Light Hearted

Use this player to hear the podcast: Dan Spinella began his Fresnel lens research and restoration work in 1992. His first project was to provide engineering drawings to aid in the restoration of the St. Augustine Lighthouse first-order Fresnel lens. Several restoration projects followed, using both acrylic and glass prisms used to restore historic Fresnel lenses. Dan’s company, Artworks Florida ,...

Use this player to listen to the podcast episode: Halfway Rock is a windswept, rocky ledge far out in Maine’s Casco Bay, about nine miles east of Portland Head. Its name comes from its location about halfway between Cape Elizabeth and Cape Small. A 76-foot granite lighthouse tower was built on the ledge in the summer of 1871. It’s now privately owned and has been restored in recent years. Ha...

Although our nation has made much progress in addressing the COVID-19 pandemic and we can now all start to see a guiding light at the end of the tunnel, it will still be several months before lighthouse visitation picks up to near-normal levels and for some organizations that may not happen until the 2022 season. The Board of Directors of the U.S. Lighthouse Society has therefore unanimously agree...

Sheringham Point Lighthouse. BC. Photo by Jeremy D’Entremont. Sheringham Point, in the community of Shirley, about 16 miles northwest from Race Rocks near the south end of Vancouver Island, was named in 1846 for the British Vice Admiral William Louis Sheringham of the Royal Navy. The wreck of the steamer Valencia nearby in 1906, with the loss of at least 126 lives, had put pressure on the Ca...

Jim Bruton was born in Wales in 1926, but his family relocated to British Columbia in Canada when he was just one year old. He started working in the logging industry when he was 14. After serving as a merchant seaman during World War II, in 1945 Bruton became an assistant keeper, or junior keeper, at Lennard Island Lightstation, off the west coast of Vancouver Island near Tofino. Jim and Evelyn B...

Pete Lerro is a graduate of Temple University in Pennsylvania, where he studied video, audio, and photography. In his career as a photographer, Pete has done work for the Department of Homeland Security, the NFL, the NBA, the NHL, and USA Gymnastics, among others. When he’s not on assignment, he organizes photo workshops across the country. With Pete’s unique workshops, guests can expect special a...

This is part two of a two part interview with Richard Cummins, a native of Ireland who worked as a lighthouse keeper in that country for a decade. He spent time at the very famous Fastnet Rock Lighthouse; at Hook Head, the oldest operating lighthouse in the world, and some other well known light stations – more than 20 in all. A clip from the interview with Richard Cummins: Download Here’s a...

Richard Cummins Richard Cummins is a native of Ireland who, for about 10 years ending in 1989, worked as a lighthouse keeper in that country. He spent time at the very famous Fastnet Rock Lighthouse; at Hook Head, the oldest operating lighthouse in the world, and some other well known light stations – more than 20 in all. Hook Head, County Wexford, Ireland. Photo by Richard Cummins After his time...

The U.S. Lighthouse Society podcast “Light Hearted” was launched in June 2019. The podcast’s name refers to people who have lighthouses in their hearts. It’s the only podcast that’s devoted to the subject of lighthouses. Since it was launched, 100 episodes have featured interviews with lighthouse keepers, authors, historians, and preservationists — and much...

Elizabeth Spires was born in Lancaster, Ohio, and she now lives in Baltimore, Maryland. She has always admired the poetry of Emily Dickinson, and by the time she was twelve she had decided to be a writer. When she was in college at Vassar, she began writing poetry seriously. That led to the publication of seven collections of poetry for adults, most recently A Memory of the Future , which was a Ne...

Like his father before him, young Joseph Hindley went to work in the textile mills of New Bedford, Massachusetts. Looking for a more adventurous life, he spent some time in the Coast Guard. He then entered the Lighthouse Service. He had a long career as a lighthouse keeper that spanned from the late 1920s to 1972, when he retired as the last civilian keeper in the New England region. He served at...

Pemaquid Point Lighthouse is one of the most frequently visited attractions on the Maine coast, receiving about 100,000 visitors each year. The point, at the entrance to Muscongus Bay to the east and Johns Bay to the west, was the scene of many shipwrecks through the centuries. In May 1826, Congress appropriated $4,000 for the building of a lighthouse at Pemaquid Point. The original tower didn’t l...

Fay Howe, courtesy of her son, Don Watson. Fay Howe, as drawn by illustrator Brian Simmonds for “Lighthouse Girl.” This is part 2 of a two part interview with Dianne Wolfer, author of the award-winning children’s book Lighthouse Girl . The book tells the true story of Fay Catherine Howe, daughter of the lighthouse keeper at Breaksea Island in Western Australia, during World War I...

Dianne Wolfer Dianne Wolfer is an award-winning children’s author who lives on the south coast of Western Australia. A teacher who has worked in Tokyo, Japan, as well as in Nepal in addition to schools in her native Australia, she pens novels for children and young adults that focus on life in modern Australia and Pacific countries. Her 2009 book Lighthouse Girl won the 2010 West Australian...

Filmmaker Rob Apse was born and raised in Reading, Massachusetts, but he spent summers on the coast of Maine and at Great East Lake in New Hampshire, boating, fishing, and exploring. After graduating from Ithaca College with a degree in Cinema Production, he’s worked almost 10 years in creative marketing. After realizing he had a passion for documentary storytelling, he opened his own marketing st...

In March 1871, Congress appropriated funds for a lighthouse on the east side of California’s San Pablo Strait. It was decided that East Brother Island, about 1000 feet offshore on the east side of the strait, would be a good location. The style chosen was the handsome Stick Style design developed by architect Paul Pelz and used for several other West Coast lighthouses around the same time; a...

The Flying Santa tradition traces its origins to a pioneering pilot named Bill Wincapaw. Wincapaw flew amphibious airplanes around the Penobscot Bay region in Maine. He often relied on the area’s lighthouses to get him safely home. To show his appreciation to the lighthouse keepers and their families, on Christmas Day 1929 he loaded his plane with a dozen packages containing gifts for the lighthou...

The Chance Brothers and Company glassworks began producing glass in 1824 at their facility in Smethwick, West Midlands, England. Before too long, the company became known as the best glass manufacturer in Britain. In addition to producing sheet glass, Chance Brothers perfected methods of manufacturing optical glass for telescopes. In 1848, Chance Brothers began working on the manufacture of Fresne...

Offshore from Cape Hatteras, North Carolina, the Gulf Stream collides with the Virginia Drift, a branch of the Labrador Current from Canada. This current forces mariners heading south toward a dangerous twelve-mile long sandbar called Diamond Shoals. Countless shipwrecks there have led to the nickname “Graveyard of the Atlantic.” A lighthouse was first authorized at Cape Hatteras in 1794, and the...

The Nantucket South Shoals extend many miles south of Nantucket Island, which is south of Cape Cod in Massachusetts. The shoals were a great hazard to shipping, with more than 500 shipwrecks in the area. The first lightship was stationed at the Nantucket New South Shoals in June of 1854. The name eventually changed from “Nantucket New South Shoals” to just “Nantucket Shoals&#8221...

North Manitou Island is in northeastern Lake Michigan, about 12 miles west-northwest of Leland, Michigan. A lighthouse was first established on the island in 1896. A few years after the lighthouse on the island was established, it was decided that an offshore light was needed to mark a shoal in the busy six-mile-wide passage between the southern point of North Manitou Island and the mainland. The...

Stonington, Connecticut, grew into a thriving port known for its shipbuilding, sealing, and whaling. By 1819, the town had as many as 15 vessels engaged in fishing along with some engaged in coastal trade. In May 1822, Congress appropriated $3,500 for a lighthouse at the east side of the entrance to Stonington’s harbor. The stone lighthouse was first lit in 1824. In 1840, a new lighthouse was buil...

The 1861 building, known as Red Bluff Lighthouse. (Island County Historical Society) The promontory known as Admiralty Head, on the west coast of Whidbey Island in Washington, juts out into the east side of the entrance to Admiralty Inlet, a busy passage that leads to Puget Sound. Admiralty Head’s light station went into service in January 1861. It was originally known as Red Bluff Lighthouse. Bec...

With a large harbor on Buzzards Bay, Mattapoisett, Massachusetts, developed as a center for shipbuilding, whaling, and coastal trade. Congress appropriated $5,000 on March 3, 1837, for a lighthouse at Neds Point, at the north side of the entrance to Mattapoisett’s harbor. The lighthouse was first lighted in March 1838. Neds Point Lighthouse. Photo by Jeremy D’Entremont. The Coast Guard...

Round Island Lighthouse, in the Straits of Mackinac, is one of the most photographed lighthouses in Michigan. Thousands of people see it each year from the ferries that pass from Mackinac Island to Mackinaw City and St. Ignace. Round Island itself is about 378 acres and is uninhabited. It’s part of the Hiawatha National Forest. The lighthouse was constructed in 1895. It was decommissioned and aban...