You might be out there longer than you expect.
- Make friends with the local fishermen. They might bring you the Sunday paper.
- Whatever you do, do not walk in front of the foghorn.
By Sue Clark on Oct 7, 2007 in Lighthouses For Sale | Comments Off Print This Post
Taking a tip from HGTV’s popular televidion show, the Baltimore Sun has a story about making over a decrepit lighthouse in Chesapeake Bay. Smith Point Lighthouse, at the entrance to the Potomac River, was purchased by Dave McNally of Winona, Minnesota, through a GSA auction in 2005 for $170,000. The fifty-two foot tall beacon, sitting in the middle of the river mouth, and built on a concrete/cast iron caisson, was built in 1897. Although the light was originally commissioned in 1802, this is the fourth manifestation, the others destroyed by erosion and storms.
By Sue Clark on Oct 6, 2007 in Lighthouse Keeper Jobs | 2 Comments Print This Post
Unless you live in Malaysia, Vietnam or Taiwan, or some few other countries, most of the lighthouses around the world have been automated, some for many years, and the position of lighthouse keeper no longer exists. Yet just like a home, without a lighthouse keeper to tend to the maintenance, these historical gems are in danger of being demolished or just left to rot. The government is in a frenzy to get rid of these beacons of of our maritime past, and while some have been tranferred to non-profit foundations for a dollar, others go wanting due to their offshore locations. The photo to the left is Charity Island Lighthouse, discontinued in 1939, in the middle of Saginaw Bay in Michigan.
On October 7, Newsday posted a story about the repair of the foghorn at Huntington Lighthouse in Huntington Bay, New York. The warning device had fallen silent when an underwater electric cable failed three years ago. The Coast Guard installed solar panels, but they only generated enough electricity to power the light, so the foghorn remained quiet. Recently they added new panels to the lighthouse, which will generate enough power to sound the booming foghorn again.
