© Photo taken by Grandma Carol
Block Island Southeast Light
Block Island (1875)
Built on Block Island's Monhegan Bluffs, this
67 feet high tower is 260 feet above sea level. It has a first-order
Fresnel lens with a range of more than twenty miles. The lens in
use here today at one time served in North Carolina's Cape Lookout Lighthouse.
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© Photo taken by Grandma Carol
Alcatraz Island Light
San Francisco (1854 and 1909)
The oldest major navigational light on the West
Coast. The original lighthouse was built by Francis Gibbons in 1854.
It was destroyed in the earthquake of 1906. In 1909, the new 84 foot
tall lighthouse was put into operation. It was automated in 1963.
In 1969 the keeper's residence was burned during a protracted demonstration
by young Native Americans.
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© Photo taken by Grandma Carol
Old Macinac Point Light
Macknaw City (1892)
The original station opened in 1890 as a fog signal
station. In 1892 the 41 foot tower, equipped with a fourth-order
lens was completed and served until 1957. Today, the building serves
as a maritime museum.
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© Photo taken by Grandma Carol
Cape Neddick Light
York, Maine (1879)
Situated on a small, barren island known as "Nubble"
this 47 foot cast iron tower flashes its red light to signal danger.
A wood-frame residence connects to the tower by a covered walkway.
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© Photo taken by Grandma Carol
Toledo Harbor Light
Toledo, Ohio (1904)
Upon a massive concrete and stone crib that rises
almost 20 feet above the water, the three-story keeper's house and the
still taller tower were built. The lighthouse was situated well offshort
in 1904 to mark a channel the Army Corps of Engineers dredged from Lake
Erie into the Maumee River. This channel opened Toledo's harbor to
an influx of deep water freighter traffic. The lighthouse is still
in operation but was automated in 1965.
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© Photo taken by Grandma Carol
West Quoddy Head Light
Lubec, Maine (1808 and 1858)
Built on a 40 foot cliff, this lighthouse looks
out across the Quoddy Narrows. Thomas Jefferson was still president
when this lighthouse was built, making it one of Maine's oldest light stations.
The original rubble stone tower was replaced with a brick tower in 1858.
It has a third-order Fresnel lens which is still in operation. The light
flashes white four times each minute and can be seen from a distance of
up to 18 nautical miles.
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© Photo taken by Grandma Carol
Cape Lookout Light
Cape Lookout, North Carolina (1812 and 1859)
The first Cap[e Lookout Lighthouse was completed
in 1812 and had interior walls of brick enveloped an outer cocoon
of wood. Because of the poor visibility of the weak light, a new,
156 foot tower was build in 1859 and fitted with a first-order Fresnel
lens. This lens was replaced in 1967 with an airport style beacon
that flashes white every fifteen seconds and can be seen from up to 25
miles away.
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© Photo taken by Grandma Carol
Fort Niagara Light
Youngstown, New York (1781, 1823, and 1872)
In 1759, near the end of the French and Indian
War, the British captured Fort Niagara. In 1781 a stone light tower
was built as it offered the perfect spot for a navigational light at the
juncture of the Niagara River and Lake Ontario.
After the American Revolution, the U.S. Army took
possession of the fort. The light tower was no longer being used
and was dismantled between 1803 and 1806. In 1823 a wooden tower
was built and served until 1872. This is when a new 57 foot octagonal
stone tower was completed on the lake shoreline just south of the fort.
In 1900 eleven feet were added to its height enabling its beacon to shine
out some 25 miles over Lake Ontario. The now deactivated lighthouse
is one of many exhibits in Old Fort Niagara State Park.
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