Dunkirk, New York, is on the south shore of Lake Erie, about 35 miles southwest of Buffalo. Dunkirk, with its natural harbor, got one of the earliest lighthouses on the lake. The first lighthouse at Point Gratiot in Dunkirk began service in 1827. The lighthouse that stands today was completed in 1876. The 61-foot square limestone tower stands next to a brick gothic revival keeper’s house. The light was automated and the last Coast Guard keepers were removed in 1962.

A group of local citizens leased the property from the Coast Guard and turned it into a memorial park and lighthouse museum. The first floor of the keeper’s house is a museum with lighthouse artifacts, and the second floor is a military museum with rooms devoted to each branch of the armed forces. There’s also a separate building with additional exhibits on the Navy and Coast Guard.

Dave Briska has many titles, including manager and events coordinator. He’s essentially the modern day lighthouse keeper. Averie Shaughnessy-Comfort cohosts.

Left: Dave Briska with tour guide Lincoln and his brother William. Courtesy of Dunkirk Lighthouse.

This is an edited version of an interview first heard in episode 16 back in 2019. The guest is Josh Liller, Historian and Collections Manager for the Loxahatchee River Historical Society and Jupiter Inlet Lighthouse & Museum. Josh is also historian for the  Florida Lighthouse Association.

Josh specializes in lighthouse and military history. He’s also a tour guide, lecturer, and author. He’s the co-author of Five Thousand Years on the Loxahatchee, and editor of the second edition of The Florida Lighthouse Trail.

Lorain, Ohio, on the south shore of Lake Erie, is known for its history as an industrial hub, and it’s also been an important point for the shipping of materials like coal, iron ore, and limestone. Lorain West Breakwater Lighthouse, also known simply as Lorain Lighthouse, began service in 1919,. The building consists of a square tower rising from the corner of a two-and-one-half story keeper’s house.

After it was decommissioned in 1966, the Coast Guard was planning to demolish the lighthouse. Local preservationists were able to lease the structure and the demolition was canceled. The all-volunteer Lorain Lighthouse Foundation now spearheads the preservation of the lighthouse. Frank Sipkovsky is the chairman, and Dave Kramer is a board member and historian.

This is an edited version of an interview first heard in May 2021. Dianna Stampfler has written countless articles for many Michigan travel and culture periodicals. In August 2004, she launched Promote Michigan to help market the people, places, and products of her home state. Dianna has also been researching Michigan’s lighthouses for many years. In 2019, she published her book Michigan’s Haunted Lighthouses through the History Press.

Michigan has more lighthouses than any other state, with more than 120 dotting its expansive Great Lakes shoreline. Many of these lighthouses lay claim to haunted happenings. In 2022, Dianna published a new book, Death & Lighthouses on the Great Lakes: A History of Murder and Misfortune.

Don Ladolcetta’s new book, Hannah: The Lighthouse Girl of Newfoundland, tells the story of a young girl who doesn’t know what to expect when her family moves to an isolated lighthouse on the rugged Newfoundland coast. What she discovers is a life filled with adventure, wonder—and danger. SARAH Facing everything from the fury of Mother Nature to illness, the Great Depression, and World War II, Hannah must find the strength to follow her dreams. When a stunning loss upends her world, Hannah decides to take a bold step along a new path.

In the tradition of Little House on the Prairie and Anne of Green Gables, this novel of a spirited girl growing into a strong woman is based on a true story. In fact, Hannah was Don’s mother, and the book is inspired by true family lore and is sprinkled with cultural insights.

Today’s interview was first heard in episode 19 back in 2019. The conversation is with Russ Rowlett, webmaster of The Lighthouse Directory, one of the most useful lighthouse-related sites on the internet. When Russ was growing up in Richmond, Virginia, his only exposure to lighthouses was climbing the Old Cape Henry Lighthouse when his family vacationed at Virginia Beach.

Russ earned a doctorate degree in math at the University of Virginia in the 1960s, and he taught math at Princeton and then the University of Tennessee at Knoxville. In 1987 he became Director of the Center for Mathematics and Science Education at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. He’s also known for his research on the metric system and units of measurement.

Russ started his website, The Lighthouse Directory, in 1999, and it kept growing until, by 2009, it covered the whole world. The address of the site is ibiblio.org/lighthouse/   At this moment there are listings for more than 24,600 of the world’s lighthouses. If there are more lighthouses out there, Russ will find them.

Therese Woelfel, who lives in Green Bay, Wisconsin, has held leadership roles in Fortune 500 companies, entrepreneurial endeavors, and non-profit organizations. Her new book, Our Guiding Light, is her first non-fiction work. Therese’s grandfather, Charles A. Linsmeier, was a Lighthouse Service keeper at several stations on the Great Lakes from 1920 to 1953. The book tells the story of Linsmeier’s daughter Vivian, who was Therese’s mother.

Here’s an excerpt from the book description: “A lighthouse doesn’t calm the storm. It simply reminds you where the shore is and says, ‘You are being cared for and watched over.’ From her parents and the other lighthouse keepers they knew, Vivian learned some of the most valuable lessons of her life: honesty and service to others. As she navigated her life, living through the Great Depression and World War II, standing up to social injustice, and raising eight children, she surrendered to the divine and allowed herself to be watched over. In turn, she was able to be a steady beacon of light and hope for those who encountered life storms.”

This is an edited version of an interview that first appeared in episode 107 in February 2021. The guest is Dan Spinella, a man who is known for creating amazing replica Fresnel lenses. Dan, who is employed as an engineer at Disney World, began his Fresnel lens research and restoration work in 1992 using both acrylic and glass prisms used to restore historic lenses. Dan’s company, Artworks Florida, began creating full-scale reproduction Fresnel lenses in 2004. Some of his lenses are installed in lighthouses as aids to navigation and some are on exhibit in lighthouse museums across the country.

This is an an edited version of a conversation that was first heard in episode 62 in May 2020. The guest is Elaine Jones and the subject is Burnt Island Light in Maine. A lighthouse was built in 1821 on five-acre Burnt Island at the west side of the entrance to Boothbay Harbor in Maine, which was a center for shipbuilding, gristmills, and fishing going back to the 1700s. In 1988, Burnt Island became one of the last Maine light stations to be automated and destaffed.

In 1998, as part of the Maine Lights Program, Burnt Island Light Station was transferred to the Maine Department of Marine Resources. Elaine Jones was named the director of the new facility, and it was her vision to transform the island into an outstanding educational and recreational facility for Maine’s residents and its visitors. She retired in 2021 after 30 years with the Department of Marine Resources. In fact, her last day of work was the exact 200th anniversary of the first lighting of Burn Island Light on November 9, 1821.

Portsmouth Harbor Light, near the mouth of the Piscataqua River in the town of New Castle, New Hampshire, is one of the most picturesque and historic lighthouses in New England. The original wooden lighthouse on the site (1771) was the first lighthouse north of Boston. The present (1878) cast-iron lighthouse stands on the grounds of Coast Guard Station Portsmouth Harbor, neighboring historic Fort Constitution.

The American Lighthouse Foundation (ALF) and its local chapter, Friends of Portsmouth Harbor Lighthouses (FPHL), have been managing the lighthouse since 2001. FPHL has given tours for tens of thousands of people over the years, but the tours have been curtailed in recent years due to storm damage. Joining host Jeremy D’Entremont, who is also a former chair of FPHL, are Michelle Jewell Shaw, current chair of FPHL; Bob Zimman, vice chair of FPHL; and Bob Trapani Jr., executive director of ALF.