Light Hearted

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...

With the 1825 completion of the Erie Canal, which linked the Great Lakes to the Hudson River and the Atlantic Ocean, maritime traffic in the Great Lakes increased dramatically. As the canal was being completed, Congress appropriated funds for a light station near Fort Gratiot, in the southern portion of Michigan’s thumb. When the light station was established at Fort Gratiot in 1825, it was the fi...

Esopus Creek meets the Hudson River at the town of Saugerties, about seven miles north of Kingston and 101 miles north of New York City. The name Saugerties is derived from a Dutch phrase meaning “sawmill on a creek.” The creek eventually powered what has been described as the largest collection of water-powered machinery in the world. In June 1834, Congress recognized the need for a lighthouse at...

In 1857, a lighthouse was built at the tip of Lloyd’s Neck at the entrance to Lloyd Harbor, on the North Shore of Long Island, New York. Lloyd Harbor often served as a place of refuge for ships escaping rough conditions on Long Island Sound. The first structure, known as Lloyd Harbor Lighthouse, was considered inadequate. A new lighthouse to serve mariners entering Lloyd Harbor and adjoining Hunti...

The island known as Fisgard is a stone’s throw offshore at the west side of the entrance to British Columbia’s Esquimalt Harbor. The island was named for a British naval frigate, with the name’s origins reaching back to Fishguard, a coastal town in Wales. The British Royal Navy began using Esquimalt Harbor as a base for its operations in Pacific Canada in 1848. Fisgard Light Station. Photo b...

Gertjan De Boer at the Stavoren Lighthouse in Netherlands, close to where he grew up. Courtesy of Gertjan De Boer. The European country of the Netherlands conjures images of canals, fields of tulips, and windmills. But the country is also home to dozens of historic lighthouses, and some of them are major tourist attractions. Dutch lighthouse history reaches all the way back to the 14 th century. B...

Barry Hawkins worked as a lighthouse keeper for England’s Trinity House from 1978 to 1996. His assignments included some of the most remote and rugged light stations in the UK. He took advantage of his spare time at the lighthouses painting pictures of seascapes, wildlife, and other subjects. His first 18 months of service were spent as a supernumerary keeper at various lighthouses on the west coa...

Jan Guarino has been a graphic artist designing marketing materials for businesses for 45 years. She recently retired from graphic design to focus entirely on her painting and teaching career. The New York resident is now a full-time watercolor artist and teacher, sharing her knowledge in classes and workshops, and exhibiting in various galleries. She is a permanent artist at the Firefly Gallery i...

Conanicut Island, about 6,000 acres, is the second largest island in the state of Rhode Island. The town of Jamestown comprises the entire island, which is connected by bridges to North Kingstown and Newport. Beavertail Point, at the southern peninsula of the island, marks the entrances to both the east and west passages of busy Narragansett Bay. With foreign trade blossoming from Newport, local m...

David Appleby was a lighthouse keeper in England for 32 years. After he was hired by Trinity House in 1965 and trained at Harwich, he spent some time as a supernumerary keeper at various light stations. His first assignment as an assistant keeper was at isolated Eddystone, one of the most famous lighthouses in the world. Eddystone Lighthouse, England. USLHS photo. David Appleby Other stations wher...

The body of water known as Sabine Lake is actually a bay on the Gulf coast of Louisiana and Texas, about 90 miles east of Houston. Funds were first appropriated for a lighthouse at Sabine Pass, an outlet of the bay into the Gulf of Mexico, in 1849, but the project was shelved for a few years. It was first lighted in 1856. The appearance of the tower is unique, with eight buttresses supporting it n...

Fort Point Lighthouse is in Stockton Springs, Maine, near the mouth of the Penobscot River. The light station was established in 1836 and the square brick lighthouse tower and attached keeper’s house that stand there today were built in 1857. Terry Cole was a keeper at Fort Point when he was in the Coast Guard for three years in the 1970s. The lighthouse is within Fort Point State Park, and Terry...

Listen to the podcast with this player: Fort Point Lighthouse is in Stockton Springs, Maine, near the mouth of the Penobscot River. The light station is part of Fort Point State Park and is adjacent to the remains of Fort Pownall, which was built in 1759 to guard against the French. Fort Point Light Station was established in 1836, and the 31-foot square brick lighthouse that stands today was buil...

Circa late 1800s photo of Pointe aux Barques Light Station, Michigan. U.S. Coast Guard Historian’s Office. Pointe aux Barques, on Lake Huron at the northeastern tip of the part of Michigan known as “The Thumb,” takes its name from a French phrase meaning “point of little boats.” A dangerous reef extending almost two miles from the point was a hazard to shipping traffic heading north along th...

In this special episode, Light Hearted host Jeremy D’Entremont interviews Tetiana Manziuk of Kyiv, the capital city of Ukraine. Tetiana — or Tanya, as she’s known — is the Alumni Officer at House of Europe, a non-governmental organization fostering professional and creative exchange between Ukrainians and their colleagues in European Union countries. Tetiana Manziuk at the...

Located on the historic waterfront of Rondout, New York, the Hudson River Maritime Museum was established in 1979 and is dedicated to the preservation and interpretation of the maritime history of the Hudson River, its tributaries, and related industries. The museum’s collections include historic vessels, objects, archival material, and art related to Hudson River transportation, industries,...

Listen to the podcast with this player: The Port of Galveston, Texas, which was established in 1825, eventually became the busiest port on the Gulf Coast and the second busiest in the country after New York City. Bolivar Point is at the southwestern end of the Bolivar Peninsula, marking the east side of the entrance to Galveston Bay. The first lighthouse on the point began service in late 1852. In...

The mission of the Noble Maritime Collection , an art and history museum on Staten Island, New York, is to present exhibitions and programs that celebrate the working waterfront of New York Harbor in the tradition of the distinguished artist John A. Noble. The museum is located on the former grounds of the retirement home known as Sailors’ Snug Harbor, on Staten Island’s North Shore. R...

Retired Rear Admiral Daniel R. May U.S. Coast Guard photo Retired Rear Admiral Daniel R. May graduated with a degree in ocean engineering from the U.S. Coast Guard Academy in 1979. He spent more than three decades working on many lighthouse-related projects from the Carolinas to Maine. In part two of this two-part interview, Dan talks about more lighthouses he worked on, including Plum Island in N...

Daniel R. May graduated with a degree in ocean engineering from the U.S. Coast Guard Academy in New London, Connecticut, in the Class of 1979. After time aboard the Coast Guard cutter Ingram , based in Portsmouth, Virginia, Dan became the ocean engineer for the Fifth Coast Guard District. He earned a master’s degree in ocean engineering from the University of Rhode Island in 1982. Retired Rear Adm...

Neil Hargreaves Listen to the podcast with this player: Neil Hargreaves was a light keeper for Trinity House in England from 1974-1988, and he is the founder and chairman of the Association of Lighthouse Keepers. Neil, who was originally from Lancashire, spent the first two years of his light keeping career on light vessels, mostly the Newarp lightship off the Norfolk coast in southwest England. N...

The growing limestone trade in Midcoast Maine led to the establishment of a light station at Owl’s Head, at the entrance to Rockland Harbor, in 1825. A tall lighthouse wasn’t necessary because of the height of the promontory. The light is exactly 100 feet above sea level. The present 30-foot brick lighthouse tower replaced the original one in 1852. Owls Head Lighthouse. Photo by Dominic Trap...

Photographer Mike Leonard lives in Yarmouth, Maine. His work is frequently seen in books, magazines, and on television, including the Weather Channel. His photos have also been seen on the National Geographic Wild program. He enjoys shooting landscapes and seascapes, including lighthouses, as well as nighttime scenes. Mike offers workshops on digital photography, which you can read about on his we...

Paradise Island in the Bahamas was formerly known as Hog Island. With an area of about 685 acres, it’s located just offshore from the city of Nassau. The island was bought by the A&P supermarket heir Huntington Hartford in 1959, and the name was changed from Hog Island to Paradise Island. The island was heavily developed and is best known today for the Atlantis Paradise Island Resort. Pa...

Tiny Cockspur Island is located at the mouth of the south channel of Georgia’s Savannah River. An unlighted day beacon tower built on the island in the 1830s, later converted into a lighthouse in the late 1840s, was destroyed by a hurricane in 1854. The 46-foot-tall lighthouse that still stands today was built in 1856 on the old foundation. The tower is made of Savannah Grey brick. Cockspur Lighth...