New 1st-class stamps show 5 Gulf Coast lighthouses

The U.S. Postal Service started selling first-class stamps Thursday with five Gulf of Mexico lighthouses that withstood hurricanes in 2005.

The 44-cent stamps depict lighthouses in Biloxi, Miss., and Sand Island, Ala., battered by Hurricane Katrina; Matagorda Island, Texas, and Sabine Pass, La., which withstood Rita; and Fort Jefferson, Fla., slammed by Wilma.

U.S. Postal Service Governor Katherine C. Tobin spoke at a ceremony Thursday at the Biloxi lighthouse, which is undergoing restoration. The 64-foot structure was built in 1848 and damaged by a 26-foot storm surge in Katrina.

Tobin said in a news release that the Gulf Coast lighthouses “have been eyewitnesses to the ravages of the Civil War and withstood devastating storms.”

B&B plans for decrepit NY lighthouse off LI coast

A nonprofit group wants to turn a delapidated lighthouse with a sweeping view of Long Island Sound into a bed-and-breakfast.

Execution Rocks Lighthouse’s ladder is rusty, the stairs are rickety and the plaster walls are crumbling. There’s also a rotting hole in one floor.

But the Philadephia-based nonprofit preservation group hopes a $1.2 million renovation will draw a steady stream of visitors and overnight bed-and-breakfast guests.

Historically Significant Structures Inc., received the deed to the 1850 structure from the federal government.

The group’s president says no one has lived there since 1978. The group has raised $2,000, but is seeking more donations.

The lighthouse is between Davids’ Island and Sands Point on Long Island.

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Information from: Newsday, http://www.newsday.com

Biloxi Lighthouse gets makeover, stamp

July 1, 2009

Work has begun on the Biloxi Lighthouse, four years after the Gulf Coast landmark was damaged during Hurricane Katrina.

Officials say workers will remove the decorative fence around the base, then start inside, replacing missing bricks and repairing the mortar.

On July 23, the lighthouse will be the host site of a ceremony to unveil the Lighthouses of the Gulf Coast postage stamps depicting lighthouses from all five Gulf states.

The Biloxi Lighthouse was built in 1848 and stands 64-feet tall.

The repairs are funded mostly by FEMA.

Visit Historic Oregon Lighthouses by Barbara Pfieffer

Lighthouses in Oregon

The rugged coast of Oregon offers visitors a chance to view and tour some of the most beautiful lighthouses in the world. In all, Oregon boasts eleven lighthouses along its shorelines. Many of these lighthouses have been restored and are a great way to learn about the history of the state. In the next section each of the eleven lighthouses will be explored in detail, starting from the north of Oregon and down the coast.

Tillamook Rock – located at Cannon Beach

Located about one mile from the coastline, Tillamook Rock Lighthouse can be seen from the shores of Ecola State Park. The construction of this particular lighthouse was completed on January 21, 1881, after two years of extremely grueling and challenging work. The lighthouse was continuously manned by five men, four on duty and one on “liberty” on the mainland. Harsh conditions and violent storms accompanied by large waves sometimes left the men stranded on the rock for extended periods of time without a way to restock their provisions and supplies. Because of the extreme weather constantly bombarding the lighthouse on Tillamook Rock, its costs for upkeep and operations were the most expensive in the nation. On September 10, 1957, owing to the increasingly large price to maintain, the light was shut off and the lighthouse left empty.

Today, the lighthouse is privately owned and has been turned into a site dedicated to housing over a half-million urns of human ashes. It could aptly be called a “cemetery at sea”. To view the lighthouse, visit Ecola State Park. The lighthouse is best seen with binoculars as it is quite a distance from the shore.

Cape Meares Lighthouse

With a history much less exciting than other lighthouses, Cape Meares sits 200 feet above the Pacific Coast in Oceanside, Oregon. Its light was first illuminated on January 1, 1890 and could be seen from twenty-one miles away. Cared for by numerous families throughout the years, the last keepers left the lighthouse in 1963 when it was outfitted with a flashing light. There was no longer a need for a human being to physically turn the light off in the morning and on at night. Several years later the lighthouse was taken over by the Oregon State Parks and can now be visited by stopping in to Cape Meares State Scenic Viewpoint at Cape Meares State Park.

Yaquina Head Lighthouse

This amazing lighthouse, illuminated for the first time on August 20, 1873, rises up 93 feet into the air. Boasting the only marble floor of any lighthouse in Oregon, Yaquina Head Lighthouse receives hundreds of thousands of guests per year making it one of the most visited lighthouses in the United States. Ships can see the tower from nineteen miles away as it stands 162 feet above sea level.

The view from the top of this lighthouse is incredible and is worth the large number of spiraling stairs that must be climbed to reach the top. The lighthouse is now a part of the Yaquina Head Outstanding Natural Area.

Yaquina Bay Lighthouse

The lighthouse at Newport, Yaquina Bay, was actually only used for a total of three years after being completed on November 3, 1871. This lighthouse was built before Yaquina Head Lighthouse, also found in Newport. As it was left empty for so many years, it was not in good shape when the Oregon State Park Group came in to restore and reopen it in 1974. It is now open to the public at no cost and contains many artifacts and memorabilia from Oregon’s maritime history.

Cleft of the Rock Lighthouse

Jim Gibbs, a former keeper of Tillamook Rock Lighthouse, was the builder of Cleft of the Rock Lighthouse. He had the lighthouse constructed to resemble the 1898 Fiddle Reef Lighthouse in Vancouver Island. The lighthouse, completed in 1976, was an addition onto Mr. Gibb’s private home. It can be seen, towering 110 feet above the Pacific Ocean, from mile post 166 on Oregon’s Highway 101, just south of Yachats. Since it is privately owned, there is no public access to the tower.

Heceta Head Lighthouse

The name of this 1894 lighthouse comes from the Spanish explorer Don Bruno de Heceta. It rises 205 feet above the Pacific Ocean and offers spectacular views to visitors from the top. It is located about 12 miles north of Florence right off Highway 101.

Umpqua River Lighthouse

Located in South Reedsport, the Umpqua River Lighthouse light was first illuminated on October 10, 1857. The lighthouse was originally designed and built for the large amount of trade that was expected for this area of Oregon. As luck would have it, the weather destroyed the lighthouse over a period of six years. In 1894, a second lighthouse was built, this time its location was placed well away from the harsh forces of nature and can still be visited today. To view it, take a trip to Umpqua Lighthouse State Park, about three miles off of Highway 101, six miles south of Reedsport.

Cape Arago

The lighthouse at Cape Arago cannot be viewed by the public; it is behind the guarded gates of the United States Coast Guard. To view the lighthouse, a high powered camera or binoculars will do the trick. This lighthouse was first lit on November 1, 1866. It was followed by a second and third lighthouse in 1909 and 1934, respectively. Today, only the third tower remains.

Coquille River Lighthouse

Although construction on this beautifully located lighthouse first began in 1891, it wasn’t complete and fully lit until February 29, 1896, due to a number of delays in building. In 1939, the automated beacon abolished the need for a keeper at the lighthouse and the house was left empty. The lighthouse was renovated in 1976 by the US Army Corps and the Oregon State Parks after being vacant for 40 years with no care. To see the outside of this lighthouse, the inside is not available for public viewing, visit Bullards Beach State Park, north of Bandon.

Capo Blanco Lighthouse

Sitting high above on a 200 foot cliff, the Capo Blanco Lighthouse towers over the rocky cliffs below. December 20, 1870 marks the day the lighthouse was first lit. Since then it has helped warn ships and their crews of the treacherous coastline on which it sits. The lighthouse is located four miles north of Port Orford and is open to the public.

Port of Brookings Lighthouse

Only the second lighthouse in Oregon to be privately owned, the Port of Brookings Lighthouse was first lit on July 4th, 1997 with the approval of the federal government. Bill Cady had the lighthouse built in 1990 as an addition to his private home. In 1997, the entire structure was relocated to where it is today. Although a private structure, the lighthouse can be viewed from Brookings Harbor.

About the Author

Barbara Pfieffer lives in Oregon and loves it. She shares her information about things to do on an Oregon vacation. Visit her website, Vacation-In-Oregon.com for more information.

Visitors can view historic lighthouses on SC coast

May 16, 2009   

A tour of Lighthouse Island in the Cape Romain National Wildlife Refuge on the South Carolina coast is being offered this weekend.

On Sunday, visitors can attend an 11 a.m. presentation on the lighthouses at the Seewee Visitor and Environmental Center northeast of Charleston.

Then they will drive to McClellanville to catch a boat to the island. There’s a $35 transportation fee.

The Post and Courier of Charleston reports the island still has two lights, both now retired.

A cone-shaped 65-foot-tall light was built in 1827 and powered by whale oil. Thirty years later, a second light — a 150-foot-tall octagonal light – was built.

That guarded the coast until 1947. Both lights are listed on the National Register of Historic Places.

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Maine Lighthouse Museum may have to close

May 13, 2009 

The Maine Lighthouse Museum in Rockland says rising costs and lagging donations have led to financial problems that may force it to close.

Board member Dot Black, widow of museum founder Ken Black, said Wednesday that without financial help, “the lights may go out in the largest and most important lighthouse museum in the nation.”

The museum has its roots in a maritime exhibit created in 1972 at the Rockland Coast Guard Station. The growing collection, which includes rare lighthouse lenses, was moved twice before the Museum of Lighthouse History in Wells merged its collection with the museum in Rockland.

The museum, a nonprofit run largely by volunteers, relies primarily on membership dues, admission fees, contributions and fundraising events.

Park offers nighttime tour of Hatteras Lighthouse

The National Park Service is offering 60 people a chance to climb a coastal North Carolina landmark.

The Park Service said the nighttime tours of the Cape Hatteras Lighthouse will be conducted Friday at 8 p.m. and 9 p.m. Each session is limited to 30 people who buy tickets earlier that day.

Climbers will ascend the 257 steps inside the lighthouse, using flashlights for illumination, while park rangers will tell lighthouse stories.

Visitors will be able to see the lighthouse beacon in operation. If weather permits they also will be allowed onto the balcony at the top of the tower.

Tickets are nonrefundable.

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On the Net:

Cape Hatteras National Seashore: http://www.nps.gov/caha/

Funds approved to restore NC’s Bodie Island light

The federal budget includes $3 million to restore the deteriorating Bodie Island Lighthouse on North Carolina’s Outer Banks.

The Virginian-Pilot of Norfolk reported Thursday that the money is the estimated amount for a complete restoration of the 1872 lighthouse structure north of Oregon Inlet.

Bodie Island light was damaged when the National Park Service acquired it in 2000 from the Coast Guard. Some of the 205 metal steps in the building were corroded and pieces of cast iron metalwork were missing.

Officials at the Cape Hatteras National Seashore say work should start in August and run about 18 months. The light’s Fresnel lens also will be restored.

Lighthouses of Alabama – Part 1

Alabama‘s very short coastline has 3 surviving lighthouses, but only one is active and one has been removed for restoration.  A state preservation society, the Alabama Lighthouse Association, was formed in 2002.  The Sand Island Light is one of the most endangered lighthouses in the nation.  The Sand Island and Mobile Bay lighthouses were also damaged by Hurricane Ivan in 2004 and Hurricane Katrina in 2006, and repairing the damage will further delay restoration efforts.

Middle Bay Lighthouse

Due to high labor costs in the post-Civil-War South, the Middle Bay lighthouse was prefabricated in the North and then shipped to Mobile Point to aid in navigation on Mobile Bay Alabama.  It arrived in 1885 and is a wood hexagonal-shape light supported by seven legs –one in the middle, and a single leg extending from each corner of the superstructure.  Twenty years had passed and the lens and lantern room were removed from the lighthouse and two acetylene lights were placed on a pile protruding from the roof.

In 1935 the light was electrified and no keepers were present to care for the Alabama  in lighthouses for several decades and it fell into a state of disrepair.  In 1967 the Coast Guard received permission from the General Services Administration to demolish the dilapidated lighthouse but several parties argued that the lighthouse served a vital navigational role as it was more readily picked up on ships’ radars than the small modern buoys.  The pleas were convincing, and the lighthouse was saved.

Mobile Point Light

The Mobile Point Lighthouse was built on land acquired from Spain, in 1821. Mobile Point is a 30-foot tall iron tower built in 1873 at the east side of the narrow mouth into Mobile Bay which is located on the grounds of the Fort Morgan State Historic Site in Alabama. Fort Morgan, named for General Daniel Morgan, a Revolutionary War hero, as a strategic defense of Mobile Bay. It replaced the original 1822 brick tower that had been destroyed during the Civil War.  The original optic was a red fourth-order lens.

This light was decommissioned in 1966 when it was replaced by a skeletal, radio tower type standing 120 feet, painted red and white.  This tower is located on Fort Monroe State Historic grounds.  The lens is located in the Fort Monroe museum.

In 2004 the State of Alabama dismantled the lighthouse and stored it in a warehouse due to lack of funds to maintain the lighthouse.

Lighthouses of Alabama Part 2

Secretary of the Treasury empowered by Congress in May 1838 placed an “iron spindle” lighthouse on the outer bar of Mobile Bay Alabama. The tower was visible from a distance of six miles and completed in 1830.  However, mariners complained about how inadequate the lighthouse was.  Congress allotted $10,000 for an improved lighthouse on Sand Island in March 1837.   Sand Island Lighthouse is located 3 miles south of Dauphin Island, Alabama in the Gulf of Mexico.

This lighthouse, only 55-feet high was fitted with fourteen lamps backed by sixteen-inch reflectors and was constructed on the offshore island in 1838. It soon became apparent that the tower was not tall enough to adequately guide ships into Mobile Bay Alabama. A new brick tower was erected in 1859, at a cost of $35,000 – standing a full 150-feet and housing a brilliant First Order Fresnel lens that was visible for 20 miles.  The foundation material was stone and construction material brownstone built as a conical shape.  The fog signal bell struck every 20 seconds by machinery.

The original lens in 1838 was 14 lamps with 16-inch reflectors.  First tower in Alabama was replaced in 1859 and was then the tallest lighthouse built on the Gulf Coast. A first order Fresnel lens was installed.  From 1864 to 1873 a temporary wooden structure was used which displayed a fourth order lens.  The lighthouse was intentionally destroyed in 1863 by Confederate soldiers when it was discovered that Union soldiers were using the tower as a lookout to spy on Fort Morgan in Alabama.

The tower was first lighted in 1873 and the light once more guided ships into Mobile Bay Alabama.  In 1896 the light was jeopardized when coastal storms washed away the island itself. Over the next ten years, the island would change as coastal conditions changed, and was lost permanently when the 1906 hurricane struck.