Click here for a pdf version of this file

Mobile Point Lighthouse Still in Limbo

Alabama’s Mobile Point Range Rear Lighthouse continues to remain packed up under an awning, but exposed to the elements. The skeletal tower has been stored there since 2004, even though the Alabama Historical Commission has had $400,000 to restore and re-erect the lighthouse since 2014. Shame on them.

Deterioration Continues at Sand Island Light

It has been reported to us that the roof of the cupola of Alabama’s 1873 Sand Island Lighthouse is rapidly deteriorating. The lighthouse is on the Lighthouse Digest Doomsday List of Endangered Lighthouses.

Light on Tourist Guide

It’s always nice to see when a tourist guide features a lighthouse on its cover. Such was the case with the 2020 Travel Guide for Bayfield and the Apostle Islands in Wisconsin. They featured their 1898 Devils Island Lighthouse.

Turkish Lighthouse Restored

The historic Sile Lighthouse in Istanbul, Turkey has been reopened after undergoing extensive restoration. Commissioned by the Ottoman Sultan and constructed in 1859 by French engineers, the lighthouse overlooks the Black Sea from the northern slopes of the Turkish metropolis. The restoration project took one-and-half-year to complete. Turkey’s Transport and Infrastructure Minister stated that 41 historic lighthouses in Turkey are now undergoing restoration.

Total Disregard for Names and Locations

One of the movies that I watched this past Christmas season was the Hallmark movie “Nantucket Noel,” which is about a single lady who learns of a developer who is planning to tear down the wharf that is home to her toy store and other long-time businesses. Although Hallmark used Sankaty Head Lighthouse to promote the movie, the only Nantucket lighthouses briefly shown in the movie were Great Point Lighthouse and a photo-shopped image of Brant Point Lighthouse. More prominently featured in the movie were Cockspur Island Lighthouse in Georgia, Hospital Point Lighthouse in Beverly, Massachusetts; and a sweeping view of Wisconsin’s Kewaunee Pierhead Lighthouse, giving the viewer the impression that these lighthouses were all on Nantucket Island off the coast of Massachusetts. Shame on them! I’ve spent years trying to teach people about lighthouses and movies like this are deceitful to the American Public.

Money for Harbor of Refuge

Delaware’s Senator Tom Carper is touting federal funding to help that state’s Harbor of Refuge Lighthouse with $250,000 that he wants from the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act to pay for a feasibility study to determine the stability of the structure.

Burlington Canal Light to be Moved

The 1858 Burlington Canal Main Lighthouse in Hamilton, Ontario, Canada, will be moved 330 feet to allow for more public access to the 55-foot-tall tower. In order for this to happen, the Canadian government is transferring ownership of the lighthouse and keeper’s quarters to Hamilton Oshawa Ports Authority (HOPA), which will do the work to make the move and save and restore the structures. HOPA’s long-term commitment will be the redevelopment of Fisherman’s Pier into a central public plaza, creating space for cultural programs, with the lighthouse as the focal point.

Moosehead Beacon Celebrates 100 Years

Smaller aids to navigation come in many forms, but few can rival Maine’s “Mile Light” in Moosehead Lake for unusual appearance and historic significance. The light is celebrating its 100th anniversary this year. It is mounted atop an original 1920s telephone pole that was set into the old boiler from the 1896 wooden steamboat Katahdin that burned in 1913. The eight-foot cast iron boiler sits upright on top of some mounded rocks that mark a sunken island for boats to avoid. The current beacon was rehabbed in 2008 by the Moosehead Lake Yacht Club using an IQ Sealight solar LED that has a range of around four nautical miles that flashes a white light once every second.

Maine’s New Lighthouse License Plate

It’s been a long time coming, but Maine finally has a specialty lighthouse license plate. Proceeds from sales of the plate go to the Maine Lighthouse Trust for lighthouse preservation causes in Maine. So, if you live in Maine, when you renew your license plates, please be sure to upgrade to the new lighthouse plate. You can get a regular issue plate or a specialized plate.

Click here for a pdf version of this file

This story appeared in the Mar/Apr 2022 edition of Lighthouse Digest Magazine. The print edition contains more stories than our internet edition, and each story generally contains more photographs - often many more - in the print edition. For subscription information about the print edition, click here.

All contents copyright © 1995-2024 by Lighthouse Digest®, Inc. No story, photograph, or any other item on this website may be reprinted or reproduced without the express permission of Lighthouse Digest. For contact information, click here.