A Lighthouse Keeper Hangs Up Her Bonnet(hakaimagazine.com)
hakaimagazine.com
A Lighthouse Keeper Hangs Up Her Bonnet
https://hakaimagazine.com/videos-visuals/a-lighthouse-keeper-hangs-up-her-bonnet/
15 comments
I would assume Boston had relatively few lighthouses due to not having that much shoreline, but I am not sure how to look that up.
There are actually a number of lighthouses in Boston Harbor. Historically, there had been many more. Some are described at the National Park Service website: https://www.nps.gov/boha/learn/historyculture/lighthouses.ht...
Not all of these are "lighthouses", per se. Nixes Mate is actually just a concrete-and-paint reflector: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nixes_Mate
Not all of these are "lighthouses", per se. Nixes Mate is actually just a concrete-and-paint reflector: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nixes_Mate
Right, Boston proper doesn't have any lighthouses actually. This one is technically in Hull, MA. It's the lighthouse for Boston Harbor, and it's also the first lighthouse built in the US. The first tower on the site was built in 1716, though as the article says, that was torn down by the patriots, rebuilt and then blown up by the British in the revolutionary war. This one was built after the war in 1783.
It's been kind of a fantasy for me to live in this lighthouse, I'm very tempted to apply for the job. Too bad it's not possible to live there anymore.
It's been kind of a fantasy for me to live in this lighthouse, I'm very tempted to apply for the job. Too bad it's not possible to live there anymore.
You're definitely right that Boston Light is officially in Hull, but The Graves (still a USCG-managed lighthouse, and bigger than Boston Light) is in Boston. See https://arc-gis-hub-home-arcgishub.hub.arcgis.com/datasets/m...
I met Sally Snowman a few times -- we used to visit Boston Light 1-2 times every summer on MIT's sailboat with a group of students. She was super-welcoming and shared a ton of knowledge and stories about the lighthouse and station. We really enjoyed seeing the lens, etc., and thinking we were like the MIT students in the 1890s who lived out there to try to understand how sound traveled across the sea and create a better foghorn, I think not with a ton of success.
One time we arrived at Little Brewster and I was wearing a "captain's hat" that some friends had gotten me from West Marine, and the Coast Guard auxiliarists who helped us dock gave me a hard time, Boston-style. I think they don't love it when recreational sailors wear pretend rank insignia. They were smiling about it but I didn't wear the hat on later visits!
I hope she has a great retirement and they find somebody even half as dedicated to be her successor. The only reason Boston Light still has a keeper at all (the only one left in the country) is because Ted Kennedy and John Kerry sponsored an amendment to the 1989 Coast Guard Authorization Act to the effect that "The Boston Light shall be operated on a permanently manned basis." I just went back to look at it and in Ted Kennedy's remarks he says, "Thousands of visitors a year come out in Boston Harbor to visit to Boston Light. They learn about the history of the Light from the museum exhibits at its base. They climb the historic tower, and enjoy the view of the Boston skyline and the charm of Little Brewster Island. Most important, they gain a new understanding and appreciation of the important work of the Coast Guard and the role of Boston Light in our Nation's history." The part about thousands of visitors coming out I think is sadly no longer true. :-(
One time we arrived at Little Brewster and I was wearing a "captain's hat" that some friends had gotten me from West Marine, and the Coast Guard auxiliarists who helped us dock gave me a hard time, Boston-style. I think they don't love it when recreational sailors wear pretend rank insignia. They were smiling about it but I didn't wear the hat on later visits!
I hope she has a great retirement and they find somebody even half as dedicated to be her successor. The only reason Boston Light still has a keeper at all (the only one left in the country) is because Ted Kennedy and John Kerry sponsored an amendment to the 1989 Coast Guard Authorization Act to the effect that "The Boston Light shall be operated on a permanently manned basis." I just went back to look at it and in Ted Kennedy's remarks he says, "Thousands of visitors a year come out in Boston Harbor to visit to Boston Light. They learn about the history of the Light from the museum exhibits at its base. They climb the historic tower, and enjoy the view of the Boston skyline and the charm of Little Brewster Island. Most important, they gain a new understanding and appreciation of the important work of the Coast Guard and the role of Boston Light in our Nation's history." The part about thousands of visitors coming out I think is sadly no longer true. :-(
It's a children's book, but I bet Sally Snowman would love Hello Lighthouse [1], winner of the 2019 Caldecott Medal. It's a huge hit with my kids and adults who read to them, including me.
[1] https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hello_Lighthouse
[1] https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hello_Lighthouse
Thanks for the mention. Have ordered the book for one of my grand kids for Valentine's Day.
Robert Eggers' "The Lighthouse" would have appeared in a completely different light with her as the lighthouse keeper instead of William Dafoe.
https://www.imdb.com/title/tt7984734/
https://www.imdb.com/title/tt7984734/
What a wonderful calling to have had in life.
Every lighthouse I've visited in California has a small automated light attached somewhere to it which is the real navigation aid, and everything else is just a history museum now.
The last lighthouse keeper.
https://youtu.be/PgDQTKJuqwA
https://youtu.be/PgDQTKJuqwA
Boston Light can sometimes be seen from the air as you approach Logan International over Boston Harbor.
Maybe its a Boston thing but there's been plenty of women lighthouse keepers in the rest of the US for 250 years:
https://www.history.uscg.mil/Browse-by-Topic/Notable-People/...