Light Hearted

In 1990, Goat Island Light Station, at the entrance to Cape Porpoise Harbor in southern Maine, became one of the last light stations in the country to be automated and destaffed. After automation, the island became the property of the nonprofit Kennebunkport Conservation Trust.

A project to rebuild the station’s fog bell tower and the covered walkway between the tower and keeper’s house was completed in the fall of 2011. The station’s fog bell, long on display at the Kennebunkport Historical Society, was returned to the island and now hangs on the side of the bell tower. The Trust now faces a new challenge with the loss of the power cable that provided electricity on the island.

Scott Dombrowski, the island overseer for the trust, has spent much time on the island over the past 30 years with his wife, Karen, and their two sons, Eric and Gregory. Tom Bradbury is the executive director of the Kennebunkport Conservation Trust. This is part two of a two-part interview with Karen and Scott Dombrowski, along with Tom Bradbury. Also taking part in the discussion is Bob Trapani, Jr., executive director of the American Lighthouse Foundation, along with Light Hearted host Jeremy D’Entremont.

Watch the Goat Island Lighthouse dedication event that took place on October 12, 2011:

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Cape Porpoise is a small coastal village in the town of Kennebunkport, Maine. More than a dozen islands protect the deep, sheltered harbor at Cape Porpoise, and it grew into a busy center for fishing and lobstering.

Goat Island Light Station was established in 1833 to help guide mariners into the harbor. A 20-foot stone tower and dwelling were built, and John Lord of Kennebunk became the first keeper at a salary of $350 per year. In 1859, the tower and house were rebuilt. The brick tower is 25 feet tall with its light 38 feet above mean high water.

In 1990, Goat Island Light became the last lighthouse in Maine to be automated. In 1992, Goat Island was leased to the Kennebunkport Conservation Trust. The light station officially became the property of the trust under the Maine Lights Program in 1998. Since its founding in 1969, the Kennebunkport Conservation Trust has protected about 2800 acres of town land from development.

The Trust has carried out many restoration projects at Goat Island, but it currently faces a new challenge with the failure of the underwater cable that provides electrical power to the island.

There are three guests in this episode, which is the first of two parts. Scott Dombrowski, the island overseer for the trust, has lived on the island much of the time over the past 30 years with his wife, Karen, and their two sons. Tom Bradbury is the executive director of the Kennebunkport Conservation Trust. Light Hearted host Jeremy D’Entremont and Bob Trapani, Jr., executive director of the American Lighthouse Foundation, met with Scott, Karen, and Tom at the Kennebunkport Conservation Trust headquarters in December.

(Right: Scott and Karen Dombrowski on Goat Island)

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The Florida reef lights date back to 1852 when Carysfort Reef Lighthouse was completed under the direction of Lt. George Meade of the Army Corps of Engineers. Sombrero Key Lighthouse was built a few years later, and then Alligator Reef was built as the third of the reef lights in 1873. Alligator Reef Lighthouse is about four nautical miles offshore from the village of Islamorada. The reef is named for the U.S. Navy schooner Alligator, which was launched at Boston in 1820.

The lighthouse was established on the northeast end of the reef in 1873, with a light 136 feet above the water. The iron skeletal tower stands on pilings that are driven 10 feet into the coral. The cost of construction was $185,000, making it a very expensive project at the time. The light was automated and de-staffed in 1963. In 2021, under the National Historic Lighthouse Preservation Act, the lighthouse was deeded to Friends of the Pool, Inc., a local nonprofit organization that has held an annual eight-mile round-trip swimming race to the lighthouse.

There are two guests in this episode, and both are leaders of the effort to preserve Alligator Reef Lighthouse. Rob Dixon is a longtime charter fishing boat operator and open water swimmer based in Islamorada, and he’s the president of Friends of the Pool. Larry Herlth is a metal artisan specializing in incredibly detailed replicas of the Florida Keys Lighthouses, and he’s also a swimmer who inaugurated the Swim for Alligator Lighthouse. He’s known widely as Lighthouse Larry.

Point Cabrillo is in Northern California, about midway between San Francisco and the border with Oregon. In 1908 an octagonal lighthouse tower was built with an integral fog signal building in an attractive building that’s built of local redwood and Douglas fir. Three dwellings were also erected for the keepers and their families. The lantern was fitted with a third-order Fresnel lens created by Chance Brothers of England. It’s one of only three British-built lenses still in use in the United States. Today Point Cabrillo Light Station is a California State Historic Park. The nonprofit Point Cabrillo Lightkeepers Association manages and interprets the site.

Sometime before 8 a.m. on the morning of January 5th, Point Cabrillo Lighthouse was hit by at least one massive wave that broke open the back doors and flooded the interior of the lighthouse gift shop and museum. There was significant damage to museum displays, exhibits, and gift shop items. The park and lighthouse are closed as the cleanup continues.

Jen Lewis, the fundraising and outreach manager for the Point Cabrillo Lightkeepers Association, was on the site shortly after the damage was done. U.S. Lighthouse Society Executive Director Jeff Gales also took part in this conversation along with Light Hearted host Jeremy D’Entremont.

A gallery of photos showing the damage of January 5, 2023 (courtesy of the Point Cabrillo Lightkeepers Association):

Some video of the waves at Point Cabrillo on the morning of January 5 (courtesy of Point Cabrillo Lightkeepers Association):

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From December 21 through 26, 2022, an historic extratropical bomb cyclone brought blizzard conditions and winter storms to much of Canada and the United States, killing at least 71 people and cancelling or delaying more than 10,000 flights during the busy Christmas travel season. The storm was unofficially named Winter Storm Elliott by The Weather Channel. Meanwhile, a separate storm moved into the Pacific Northwest on December 23. The storm knocked out power for more than 30,000 people in Washington State and Oregon.

In Storm Elliott, northwestern Michigan got nearly 43 inches of snow. Buffalo, New York’s 37.5 hours of blizzard conditions was the longest blizzard in the city’s history. As the storm began to exit the United States, it brought the fourth highest high tide on record to Portland, Maine. At Portland Head Light in Maine, one of the most visited lighthouses in the world, damage included a window smashed on the keeper’s house, and a door broken in on the lighthouse tower entryway. At Portsmouth Harbor Lighthouse on the New Hampshire Seacoast, the 80-foot walkway that led out to the lighthouse was largely destroyed. Meanwhile, the headquarters of the U.S. Lighthouse Society at the Point No Point Light Station in Washington state was closed due to flooding.

Taking part in a December 30 discussion of the storms were the following people: Jeff Gales, executive director of the U.S. Lighthouse Society; Mike Vogel, president of the U.S. Lighthouse Society; Michelle Jewell Shaw, frequent co-host of this podcast and chairperson of Friends of Portsmouth Harbor Lighthouses; Bob Trapani, executive director of the American Lighthouse Foundation; Art Greene, chair of the Spring Point Ledge Light Trust in South Portland, Maine; Chad Kaiser, general manager of New Dungeness Lighthouse in Washington; Nick Korstad, owner of the Big Bay Point Lighthouse B&B in Michigan; and Cindy Johnson, frequent Light Hearted co-host and member of the Chapter Leadership Committee of Friends of Portsmouth Harbor Lighthouses. Interviewed in a separate segment was Kathleen Raftice, director of Fort Williams Park and Portland Head Lighthouse in Cape Elizabeth, Maine.

This episode is also available in extended video form on the USLHS YouTube channel.

Bakers Island Light Station is off the coast of Salem, Massachusetts, a few miles north of Boston. The station was established in 1798 and the lighthouse tower that stands today was built in 1820. The 10-acre site is owned by the Essex National Heritage Commission, also known as Essex Heritage, a non-profit organization that manages and oversees the unique heritage resources of the Essex National Heritage Area. During the summer season, Essex Heritage offers public tours to the light station by boat, as well as overnight stays with a campground and accommodations in the historic assistant keepers’ house. Each year, volunteer caretakers stay on the island throughout the summer. Volunteers Tara and Brian Flanagan have spent the past five summers living and working at the light station, logging more than 1,500 hours worked each season.

Brian and Tara have sailed more than 10,000 miles visiting the Bahamas, the Florida Keys, and the Gulf Coast of Florida, as well as transiting the Intracoastal Waterway six times. In 2017, they had the opportunity to be seasonal caretakers at the historic light station on Seguin Island, off the mouth of the Kennebec River in Maine. They started at Bakers Island Light Station in 2018 and recently finished their fifth and final season there. They are now the winter caretakers for the residential portion of Bakers Island.

News of the week December 30, 2022

Historic Portland Head (ME) lighthouse extensively damaged in last week’s storm

The waves from Friday’s storm crashed over Fort Williams Park’s rocks and smashed into the lighthouse, causing extensive damage.

The Portland Head Light museum’s front room has damage to the counter, register and carpeting from the water.

Click here to read more

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ST. JOSEPH, MI – The Christmas week blizzard is finished and we’re looking at a big warm-up this week. That means, now’s your chance to take in Michigan’s winter beauty before it’s gone.

You could bundle up and go out to see the frozen winter wonderland for yourself, or you could leave it our MLive photographers. Photographer Gracie Smith took a trip to Silver Beach County Park and Tiscornia Park in St. Joseph today. Take a look at the gallery above and video below to see what the blizzard made of one Lake Michigan lighthouse.

Click here to read more & see the photos

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Pancake Ice Floats Near Frozen South Haven (MI) Lighthouse on Lake Michigan Shore

A Michigan resident captured footage of “pancake ice” floating along the Lake Michigan shoreline in South Haven on December 27, after a severe winter storm brought large waves and freezing temperatures to the area.

Drone footage posted to YouTube by John Flynn shows icy conditions near the South Haven Lighthouse on Tuesday, when the low temperature was 19 degrees Fahrenheit (-7 Celsius). Credit: John Flynn via Storyful

Click here to see drone footage

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Want to live on a private island in the Bay? East Brother (CA) lighthouse looks for Keepers

On the surface, it may sound like a dream job.

A charming bed and breakfast on a private island in San Rafael Bay, at the entrance of San Francisco Bay, is now looking for a pair of people to run the operation. The pair will have room and board, access to a boat, and split a six figure salary.

Click here to read more

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Showcasing the Michigan DNR: Of Tawas Point (MI) lighthouse keepers and birdwatchers

The sun was already perched high above Lake Huron when I stepped through the mayfly-covered screen door of the keepers’ quarters, down three creaky steps and into my first day as lighthouse keeper at Tawas Point in Iosco County.

My keeper duties were not set to begin until noon, so I decided to spend my first free hours exploring my new temporary home on foot.

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5 Fun Activities at Jupiter Inlet (FL) Lighthouse & Museum

Kick off the new year with a host of family-friendly, history-forward events at the Jupiter Inlet Lighthouse & Museum all month long. From healing Twilight Yoga at the Light every Monday to Early Native History on the Loxahatchee tours and Family Adventure Day January 21, welcome 2023 with a whole lot of fun.

Click here for the 5 activities

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To the Lighthouses: A Path to Nationhood

Instilling confidence among merchants and ship captains was an area in which most agreed the new federal authority could and should act.

One of the first things the new United States did in 1789 was to take on the operation of existing lighthouses and the building of new ones. Coastal beacons—some in then-remote locations—would become tangible symbols of the new American government, markers of nationhood in both literal and metaphoric senses.

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Lighting the way for 150 years: Yaquina Head, Oregon’s tallest lighthouse prepares for anniversary

The stewards of Oregon’s tallest lighthouse are sprucing up the popular landmark on Oregon’s central coast for its 150th anniversary in 2023.

The 93-foot tall Yaquina Head Lighthouse was completed in 1872, but the lamp on top wasn’t lit until the following year because of a 19th century version of, get this, supply chain problems.

Click here to read more

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Maritime Museum Exhibit Features Photos of Lighthouses and Waves

Continuing its celebration of coastal living, the Santa Barbara Maritime Museum (SBMM) presents The Lure of Lighthouses & Dancing Waves, an exhibit featuring some 35 photographs of lighthouses and waves by Dan Merkel, a renowned and Emmy Award-winning surfing photographer and videographer.

The lighthouse photographs include images from Cape Elizabeth and Cape Hatteras on the East Coast and Point Loma and Point Pinos on the West Coast to Portugal and Australia. 

Click here to read more

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Look at African American Lighthouse Keepers as Seen Through Eyes of Harriet Tubman

In honor of Black History Month, which begins Feb. 1, the Santa Barbara Maritime Museum (SBMM) will present two showings of “Keeping the Light: The Story of the Bravery, Heroism and Courage of African American Lighthouse Keepers and Lifesaving Service” as told by Harriet Tubman, portrayed by actor, director and producer Christine Dixon.

There will be two performances on Wednesday, Feb. 1; the first from 3:30-5:30 p.m. is designed for children, and the second, 7-9 p.m., is for adults.

Click here to read more

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U.S. Lighthouse Society News is produced by the U.S. Lighthouse Society to support lighthouse preservation, history, education and research.

If you have items of interest to the lighthouse community and its supporters, please email them to Jeremy D’Entremont at [email protected]

Borden Flats Lighthouse was built in 1881 on a dangerous reef to help guide increased shipping traffic as the city of Fall River, Massachusetts, became an important center for textile manufacturing. In fact, the city grew to become the largest textile producing center in the United States during the 1800s, with over 100 mills in operation by 1920. Borden Flats Lighthouse is a cast-iron tower on a cylindrical caisson – the type of lighthouse that’s often called a sparkplug light.

In 2006, it was announced that the lighthouse would be available for transfer to a suitable buyer under the provisions of the National Historic Lighthouse Preservation Act of 2000.  There were no applicants, so the lighthouse was at government auction to the general public. The eventual buyer, Nick Korstad, completed much renovation and opened the lighthouse for tours and overnight stays in 2016. In 2018, Nick bought the Big Bay Point Lighthouse B&B in Michigan, and he sold Borden Flats to Kevin Ferias. Kevin, a Rhode Island native, is the media director for New England Laborers.

In part two of a two-part interview, Kevin and Nick compare notes on paranormal activity at the lighthouse, along with many other aspects of owning an offshore lighthouse.

The city of Fall River, Massachusetts, situated where the Taunton River flows into Mount Hope Bay, was famed as the “Textile Capital of the World” in the nineteenth century. A lighthouse was established on Borden Flats at the mouth of the Taunton River in 1881. It took the form of a cast-iron tower on a caisson base, with a fixed red light 47 feet above mean high water. The structure was battered in the hurricane of September 21, 1938, and a new, much wider cylindrical caisson was added around the old one to provide more protection.

In 2006, it was announced that the lighthouse would be sold at auction to the general public. The initial sale couldn’t be finalized, so another auction was held in 2010. The winner was Nick Korstad of Portland, Oregon, who bought the property for more than $56,000 with the intention of fixing it up and opening it to the public. In 2011, he gave the lighthouse a new color scheme with a red band and a red lantern roof. Nick did much restoration of the lighthouse inside and out, and he made it available for public tours and overnight stays. In May 2018, he sold the property to a new owner, Kevin Ferias, who has continued opening it for overnight stays. Nick now owns the Big Bay Point Lighthouse B&B on Michigan’s Upper Peninsula, while Kevin just finished another season at Borden Flats. This is part one of two parts.

Website for Borden Flats Lighthouse

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The guests in this episode are the hosts of their own highly successful podcasts. Emma Choi is a comic and writer and host of the weekly short-form comedy National Public Radio podcast Everyone & Their Mom. In 2021, Emma joined the NPR program Wait, Wait… Don’t Tell Me! as an intern. She worked with the Wait Wait team to create the podcast Everyone & Their Mom, which began airing in February 2022. Emma is set to graduate from Harvard University in 2023 with a major in English and, she claims, a minor in tomfoolery.

Kylie Low is a podcast manager and content creator based in Portland, Maine. She’s the executive producer of the chart-topping Goal Digger Podcast and she hosts her own show, Dark Downeast — a true crime podcast dedicated to the stories of Maine and New England.

Light Hearted host Jeremy D’Entremont has appeared on Dark Downeast discussing lighthouse ghost stories and other topics. The Everyone & Their Mom crew visited Portsmouth Harbor Lighthouse in New Hampshire this past October for a segment. In this episode, Kylie and Emma discuss their ideas about attracting a younger and broader demographic to lighthouse preservation.