Light Hearted

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The Titanic Memorial Lighthouse stands today near the buildings of the South Street Seaport Museum, at the corner of Fulton and Pearl streets at the southern end of Manhattan. From 1913 to 1968, it was a familiar sight in its location atop the Seaman’s Church Institute, overlooking the East River. The cornerstone for the lighthouse was laid on April 16, 1912, one day after the news of the sinking of the Titanic reached New York. Many prominent New Yorkers were among the 1496 lives lost in the disaster.

The cylindrical white lighthouse was 60 feet tall. It displayed a fixed green light that was visible throughout New York Harbor and all the way through the Narrows to Sandy Hook, about a dozen miles to the south. Surmounting the tower was a time ball, to be hoisted five minutes before noon, Monday through Friday, and dropped at the precise moment a telegraphic signal signifying noon was received from Washington, D.C. Captains in the harbor set their ship’s chronometers by to the ball drop and citizens would set their timepieces to the drop of the ball at noon each day.

After the organization relocated in 1968, the building was demolished. The lighthouse was removed and donated to the South Street Seaport Museum. In May 1976, it was erected at its present location. There’s a new effort to restore the memorial lighthouse, which has fallen into disrepair. Click here for a GoFundMe page for this project.

The guests in this episode are Adrian Saker, who is spearheading the restoration effort, and also two descendants of Titanic passengers, Angelica Harris and Simon Medhurst.

Angelica Harris is the author of the book Titanic: The Brothers Peracchio, Two Boys and a Dream. The book is the story of her Italian uncles, Alberto and Sebastiano Peracchio. The brothers were stewards in the A’ la Carte Restaurant on board the Titanic.

Simon Medhurst’s great grandfather was Robert Hichens, the quartermaster of the Titanic who was at the ship’s helm on April 14, 1912.

Hichens survived the disaster in lifeboat 6. Simon’s mission is to keep the story alive and to promote all things Titanic.

Click here for the website for the effort to restore the Titanic Memorial Lighthouse

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Sandy Neck is a half-mile wide, six-mile long peninsula on the north side of Cape Cod, marking the entrance to Barnstable Harbor as well as the approach to the small harbor at Yarmouthport. A light station at the eastern tip of Sandy Neck went into service on October 1, 1826. The original lighthouse was replaced in 1857 by the 48-foot brick tower that still stands.

Barnstable Harbor gradually declined in importance, and shifting sands left the lighthouse in a less advantageous position. In the summer of 1931, the lighthouse was decommissioned and its lens was moved to a steel skeleton tower 200 feet closer to the tip of Sandy Neck. The lantern was removed from the lighthouse and the property was sold at auction in 1933. In 1944, the property was sold to Fred Lang, a radio personality. Lang sold the property to the Hinckley family in 1950. Since 2000, Ken Morton has managed the light station for the family.

The installation of a new lantern began in the spring and summer of 2007. The job was completed in the fall, and in October 2007 the lighthouse was relighted as a private aid to navigation, with a modern LED optic.

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The brightly striped red and white tower on Sambro Island, near Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada, is the oldest lighthouse in the Americas. The first act passed by the Nova Scotia House of Assembly, on October 2, 1758, authorized the lighthouse. It was paid for by a tax on vessels entering Halifax Harbour. The station was automated and destaffed in 1988. Of three keepers’ houses built in the 1960s, one was demolished for salvage in 1989 and another was burned down in 2007.

The Nova Scotia Lighthouse Preservation Society succeeded in having the lighthouse designated as a classified federal heritage building in 1996. Two years later, the tower was reshingled and repainted. In 2008, more restoration work was completed and a solar power system was installed. Another major restoration project was carried out in 2016. A new local nonprofit organization has also been formed to preserve the lighthouse: the Sambro Island Lighthouse Heritage Society.

Joe Flemming, who lives in Ketch Harbour, Nova Scotia, is a past president of the Nova Scotia Lighthouse Preservation Society, and he has played a large role in the preservation of Sambro Lighthouse. Chris Mills is a former lighthouse keeper and the author of two books on lighthouses and keepers, and he was a founding member of the Nova Scotia Lighthouse Preservation Society.

A 2016 video showing the restoration:

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Tybee Island’s Lighthouse is the oldest and tallest in Georgia, and it’s one of the most intact historic light stations in the U.S.

The Savannah River marks the border between Georgia and South Carolina. The river was vital to the early development of the area, including the city of Savannah. A lighthouse at Tybee Island has been guiding shipping into the river since 1791. Under the guidelines of the National Historic Lighthouse Preservation Act, the Tybee Island Light Station became the property of the Tybee Island Historical Society in 2002.

Today, a ticket to the site allows you to tour the lighthouse tower and the other station buildings, and to visit the Tybee Island Museum across the street. The Tybee Island Historical Society’s board named Sarah Jones their new executive director in 2014.

In 2019, Sarah authored a book of historical postcards of Tybee Island for Arcadia Press.

Tybee Island Light Station and Museum

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Dan Spinella began his Fresnel lens research and restoration work in 1992. His first project was to provide engineering drawings to aid in the restoration of the St. Augustine Lighthouse first-order Fresnel lens. Several restoration projects followed, using both acrylic and glass prisms used to restore historic Fresnel lenses. Dan’s company, Artworks Florida, began creating full-scale reproduction Fresnel lenses in 2004.

To date, 40 reproduction Fresnel lenses have been manufactured. Some of his lenses are installed in lighthouses as aids to navigation and some are on exhibit in lighthouse museums across the country.

Dan has also created numerous short videos that explain the intricate workings of the Fresnel lens and the creation process of the reproduction lenses. The videos can be viewed on the “Artworks Florida” YouTube channel.

Alan Dunlop is one of the UK’s leading architects and a respected educator. He’s taught at a number of schools of architecture in the UK, the USA, and in Germany. He’s also a gifted artist and his drawings have been exhibited at the Royal Academy in London and the Royal Scottish Academy.

Last year, when the COVID-19 pandemic disrupted his work, he created a visual diary of his family’s life during lockdown.

After filling four large sketchbooks, he turned his attention to lighthouses. Alan has been visiting and photographing lighthouses for about 30 years.

For his latest sketches, he’s focused on the Scottish lighthouses designed by the famous Stevenson family of engineers.

More of Alan’s sketches can be seen on Instagram.

The special guest co-host for this episode is Jeff Gales, executive director of the U.S. Lighthouse Society.

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Halfway Rock is a windswept, rocky ledge far out in Maine’s Casco Bay, about nine miles east of Portland Head. Its name comes from its location about halfway between Cape Elizabeth and Cape Small. A 76-foot granite lighthouse tower was built on the ledge in the summer of 1871. It’s now privately owned and has been restored in recent years.

Tim Bailey was born in Gardiner, Maine, but he spent his school years in Connecticut. After graduating from high school, Tim joined the Coast Guard. After his time as a keeper at Halfway Rock (1971-72), he was stationed at Boothbay Harbor, Maine, then Seguin Light Station off the mouth of the Kennebec River.

In this interview, he discusses his experiences at Halfway Rock and Seguin Island. Joining in on the interview is Ford Reiche, the owner of Halfway Rock Lighthouse.

Thanks to Jesse Littlefield for her help with this interview with her dad, Tim Bailey.

Photographer Mike Leonard lives in Yarmouth, Maine, and his photography is frequently seen in books and magazines, and in television segments. Mike offers workshops on digital photography, which you can read about on his website at phototourismbymike.com. In this installment of “Photo Tips with Mike Leonard” he discusses night photography of lighthouses.

Gallery of photos of Halfway Rock, 1971-72 (Courtesy of Tim Bailey):

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Although our nation has made much progress in addressing the COVID-19 pandemic and we can now all start to see a guiding light at the end of the tunnel, it will still be several months before lighthouse visitation picks up to near-normal levels and for some organizations that may not happen until the 2022 season. The Board of Directors of the U.S. Lighthouse Society has therefore unanimously agreed to once again defer the normal cycle of grants and to instead offer our support and assistance with $1,000 grants to help with your operations during another tough year.

Eligibility for the grant consists simply of being a current non-profit 501(c)(3) organization responsible for preservation, care and public visitation of a historic lighthouse in the United States, including its territories, etc. The deadline for submitting a letter is February 26. More details are available here.

In this short special edition of Light Hearted, USLHS President Mike Vogel and Executive Director Jeff Gales discuss the emergency grant program.

Sheringham Point, in the community of Shirley, about 16 miles northwest from Race Rocks near the south end of Vancouver Island, was named in 1846 for the British Vice Admiral William Louis Sheringham of the Royal Navy. The wreck of the steamer Valencia nearby in 1906, with the loss of at least 126 lives, had put pressure on the Canadian government to improve navigation. To aid shipping along the Canadian side of the Strait of Juan de Fuca, a light station was established at Sheringham Point in 1912. A 64-foot-tall hexagonal, reinforced concrete tower was built along with a dwelling and outbuildings.

A flashing white light shown from a third-order Fresnel lens, rotating on a bed of mercury and 72 feet above the water, was visible for 14 miles. The station began operation on September 30, 1912. The station was very isolated in its early days, and a lighthouse tender delivered supplies every few months.

The Sheringham Point Lighthouse Preservation Society was founded in 2003 to preserve the remaining structures and to ensure that the site remains accessible to visitors. Much of the surrounding land is now privately owned.

Rebecca Quinn is a PhD student at the University of Warwick in Coventry, England, but she considers British Columbia her real home. In 2013, Rebecca was elected to be the historian of the Sheringham Point Lighthouse Preservation Society. She worked with Society volunteers to create the book Sheringham: A Canadian Heritage Story, which was published last year.

John Walls is the author of a book called Celebrating Victoria, about one of Canada’s most beautiful cities. He was also the photographer for Government Street, about Victoria’s Heritage Mile. And in 2015, he co-authored, with Peter Johnson, the book To the Lighthouse: An Explorer’s Guide to the Island Lighthouses of Southwestern BC. John is the vice president of the Sheringham Point Lighthouse Society.

This part 2 of 2. Part 1 (episode 104) featured an interview with Elanie Bruton, daughter of Sheringham Point keeper Jim Bruton.

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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 when he was 14. After serving as a merchant seaman during World War II, in 1945 Bruton became an assistant keeper, or junior keeper, at Lennard Island Lightstation, off the west coast of Vancouver Island near Tofino.

After a brief time at Lennard Island, Jim Bruton left the lighthouse service for a while and returned in the logging industry. In 1951 he met and married Evelyn Stockman from Edmonton. Evelyn had no idea she would spend nearly 30 years at lighthouses. Jim returned to light keeping in 1958 as a junior keeper at Discovery Island. After a year and a half as junior keeper at Discovery Island, he was the principal keeper at Chrome Island off the east coast of Vancouver Island for four years. He then returned to Lennard Island from 1964 to 1968.

The Brutons eventually had four children, three girls and a boy. Their daughter Elanie lived at the light stations until she was 18. Jim Bruton was often heard to say, “I have the best kids in the world.” The family moved to Sheringham Point, a mainland lightstation in Shirley on the southwest coast of Vancouver Island, in 1968. Jim Bruton replaced Fred Mountain, the previous keeper, who had died at the station. Bruton’s daughter Sharon was wed at the top of the lighthouse in December 1976, with the couple’s vows broadcast over CB radio.

The Brutons lived at Sheringham Point for nearly two decades, until 1986, when Jim Bruton retired. Today, Jim’s daughter Elanie Bruton remains a very active volunteer of the Sheringham Point Lighthouse Preservation Society, which was formed in 2003 and took ownership of the lighthouse and surrounding land in 2015.

This part 1 of 2. The second part, which will be posted on February 17, features interviews with Rebecca Quinn, author of Sheringham: A Canadian Heritage Story, and John Walls, vice president of the Sheringham Point Lighthouse Society.

Pete Lerro is a graduate of Temple University in Pennsylvania, where he studied video, audio, and photography. In his career as a photographer, Pete has done work for the Department of Homeland Security, the NFL, the NBA, the NHL, and USA Gymnastics, among others. When he’s not on assignment, he organizes photo workshops across the country. With Pete’s unique workshops, guests can expect special access, private photo sessions, and a night of professional photography seminars. During some of the workshops, for example, railroads and museums are rented out for the evening. And there’s always one-on-one interaction with Pete for the guests taking part in the workshop.

Among Pete’s events coming up this year are lighthouse photo workshops on Long Island, New York, in Oregon, and in California. There’s also a special one in the works to photograph the famous twin lights on Thacher Island, Massachusetts. During these workshops, participants learn how to take great pictures at night by utilizing the light of the moon and stars. Pete has also done a series of “Lighthouse Keeper” photos utilizing a reproduction Lighthouse Service uniform and props like a handheld lantern and a spyglass. Participants in his lighthouse workshops get a chance to feel like they’re stepping back in time by creating unique photos like these.

Along with lighthouses, Pete’s extensive portfolio includes landscapes, railroads, cityscapes, historical reenactments, portraits, and more. You can see many of his photos and find out more about his workshops on his website at lerrophotography.com.

Joining in this conversation with Pete Lerro and host Jeremy D’Entremont is Jeff Gales, executive director of the U.S. Lighthouse Society.

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