Episodes

The city of Bath, Maine, on the Kennebec River, has long been known as the City of Ships. By 1800, Bath’s shipyards were producing vessels used in domestic and international trade. Doubling Point Lighthouse was established in 1898 on the northwest end of Arrowsic Island, at a sharp double bend in the Kennebec River, near the shipyards of Bath. It was one of several aids to navigation built on the river in the same year. Doubling Point Lighthouse, Maine. In the background is the Bath Iron Works,...

Patricia Heyer is a history buff with an interest in coastal folklore as well as research and marine science. She has written extensively for both children and adults during her career. She coauthored Shark Attacks of the New Jersey Shore: A History with her husband, Robert, in 2020. In 2021, Shark Attacks of New York: A History was released, as was Ghosts Along the Navesink and Shrewsbury Rivers. Pat’s new book, Haunted Jersey Shore: Beaches, Boardwalks, and Lighthouses was published by the Hi...

October 16, 2022 This is part two of a two-part interview with three people involved with the preservation of historic Wood Island Light Station near Biddeford Pool in southern Maine. Brad Coupe is one of the founders of Friends of Wood Island Lighthouse and served as its longtime chairperson, and George Bruns is the current chairperson. Richard Parsons serves as the group’s historian and his new book, Wood Island Lighthouse: Stories from the Edge of the Sea, was published this year by the Histo...

October 9, 2022 Maine’s Wood Island, about 35 acres in size, is about two miles east of the entrance to the Saco River and less than a mile from the village known as Biddeford Pool. Congress appropriated $5,000 for a lighthouse on Wood Island in March 1806 and the light began service in 1808. The 1808 tower lasted until 1839, when a new 44-foot conical rubblestone tower was built. Keeper Thomas Orcutt’s dog, Sailor, achieved widespread fame in the late 1800s and early 1900s because of his habit ...

Port Washington, Wisconsin, is located on Lake Michigan’s western shore, just a few miles north of Milwaukee. Port Washington’s first lighthouse was established in 1849, with a tower and keeper’s house built of Cream City brick. The lighthouse was rebuilt in 1860. This time, a short square tower was installed on the southern gable of a two-story dwelling, again made of local Cream City brick. A new Port Washington Pierhead Light was established nearby in 1889. Eventually it was realized that onl...

International Lighthouse and Lightship Weekend, or ILLW, is an annual event held on the third full weekend of August each year. The event was the brainchild of John Forsyth and Mike Dalrymple who were members of the Ayr Amateur Radio Group in Scotland. The event started in 1998 and has developed into an international gathering of amateur radio operators from an estimated 95 countries. In Britain the Association of Lighthouse Keepers, or ALK, conducts International Lighthouse Heritage Weekend on ...

Valentia Island is on the southwest coast of Ireland, in the southwest part of County Kerry. The island’s lighthouse, built on the grounds of a 17th century fort at Cromwell Point, began service in February 1841. The stone tower stands 49 feet tall, and the adjacent keeper’s house is a concrete building constructed in 1910. Valentia Island’s last light keeper, Harry Staniforth, and his family were the last residents of the station, leaving when the lighthouse was automated in 1947. Valentia Isl...

The Cape Cod Maritime Museum in Hyannis, Massachusetts, focuses on Cape Cod’s rich maritime history, along with boat building, yachting, and nautical art. The museum strives to enable audiences of all ages to understand and enjoy maritime culture through exhibitions, public events, and educational programs. Exhibits focus on the cod fishing industry and whaling, the history of navigation, the shellfish of Cape Cod, and more. There’s also an extensive scrimshaw collection and historic Cape Cod wo...

Scituate Lighthouse, Massachusetts. Photo by Jeremy D’Entremont. The town of Scituate, on Boston’s South Shore, developed a significant fishing industry by the late eighteenth century and local citizens petitioned the town’s selectmen for a lighthouse in 1807. A stone tower was built at Cedar Point, and Scituate Lighthouse went into service in April 1812. When the second lighthouse at Minot’s Ledge — offshore from Scituate — was lighted on November 15, 1860, Scituate Light went dark on the same ...

Benn Trask has more than twenty years of teaching experience, mostly as a middle-school history teacher. He holds an undergraduate degree in education and a master’s degree in history, both from Virginia Tech. Following Virginia Tech, he served as a communications officer in the Marine Corps. In 1987, he returned to graduate school, earning a master’s degree in library science from the University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill. Old Point Comfort Lighthouse, Virginia. USLHS photo by Ralph Eshelma...

Courage Like Kate: The True Story of a Girl Lighthouse Keeper is a new children’s picture book biography based on the life of Kate Moore, a lighthouse keeper in the 19th century at Fayerweather Island in Bridgeport, Connecticut. The book is written by Anna Crowley Redding and beautifully illustrated by Emily Sutton. Anna Crowley Redding As an investigative TV reporter, Anna Crowley Redding received multiple Edward R. Murrow awards and an Emmy Award, and was recognized by the Associated Press. A...

Here is a description of the classic children’s book The Lighthouse Keeper’s Lunch, written by Ronda Armitage and illustrated by David Armitage: “Every day, Mr Grinling, the lighthouse keeper, cleans and polishes his light to make sure it shines brightly at night. At lunchtime he tucks into a delicious and well-deserved lunch, prepared by his wife. But Mr Grinling isn’t the only one who enjoys the tasty food. Will Mrs Grinling think of a way to stop the greedy seagulls from stealing the lighthou...

South Foreland Lighthouse is located on the famous White Cliffs of Dover in southeastern England, overlooking the English Channel with a view to France on clear days. The cliff face, which reaches a height of 350 feet, is composed of white chalk accented by streaks of black flint. The dangers posed to shipping by the offshore obstacle known as Goodwin Sands led to the establishment of two lighthouses at South Foreland in 1635. The structures were rebuilt in the 1790s, and then Trinity House, Eng...

Fantastic Atlantic Salmon fishing has long been a prime attraction at the mouth of the Salmon River in New York, at the eastern end of Lake Ontario. In the early 1830s it was determined that the harbor at the mouth of the river could accommodate as many as 30 ships, and a lighthouse was established in 1838. The lighthouse was built with stone from a local quarry and took the form of a two-story keeper’s house with an octagonal tower mounted on its roof. It was topped by a so-called birdcage-styl...

July 30, 2022 A lighthouse was established at Stony Point at the eastern end of Lake Ontario in New York in 1838. One of the most notable things about the original lighthouse was its first keeper, Wiley Gilbert Nickles, who held the position for 30 years. Nickles had lost both his hands in an accident at the age of 19, but he performed his light keeping duties with the help of his wife and children. The lighthouse was rebuilt in 1869, with a square stone tower attached to the keeper’s house. St...

July 23, 2022 In 1890, the Lighthouse Board recommended a lighthouse at Forty Mile Point, on the northeast coast of Michigan’s Lower Peninsula. The primary reason for the light was so that as mariners traveled along the western part of Lake Huron between Mackinaw Point and the Saint Clair River, they would never be out of viewing range of a lighthouse. The name of Forty Mile Point stems from the fact that its location is 40 miles southeast of Mackinaw Point. The light station began service in 18...

July 16, 2022 Plum Island, a nine-mile long barrier island off the northern coast of Massachusetts, was first connected to the mainland by bridge in 1806. Newburyport was an important port by the late 1700s. The approach to the harbor was dangerous, with a sand bar and shifting channels at the mouth of the Merrimack River, near the northern end of Plum Island. To aid shipping entering the river, in November 1787 the General Court of Massachusetts authorized the building of two small wooden light...

July 9, 2022 The development of Michigan’s Keweenaw Peninsula, which juts about 60 miles north from the Upper Peninsula into Lake Superior, was based mostly on copper mining. Increased maritime traffic related to the copper industry led to the establishment of Eagle River Lighthouse on the northwest part of the peninsula in 1858. Local maritime traffic decreased and the lighthouse was deactivated in 1908. Meanwhile, there was a call for a lighthouse and fog signal at a location known as Sand Hil...

July 2, 2022 Whitefish Point, near the eastern end of Michigan’s Upper Peninsula, is a critical turning point for maritime traffic entering Lake Superior. The point marks the eastern end of a notorious 80-mile stretch of shoreline that’s known as Lake Superior’s Shipwreck Coast. Of 550 known major shipwrecks in the vicinity, at least 200 have been near Whitefish Point. Probably the most famous was the 1975 loss of the steamer Edmund Fitzgerald and its crew of 29, just 17 miles north-northwest of...

Mike Vogel retired as editorial page editor of The Buffalo News in 2011, after a 41-year journalism career that included three decades as a reporter and feature writer. Mike was the organizer and founding president of the Buffalo Lighthouse Association, which began restoration of Buffalo, New York’s historic 1833 lighthouse in 1985. Mike’s work at the local level soon led to efforts for the national lighthouse preservation movement. After launching and completing the first compilation of survivi...

There are two interviews related to Michigan lighthouses in this episode, plus a special “Be a Lighthouse” segment for Father’s Day, with co-host Sarah MacHugh interviewing her father about his company, Adaptive Design Hudson River. Old Mackinac Point Light Station, Michigan. Photo by Jeremy D’Entremont. The Straits of Mackinac, which connect Lake Michigan and Lake Huron and also mark the dividing line between Michigan’s Upper and Lower peninsulas, were treacherous for mariners. The first lighth...

Sailors’ Snug Harbor is a collection of nineteenth-century buildings on the north shore of Staten Island in New York City. It was founded as a retirement home for sailors using funds bequeathed by Captain Robert Richard Randall when he died in 1801. Sailors’ Snug Harbor opened in 1833 and expanded over the years to more than 50 buildings. It was said to be the richest charitable institution in the United States with farms, a dairy, a bakery, a chapel, a hospital, a concert hall, recreation areas...

The city of Marquette, Michigan, is a major port on Lake Superior that’s known primarily for the shipping of iron ore. In the mid-1800s, Marquette’s railroad links to numerous mines made it the leading shipping port of Michigan’s Upper Peninsula. It also became a popular summer destination with steamships bringing passengers who filled the city’s hotels and resorts. Marquette Harbor Lighthouse, Michigan. Photo by Jeremy D’Entremont. Marquette’s first lighthouse, a stone tower built in 1853, was...

Two interviews are featured in this episode, concerning Seul Choix Point Light Station in Michigan and Duluth South Breakwater Inner Light in Minnesota. Seul Choix Point Light Station, Michigan. Photo by Jeremy D’Entremont. Located at the northwest corner of Lake Michigan, Seul Choix Bay got its name for the French phrase meaning “only choice.” The bay was a popular place of refuge for early French traders in the area. A 79-foot-tall brick lighthouse with a fixed third-order Fresnel lens began ...