Ida Lewis This is an edited version of an interview first heard in episode 48 in February 2020. The guest is author Lenore Skomal. Ida Lewis was possibly the most famous lighthouse keeper in American history. She was born in Newport, Rhode Island, in 1842. She became the official keeper at Lime Rock in Newport Harbor in 1879 and held the position f…

Sea Girt Lighthouse Before Sea Girt Light was established in 1896, there was a long stretch of more than 38 miles with no lighthouses on the New Jersey coast from the Navesink Twin Lights south to Barnegat Light. In addition to helping coastal maritime traffic, the lighthouse served to aid mariners entering Sea Girt Inlet and Wreck Pond. The design…

Terry Rowden This is an edited version of an interview that originally appeared in Light Hearted episode 25 in September 2019. Terry Rowden, a native of Michigan, served as a keeper at Little River Light Station in Cutler, Maine, for the U.S. Coast Guard from 1968 to 1970. Almost four decades later, when the Friends of Little River Lighthouse was f…

Cape May Lighthouse, New Jersey. USLHS photo by James Hill. Cape May Lighthouse stands at the southern tip of the state of New Jersey, on the north side of the entrance to Delaware Bay. The first lighthouse on the site was built in 1823, and the second in 1847. The locations of the first two lighthouses are now underwater. The extant 157-foot brick…

This installment features highlights from an interview that was originally recorded in March 2019. Matt Rosenberg is a high school English teacher and also the seasonal caretaker and modern day keeper of the famous Cape Neddick Light Station in York, better known as the Nubble Light. Nubble Light Station, York, Maine The light station is owned by t…

Drum Point Lighthouse Cove Point Lighthouse The exhibits at the Calvert Marine Museum in Solomons, Maryland, focus on maritime heritage and the natural history of the Chesapeake Bay. On the museum grounds is Drum Point Lighthouse, a cottage-style screw-pile structure that was originally located on the Chesapeake Bay near the mouth of the Patuxent R…

This is an edited version of an interview first recorded in 2019 and appearing in Light Hearted episode 26. Eric Jay Dolin is the author of 14 books and dozens of articles on American history. The book that’s discussed in this interview is the acclaimed Brilliant Beacons: A History of the American Lighthouse, published in 2016. C. Douglas Kroll, in…

Seven Foot Knoll Lighthouse Located in the inner harbor of Baltimore, Maryland, Historic Ships of Baltimore celebrates more than 200 years of Maryland’s naval and maritime history. The site’s attractions include the sloop-of-war Constellation, the last sail-only warship designed and built by the United States Navy. Among the other highlights are th…

Borden Flats Lighthouse in Fall River, Massachusetts, was bought in 2011 by Nick Korstad under the guidelines of the National Historic Lighthouse Preservation Act, and Nick fixed it up and opened it up to the public for overnight stays. In 2018, it was bought by Kevin Ferias, who has continued to operate it as a very successful B&B. It’s now for sa…

Sandy Hook Light Station, photo by Jeremy D’Entremont. The lighthouse that stands at the end of the long spit of land known as Sandy Hook, on the approach to New York Harbor, began service in 1764, making it the oldest standing lighthouse tower in the United States. The octagonal rubblestone tower stands 103 feet tall. Tom Hoffman The light remains…

Horton Point Lighthouse, photo by Jeremy D'EntremontHorton Point Lighthouse is on the north side of eastern Long Island, New York, in the area known as the North Fork. The granite and brick building consists of a two floor keeper’s dwelling attached to a square, 59-foot-tall lighthouse tower. The building was nearly demolished after World War II, b…

Dianne BallonLocated in the historic shipbuilding city of Bath, Maine, the Maine Maritime Museum includes exhibits dedicated to the past, present, and future of Maine's storied waterways. For lighthouse buffs, there’s an exhibit called “Into the Lantern: A Lighthouse Experience.” Opening this past February, the exhibit “Lost and Found: Sounds of th…

Sally and Wayne WheelerThis is part two of a two part interview with Wayne and Sally Wheeler, recorded in Washington state in March 2024. Wayne is a former Coast Guard officer who founded the U.S. Lighthouse Society in San Francisco in 1984, and he is now the president emeritus of the Society.The idea for the formation of the Society blossomed when…

Wayne Wheeler in 1983The name Wayne Wheeler has become synonymous with lighthouse preservation and education. He’s one of the pioneers of the lighthouse preservation movement and one of the foremost experts on lighthouse history in the U.S. A 1962 graduate of Syracuse University, Wayne spent 23 years in the Coast Guard in the aids to navigation fie…

Edward Peppitt is the southeast England representative for the Association of Lighthouse Keepers, or ALK, and he produces and hosts a podcast called Keeping Watch. He’s also a fundraising ambassador for Shift MS, a charity aimed at keeping multiple sclerosis sufferers as active as possible. Ed Peppitt at Happisburgh Lighthouse in England.Ed has wri…

Gene Davis with a fourth-order Fresnel lens from New Dungeness Lighthouse, Washington.The Coast Guard Museum Northwest, located on an active Coast Guard base on the waterfront in Seattle, Washington, opened in 1976. The museum serves as a showcase for some of the Coast Guard’s most important stories, lessons, and accomplishments, and the museum’s e…

Tony Ashdon (left) with Light Hearted host Jeremy D'Entremont. Photo by John LopezThe guest in this episode, Tony Ashdon, spent 22 years in the Coast Guard including some time as a lighthouse keeper. Tony spent some years on an aids to navigation team that serviced lighthouses and other aids in District One, in the northeastern U.S. He was also par…

The podcast "The Lighthouse Lowdown" was launched in 2022 by two residents of Kansas City, Missouri, Emily Straight and Vince Bailey. To date they have published almost 50 episodes, covering history, spooky stories, and all the "things that make lighthouses cooler than your average tower."Emily Straight and Vince Bailey at Roanoke Marshes Lighthous…

Harbor Beach Lighthouse, Michigan (USLHS archives)The Michigan Lighthouse Alliance (MLA), founded in 2003, encompasses more than 50 preservation groups and lighthouse stakeholders from around the state of Michigan. The purpose of the Alliance is to advocate for the preservation of the historic aids to navigation on the Great Lakes. The MLA holds a …

This is an edited version of an interview that was featured in Light Hearted episode 44 in January 2020. Joseph Smith has been a theatrical performer based in New York City since 1995. His passion is to create excitement and curiosity about history by giving voice to stories that celebrate the human spirit. He has written and performed a portrayal …

Hereford Inlet Lighthouse (courtesy photo)Hereford Inlet, a break in the barrier islands along the east side of Cape May, New Jersey, was used by whalers as far back as the 17th century. Shifting sands and a strong current made the inlet dangerous for mariners. As coastal shipping and the use of the inlet increased, funds for a lighthouse were appr…

We've produced almost 300 episodes of the podcast Light Hearted in the past five years. Most of the interviews we’ve done have been a half hour to an hour. We realize that listening to an hour-long podcast is not something everyone wants to do, so we’re introducing something we call Light Hearted Lite. In this new series, some favorite interviews f…

Dani and Guin doing what they loveThere are three segments in this episode. First, 11-year-old Guinevere Porter and her best friend Dani, Kentucky residents, talk about their visits to some beautiful and very tall lighthouses in Georgia, Florida, and elsewhere. As they correctly point out, we need kids to get interested in lighthouses. They will be…

The seas off the northern California coast are notoriously rough, and no area is more treacherous than St. George Reef, which is the tip of a submerged volcanic mountain about six miles offshore. Construction of a lighthouse on the reef began in 1883. It took nine years to complete the massive 90-foot-tall granite tower on top of a 50-foot-tall bas…

Whale Rock Lighthouse (U.S. Coast Guard)Walter Eberle with his wife AgnesWhale Rock Light, a typical cast-iron “spark plug” type lighthouse, was constructed at the entrance to the west passage of Rhode Island's Narragansett Bay in 1882 to help mariners past a treacherous reef. Isolated Whale Rock was not a desirable location for keepers, and 16 dif…

The area in Southern California known as San Pedro saw Spanish use dating back to the 1540s. Once a separate township, it’s now part of Los Angeles. After the Mexican-American War, San Pedro’s harbor was expanded and improved. Congress appropriated funds for a lighthouse at Point Fermin, San Pedro’s southernmost point, in 1854. The light began serv…

Mukilteo Lighthouse, photo by Jeremy D'EntremontOn the east side of Washington’s Puget Sound, Mukilteo grew as a port in the late 1800s, with salmon canning and lumber as leading industries. Funds were appropriated by Congress for a lighthouse at Mukilteo in 1903, and construction began in 1905. A 30-foot tower was built, attached to a fog signal b…

Old Point Loma Lighthouse, photo by Jeremy D'Entremont.Congress authorized lighthouses at several California locations in 1850, including San Diego. Construction began in 1854 on a lighthouse on a high bluff at the end of Point Loma, more than 400 feet above the sea. The lighthouse began service in November 1855. Its active life was fairly short, a…

Cornelia CesariMaine's Baker Island is about four miles southeast of the much larger Mount Desert Island. A lighthouse was established on the highest point of the island in 1828. The early history of the light station is very much tied into the history of the family of William and Hannah Gilley. The Gilleys had taken possession of the island in the…

Julie Barrow at Pigeon Point Light Station, California. Courtesy of Julie Barrow.California’s iconic Pigeon Point Lighthouse, located on the central coast between Santa Cruz and San Francisco, has been guiding mariners since 1872. Today, the historic light station is managed by California State Parks, and the former keepers’ housing serves as a you…

Harry Duvall and Dan May. Photo by Jeremy D'Entremont.Harry Duvall enlisted in the U.S. Coast Guard in the 1960s and trained as an electronics technician. After graduating from college, he returned to the Coast Guard as a civilian employee based at the district engineering office in Boston. For well over 30 years, he coordinated all the lighthouse …

A day beacon (or daybeacon) is defined simply as an unlighted nautical sea mark, serving to aid navigation during the day. The U.S. Coast Guard maintains many modern day beacons around the country, but the subject of this episode is the historic day beacons of New England. Some of them date back more than 200 years, and they have fascinating storie…

Little Mark Island—about one acre in size—is in Maine’s Casco Bay, near the town of Harpswell. On the island is a 50-foot tall, stone, pyramidal tower that was built in 1827. It’s known as the Little Mark Island Monument. It wasn’t built as a lighthouse—it was originally intended to serve as a day beacon or day marker to aid local navigation. In 19…

Sally Snowman and her husband Jay Thomson on the occasion of Sally's retirement on December 15, 2023. Photo by Jeremy D'Entremont.At the end of this year, Sally Snowman will retire after 20 years as keeper of Boston Light in Massachusetts, America’s oldest light station. As a civilian employee of the Coast Guard, she oversaw tours and managed the B…

In 2003, the active duty Coast Guard personnel that had been assigned to Boston Light on Little Brewster Island, America’s oldest light station, were reassigned to meet the needs of Homeland Security. Sally Snowman was named the new keeper. She became the first woman keeper in Boston Light’s long history, which dates back to 1716.Sally Snowman (U.S…

RADM Dan May, USCG (ret.) Photo by Jeremy D'Entremont.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. During his time as the ocean engineer for the Fifth Coast Guard District, Dan worked on lighthouse projects from Delaware Bay to the Carolinas. Dan event…

Stamford Harbor Lighthouse in May 2023. Photo by Jeremy D'Entremont.The entrance to Stamford Harbor in Connecticut, on Long Island Sound, is obstructed by treacherous ledges. One of them is known as Chatham Ledge. The construction of a lighthouse to mark the dangerous location was completed in 1882. The finished tower, 3,600 feet from shore, was a …

Cape Hatteras Lighthouse, North Carolina. Photo by Jeremy D'Entremont.Alisa Hardin-Lapp andi "Light Hearted" host Jeremy D'Entremont. Photo by John Havel.Cape Hatteras Lighthouse on North Carolina’s Outer Banks is one of the most visited lighthouses in the world. Offshore from Cape Hatteras is a dangerous twelve-mile long sandbar called Diamond Sho…

Bodie Island Light Station, North Carolina. Photo by Jeremy D'Entremont.Bodie Island (pronounced "body") is a long, narrow peninsula at the northern part of the Outer Banks in North Carolina. The original Bodie Island Lighthouse was built in 1847 in a location that is now underwater. That tower was abandoned in 1859 due to its poor condition. The s…

Old Cape Henry Lighthouse, Virginia. Photo by Jeremy D'Entremont.There are two lighthouses at Cape Henry in Virginia, marking the south side of the entrance to the Chesapeake Bay. The older of the two lighthouses was built in 1792, and it was the first federally funded public works project of the newly formed United States government. It was author…

The Povyshevs family with their 34-foot sailboat Ellls in the background. L to R: Valeriia, Anna, Stanislav, and Darina.This episode is dedicated to the simple pleasure of visiting lighthouses. The guests in the first interview are Anna Povyshevs (also known as Anna Fox) and her daughter Valeriia (Val). Anna is originally from Ukraine and Val was b…

The first-order Fresnel lens from Cape Charles Lighthouse in the Mariners' Museum in Newport News, Virginia. Photo by Jeremy D'Entremont.The collection of the Mariners' Museum in Newport News, Virginia, includes a vast art collection, boats from around the world, a first-order Fresnel lens from Cape Charles Lighthouse, and much more. Among the muse…

The historic twin light station on Thacher Island, off the east side of Cape Ann in Massachusetts. is one of the small number of lighthouse sites in the U.S. that are designated National Historic Landmarks. In 1771, there were nine lighthouses in operation in North America. The original twin lighthouses built on Thacher Island in 1771 were the firs…

O Camiño dos Faros, or The Lighthouse Way, is a 125-mile hiking route in Galicia in the northwest part of Spain. The route passes nine lighthouses, as well as forts, fishing villages, beaches, and important landmarks in the portion of the coast known as A Costa da Morte. National Geographic called the Lighthouse Way an under-the-radar gem, and The …

The Chesapeake Bay Maritime Museum campus (courtesy of Chesapeake Bay Maritime Museum.)The Chesapeake Bay Maritime Museum in St. Michaels, Maryland, explores and preserves the history, environment, and culture of the entire Chesapeake Bay region, and makes this resource accessible to all. The museum’s collections include historic watercraft dating …

The peninsula known as Cape Blanco, the most westerly point on the coast of Oregon, was named by Spanish explorers because of its high, light-colored cliffs. The reefs around the cape were a hindrance to navigation, leading to the establishment of a lighthouse in 1870. The brick tower, 59 feet tall with its light 256 feet above mean high water, sti…

The Door County Maritime Museum in Sturgeon Bay features the 10-story Jim Kress Maritime Lighthouse Tower.The Door County Maritime Museum in Sturgeon Bay, Wisconsin, is dedicated to showcasing the area’s rich maritime roots. The museum’s exhibits spotlight fishermen, ship captains, skilled craftsmen, inventors, and lighthouse keepers, among others …

Christian FiedlerSolargraphy – also called solarigraphy – is a niche form of pinhole photography that stretches single exposure images to an extreme exposure length. Relying on homemade cameras, darkroom paper, and a small pinhole instead of a glass lens, solargraphs allow an image to be captured over months or years. The path of the sun and the la…

In addition to their nature cruises, Bar Harbor Whale Watch in Maine runs regular sightseeing cruises that go near several of the local lighthouses. For years, pre-pandemic, the company also ran occasional all-day lighthouse cruises that passed close to as many as 15 or 20 lighthouses. An annual July cruise was known as the Grand Slam cruise. The c…

Burnt Coat Harbor Light Station on Swans Island, Maine, is one of the sites participating in Maine Open Lighthouse Day. Photo by Jeremy D'Entremont.Maine Open Lighthouse Day is a popular annual event that's sponsored by the U.S. Coast Guard, the Maine Office of Tourism, and the American Lighthouse Foundation. It attracts between 15,000 to 18,000 vi…