Light Houses Galore

The present tower was built in 1818 and refurbished in 1992. Known by locals as "Old Baldy" it has guided ships safely into the Cape Fear River for all these years. Threatened by erosion and hurricanes, Bald Head has truly stood the test of time...

Marshall Point Lighthouse in the Town of St. George was built in 1858 and featured a fourth order fresnel lens. The lighthouse was electrified in 1935 and automated in 1971. The St. George Historical Society obtained a long-term lease on the lighthouse in 1986 and undertook a restoration...

Abigail Burgess first tended the Matinicus Rock Light at the age of fourteen. Her father was away when a storm struck. She took care of her invalid mother and three younger sisters for several days while keeping the fourteen wicks lighted through the violent storm.

This church-like sentinel, with a spectacular view of Grand Traverse Bay, is situated halfway between the North Pole and the Equator. Like the Bordeaux region of France, the climate and soil on Mission Peninsula are perfect for growing wine grapes.

The Army Corps of Engineers built this charming Victorian lighthouse on an island in Hereford Inlet in 1872. Officials later relocated the entire structure and rotated it 180 degrees, thereby increasing its effectiveness.

Upon its completion in 1764, the octagonal rubblestone tower is an example of colonial architecture at its finest. The tower is 9 stories high and contained a third order lens. A keeper's cottage and new cast iron lantern were added in the 1880's and the light has remained essentially unchanged for 2 centuries.

Many vessels navigating the San Francisco Bay wrecked on a little island located in the San Pablo Straits, making a beacon and foghorn on the hazard a necessity. Workers leveled the one-third acre isle to make room for a Victorian home with a square light tower...

Known as Cape Foulweather, materials to build Yaquina Head lighthouse were delivered to the wrong location and it was decided that rather than move the materials, it would be built on the wrong spot. The light was outfitted with a first order lens lighted with oil wicks until 1966 when it was automated...

President George Washington, a surveyor before his presidency, was dismayed to learn about the numerous shipwrecks in the perilous waters near Long Island. Years later, he commissioned the construction of a lighthouse on Horton Point.