The first lighthouse on Curtis island at the entrance to Camden, Maine, was established in 1836. For many years, the island served as a signal station for the large steamships that passed by. The 25-foot brick lighthouse tower that still stands was built in 1896, and the light was automated in 1972.

The Town of Camden now owns the island and the lighthouse. In 2023, the Curtis Island Lighthouse Foundation was established with a mission to historically restore the light station and to develop a perpetual preservation fund in partnership with the Town of Camden. Michael Skaling is the president of the Curtis Island Lighthouse Foundation and has taken a lead role in the preservation of the historic site.

This is a look back at an interview that was first heard in episode 122 back in May 2021. The interview is with Elena Hansteensen, who is the owner of Littleisland Lighthouse in Norway, which is operated as a small hotel.

Litløy fyr, or Littleisland Lighthouse in English, is on a small island off the northwest coast of Norway, inside the Arctic Circle. It was first lit in October 1912. For a time, it was the second most powerful lighthouse in Norway. In 2006, the light station was bought by Elena Hantseensen, with the intention of making it accessible to the public. The property has been renovated and overnight accommodations are available, as well as guided tours. As Elena has said, “How can I be lonely here, when I’m living my dream?”

Darlene Chisholm of Albion, Michigan, is a veteran of many U.S. Lighthouse Society tours, both in the U.S. and abroad. In the course of her travels, she’s photographed well over 4,000 lighthouses. Darelene was a longtime librarian in the public school system in Albion. Her husband, Tom, was president of the education association in Albion. They met at a teachers’ meeting, and they were soon attending basketball games together. They were married in 1969.

Darlene and Tom traveled extensively around the world until Tom passed away in 2023, visiting all seven continents. Darlene continues to travel on her own, carrying with her the memory of so many wonderful trips with Tom. U.S. Lighthouse Society Executive Director Jeff Gales co-hosts this episode.

Greens Ledge Light, which was built in Norwalk, Connecticut, in 1902, is a cast-iron lighthouse tower on a cylindrical cast-iron concrete-filled foundation. It’s typical of offshore  lighthouses built in the late 1800s and early 1900s. Male keepers lived inside the lighthouse tower. Under the provisions of the National Historic Lighthouse Preservation Act, the lighthouse was auctioned in 2016. The high bid was placed by a group of local residents that included the Pettee family. They formed a 501 (c)3 organization, the Greens Ledge Light Preservation Society.

Tim Pettee, who is president of the Greens Ledge Light Preservation Society, grew up in Westport, Connecticut, and has been a resident of Rowayton, Connecticut, since 2014. Tim’s son Alex Pettee is the treasurer of the Greens Ledge Light Preservation Society. This is an edited version of an interview that was first heard in episode 83 in October 2020.

AIS (Automatic Identification System) has been used for years to monitor the movements of ships and aircraft in real-time, helping to ensure safe and efficient operations. The company MotionInfo provides second-by-second data accuracy using an extensive network of stations.

The North Atlantic right whale, with fewer than 350 individuals remaining, is critically endangered, and 139 right whales have been injured or killed by vessel strikes since 2017. MotionInfo has been implementing high-tech solutions aimed at preventing vessel-whale collisions, and a number of MotionInfo’s StationKeeper units have been installed in lighthouses. Joining in this discussion with Moses Calouro and Portia Calouro of MotionInfo are U.S. Lighthouse Society Executive Director Jeff Gales and American Lighthouse Foundation Executive Director Bob Trapani Jr., who also co-hosts.

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This is an edited version of a conversation with a  lighthouse keeper’s daughter in British Columbia, Canada, first heard in episode 104 of Light Hearted. 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 as a boy. In a light keeping career spanning several decades, he served at light stations around Vancouver Island: Lennard Island, Discovery Island, and Chrome Island.

iThe Brutons eventually had four children, three girls and a boy. The family moved to Sheringham Point, a mainland lightstation in Shirley on the southwest coast of Vancouver Island, in 1968. They lived there for nearly two decades, until 1986, when Jim Bruton retired. Our guest today, Elanie Bruton, lived at the light stations with her family until she was 18. She remains an active volunteer of the Sheringham Point Lighthouse Preservation Society, which now owns the lighthouse and surrounding land.

Frank Schubert – a native of Staten Island – spent 43 years as a keeper and caretaker at Coney Island Light Station in New York. When he passed away in 2003, he was the last person who had served as a keeper under the old U. S. Lighthouse Service. He originally joined the Lighthouse Service as a seaman on the tender Tulip in 1937.

He moved in as keeper at Coney Island in 1960. Frank, along with his wife and three children, enjoyed giving tours to schoolchildren and scout troops, and having a wonderful time every day. Our conversation today is with Greg Goldstein, grandson of Frank Schubert. Greg’s wife Lisa also took part in the conversation.

To learn more about Frank Schubert, click here.

This is an edited version of an interview that first appeared in episode 79 in September 2020. Ian Duff worked as a keeper at 13 Scottish lighthouses between 1976 and 1992. He spent about five years at Skerryvore, a remote station off the west coast of Scotland. He also spent about five years at Duncansby Head Light Station at the most northeasterly point of the British mainland.

Ian remained involved with lighthouses after his retirement as a keeper. He became the president of the Association of Lighthouse Keepers, or the ALK, an organization that provides a forum for everyone interested in lighthouses, lightships, and maritime aids to navigation. When Ian passed away last year, a large collection of his photographic slides were donated to the Museum of Scottish Lighthouses, along with lighthouse artifacts.

With foreign trade blossoming from Newport, Rhode Island, local merchants petitioned for a lighthouse at Beavertail Point at the southern tip of Conanicut Island in the town of Jamestown, and a 69-foot-tall wooden tower was first lighted in 1749. It was the third light station in the American colonies. The 45-foot square granite lighthouse that stands today was built in 1856. The lighthouse is located within Beavertail State Park, and the Beavertail Lighthouse Museum Association (BLMA) preserves and manages the light station. The museum occupies two former keepers’ houses and two other buildings.

Nancy Beye is the president of the Beavertail Lighthouse Museum Association. She’s also a councilwoman on the Jamestown Town Council and owner of the Jamestown Early Learning Center. David Smith is a board member of the BLMA, and he has been involved with the development of many of the exhibits in the museum at Beavertail. Varoujan Karentz is on the board of the Beavertail Lighthouse Museum Association and is the author of three books and numerous articles. His book Beavertail Light Station is the most comprehensive history available on this historic location.

Grosse Point Lighthouse, located at the southern end of Lake Michigan in Evanston, Illinois, was established in 1873 as the primary lighthouse marking the approach to Chicago. Since 1983, for an amazing 42 years, Don Terras has been chief administrator of the Lighthouse Park District, a unit of local government in Evanston. He  is also the live-in manager of the Grosse Point Light Station museum, essentially serving as the modern-day keeper.

This is an edited version of a conversation with Don Terras that was recorded in the museum in the former keeper’s house at Grosse Point Light Station in November 2019. Also taking part in the conversation is Jeff Gales, executive director of the U.S. Lighthouse Society.