Light Hearted

This is an an edited version of a conversation that was first heard in episode 62 in May 2020. The guest is Elaine Jones and the subject is Burnt Island Light in Maine. A lighthouse was built in 1821 on five-acre Burnt Island at the west side of the entrance to Boothbay Harbor in Maine, which was a center for shipbuilding, gristmills, and fishing going back to the 1700s. In 1988, Burnt Island became one of the last Maine light stations to be automated and destaffed.

In 1998, as p...

Portsmouth Harbor Light Station, near the mouth of the Piscataqua River in the town of New Castle, New Hampshire, is one of the most picturesque and historic lighthouses in New England. The original wooden lighthouse on the site (1771) was the first lighthouse north of Boston. The present (1878) cast-iron lighthouse stands on the grounds of Coast Guard Station Portsmouth Harbor, neighboring historic Fort Constitution.

The American Lighthouse Foundation (ALF) and its local chapter, Friends of Portsmouth Harbor Lighthouses (FPHL), have been managing the lighthouse since 2001. FPHL gave tours for te...

The first lighthouse on Curtis island at the entrance to Camden, Maine, was established in 1836. For many years, the island served as a signal station for the large steamships that passed by. The 25-foot brick lighthouse tower that still stands was built in 1896, and the light was automated in 1972.

The Town of Camden now owns the island and the lighthouse. In 2023, the Curtis Island Lighthouse Foundation was established with a mission to historically restore the light station and to develop a perpetual preservation fund in partnership wi...

This is a look back at an interview that was first heard in episode 122 back in May 2021. The interview is with Elena Hansteensen, who is the owner of Littleisland Lighthouse in Norway, which is operated as a small hotel.

Litløy fyr, or Littleisland Lighthouse in English, is on a small island off the northwest coast of Norway, inside the Arctic Circle. It was first lit in October 1912. For a time, it was the second most powerful lighthouse in Norway. In 2006, the light station was bought by Elena Ha...

Tom and Darlene Chisholm on a Texas trip in 2022. Photo by Carol Nettleton.

Darlene Chisholm of Albion, Michigan, is a veteran of many U.S. Lighthouse Society tours, both in the U.S. and abroad. In the course of her travels, she’s photographed well over 4,000 lighthouses. Darelene was a longtime librarian in the public school system in Albion. Her husband, Tom, was president of the education association in Albion. They met at a teachers’ meeting, and they were soon attending basketball games together. They were married in 1969.

Darlene and Tom traveled extensively around the world until Tom...

Tim Pettee at Greens Ledge Light, photo by Jeremy D’Entremont.

Greens Ledge Light, which was built in Norwalk, Connecticut, in 1902, is a cast-iron lighthouse tower on a cylindrical cast-iron concrete-filled foundation. It’s typical of offshore  lighthouses built in the late 1800s and early 1900s. Male keepers lived inside the lighthouse tower. Under the provisions of the National Historic Lighthouse Preservation Act, the lighthouse was auctioned in 2016. The high bid was placed by a group of local residents that included the Pettee family. They formed a 501 (c)3 organization, the Greens Ledge Light Preservation Society.

Tim Pettee, who i...

AIS (Automatic Identification System) has been used for years to monitor the movements of ships and aircraft in real-time, helping to ensure safe and efficient operations. The company MotionInfo provides second-by-second data accuracy using an extensive network of stations.

The North Atlantic right whale, with fewer than 350 individuals remaining, is critically endangered, and 139 right whales have been injured or ki...

Jim and Evelyn Bruton, courtesy of Elanie Bruton.

This is an edited version of a conversation with a  lighthouse keeper’s daughter in British Columbia, Canada, first heard in episode 104 of Light Hearted. 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 as a boy. In a light keeping career spanning several decades, he served at light stations around Vancouver Island: Lennard Island, Discovery Island, and Chrome Island.

Frank Schubert – a native of Staten Island – spent 43 years as a keeper and caretaker at Coney Island Light Station in New York. When he passed away in 2003, he was the last person who had served as a keeper under the old U. S. Lighthouse Service. He originally joined the Lighthouse Service as a seaman on the tender Tulip in 1937.

He moved in as keeper at Coney Island in 1960. Frank, along with his wife and three children, enjoyed giving tours to schoolchildren and scout troops, and ha...

This is an edited version of an interview that first appeared in episode 79 in September 2020. Ian Duff worked as a keeper at 13 Scottish lighthouses between 1976 and 1992. He spent about five years at Skerryvore, a remote station off the west coast of Scotland. He also spent about five years at Duncansby Head Light Station at the most northeasterly point of the British mainland.

Ian remained involved with lighthouses after his retirement as a keeper. He became the president of the Association of Lighthouse Keepers, or...

With foreign trade blossoming from Newport, Rhode Island, local merchants petitioned for a lighthouse at Beavertail Point at the southern tip of Conanicut Island in the town of Jamestown, and a 69-foot-tall wooden tower was first lighted in 1749. It was the third light station in the American colonies. The 45-foot square granite lighthouse that stands today was built in 1856. The lighthouse is located within Beavertail State Park, and the Beavertail Lighthouse Museum Association (BLMA) preserves and manages the light station. The museum occupies two former keepers’ houses and two other buildings.

Grosse Point Light Station. Photo by Jeremy D'Entremont. Grosse Point Lighthouse, located at the southern end of Lake Michigan in Evanston, Illinois, was established in 1873 as the primary lighthouse marking the approach to Chicago. Since 1983, for an amazing 42 years, Don Terras has been chief administrator of the Lighthouse Park District, a unit of local government in Evanston. He  is also the live-in manager of the Grosse Point Light Station museum, essentially serving as the modern-day keeper. Don Terras This is an edited version of a conversation with Don Terras that was recorded in the museum in the former keeper’s hou...

This is part two of a two part interview with Lorna Pierce and Gloria Coder, the daughters of Seamond Ponsart Roberts (1940-2023). Seamond was the daughter of the longtime Massachusetts lighthouse keeper Octave Ponsart, and she was the author of the book Everyday Heroes, The True Story of a Lighthouse Family. Seamond's childhood was spent at Cuttyhunk Light and West Chop Light in Massachusetts. Seamond Ponsart Roberts in 2001, tossing a wreath into the waves at Cuttyhunk Island in memory of her parents. Photo by Jeremy D'Entremont. Here is an excerpt from Seamond's obituary: "The bad days were sure bad enough...

Young Seamond in front of the keeper's house at Cuttyhunk Island, Massachusetts. The guests in this episode are Gloria Coder and Lorna Pierce. Gloria and Lorna are the daughters of the late Seamond Ponsart Roberts (1940-2023). Seamond was the daughter of a longtime lighthouse keeper in Massachusetts, and she was the author of the book Everyday Heroes: The True Story of a Lighthouse Family. Seamond's father, Octave Ponsart, began his lighthouse keeping career at Great Point on Nantucket. He spent five years as the keeper at Dumpling Rock in southeastern Massachusetts, and he and his family barely survived the hurricane...

A light station was established on Maine's 220-acre Great Duck Island in 1890, with a 42-foot-tall brick tower and three keepers’ dwellings. Only one of the three houses remain standing today. The light was automated in 1986 and it remains an active aid to navigation. In 1998 Great Duck Island Light Station, along with Mount Desert Rock Light Station, became the property of Bar Harbor's College of the Atlantic. Students and staff from the college now live in the former keeper's dwelling much of the year. The ongoing research projects largely focus on the island's bird populations. Great Duck Island Light Station, photo by...

Maine’s wave-swept Whaleback Lighthouse. (Photo by Dominic Trapani) In January 2024, two powerful storms -- just three days apart -- struck northern New England, coinciding with the highest tide ever recorded in Portland, Maine, at 14.75 feet. The damage was severe up and down the coasts of Maine and New Hampshire, and about a third of Maine’s 66 historic lighthouse sites suffered significant damage. Pemaquid Point Light Station’s bell tower suffered heavy damage during the January 10, 2024 storm.(Photo by Bob Trapani, Jr.) The nonprofit American Lighthouse Foundation has formed a Storm and Mitigation Response Team that is dedicated to the develo...

Richard Klein A lighthouse was proposed in 1896 to mark Peck (or Pecks) Ledge, at the east end of the Norwalk Islands in Connecticut. It began operation in 1906 and was the last staffed lighthouse to be built at a waveswept site on Long Island Sound. Its life as a staffed light was relatively short, only 27 years. It's a typical offshore light of the late nineteenth and early twentieth century period, with a cylindrical cast-iron foundation  topped by a "sparkplug" type cast-iron lighthouse. Peck Ledge Lighthouse, photo by Jeremy D'Entremont. Richard Klein cooking at Peck Ledge Lighthouse The lighthouse was sold via o...

Sean Todd This is an edited version of an interview with Sean Todd that was first heard in episode 72 in July 2020. Sean serves on the marine science faculty at College of the Atlantic in Bar Harbor, Maine, and he's also the director of Allied Whale, the college’s marine mammal research program. Mount Desert Rock, more than 20 miles from the nearest port and home to a historic light station, serves as Allied Whale's research station. The former keeper’s house has accommodations for 20 students. Sean also acts as a professional guide, including many seasons in the Antarctic. He created, wrote and...

Matthew Cohen is a nautical photographer with more than 20 years of experience. Matthew acquired his love of boating as a child and raced with the successful Roger Williams University Varsity Team. Following that, he became an accomplished sailing instructor for 15 years at the Sail Newport Sailing Center, and he’s logged over 30,000 ocean miles as a sailor. Sakonnet Lighthouse, RI. Photo by Matthew Cohen. Matthew Cohen Matthew's work has been printed in more than 30 maritime publications and has been showcased in over a dozen galleries, shows, and retail spaces. He’s now in the early stages of a new photography proj...

This edition of Light Hearted Lite features several edited interviews that were originally heard in two episodes back in the spring of 2020. The subject is the U.S. Lighthouse Society's popular lighthouse passport program. The program provides enthusiasts the opportunity to help preserve lighthouses, and a great way for them to keep a pictorial history of their lighthouse adventures. Small donations are made by passport holders for the stamps. The interviews are with Skip Sherwood, director of the passport program, and several hall of fame stamp collectors: John MacFarland, James Hill, Sharon Mills, Al King, and Scott Walbert. Click here...

Stratford Point Light Station in 2015, photo by Jeremy D'Entremont David Wright Stratford, Connecticut, was an active port in coastal trade, shipbuilding and oystering in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries. To mark the entrance to the harbor, the first Stratford Point Lighthouse was built on the west side of the dangerous mouth of the Housatonic River in 1822. The present tower, 35 feet tall, was built along with a new keeper's house in 1881. Theodore of "Theed" Judson was keeper from 1880 to 1921. In his more than 40 years at Stratford Point, Judson frequently made the local newspapers with sightings of sea monsters and mermaids. The...

Conimicut Lighthouse in 2007. Photo by Jeremy D'Entremont. This episode has two segments. First is a new interview with Mayor Frank Picozzi of Warwick, Rhode Island, about the recent exterior restoration of Conimicut Lighthouse, which is owned by the city. The major project at the 1883 cast-iron caisson "sparkplug style" tower was carried out in 2024 by Abcore Restoration. Sakonnet Lighthouse in 2010. Photo by Jeremy D'Entremont Next is an abridged version of an interview first heard in late 2019 with Scott Brown, president of Friends of Sakonnet Lighthouse. The 1882 "sparkplug" off Little Compton, Rhode Island, was restored in 2012 with funding from the federal Transportation...

Prudence Island Lighthouse, photo by Jeremy D'Entremont Prudence Island, about seven miles long, is the third largest island in Rhode Island's Narragansett Bay. It was determined around 1850 that a lighthouse was needed to guide vessels passing between Sandy Point, at the island's easternmost extremity, and Aquidneck Island, about a mile to the east. Instead of building a new lighthouse, a disused one at Goat Island in Newport was moved to Prudence Island. Originally built at Goat Island in 1842, the lighthouse still stands at Sandy Point and is the oldest free-standing lighthouse in the state. The granite stairs inside Prudence Island...

There are three segments in this episode. The first recaps a recent virtual conference that the USLHS held in late March. The conference celebrated the 25th anniversary of the National Historic Lighthouse Preservation Act of 2000, with presenters and attendees sharing their stories of lighthouse stewardship and preservation. Next is an abridged version of a conversation with John Potvin first heard in November 2019. John is the manager for the Chesapeake Chapter of USLHS of Thomas Point Shoal Lighthouse in Chesapeake Bay, the only surviving cottage-style screwpile lighthouse in the country still in its original location. Following that is a chat with...

The strait between Bristol and Portsmouth, Rhode Island, was busy in the early 1800s, with all manner of vessels passing between Narragansett Bay to the west and Mount Hope Bay to the east. A lighthouse was built on the Bristol side in 1855, with a small brick dwelling and a lighthouse tower attached to its southern end. The lighthouse's days as an aid to navigation ended with the construction of the Mount Hope Bridge in 1929, almost directly over the lighthouse. The lantern was removed and the property passed into private ownership. Bristol Ferry Lighthouse, photo by Jeremy D'Entremont Simon and Laura...

This is an edited version of the second part of an interview with Dave and Lynn Waller, owners of Graves Lighthouse in outer Boston Harbor, a classic wave-swept granite tower on a barren, rocky ledge. The interview was first heard in May 2020 in episode 61. L to R: Bob Trapani Jr., Dave Waller, and Light Hearted host Jeremy D'Entremont in 2020 Dave Waller built this first-order Fresnel lens in his Malden, MA, home. One of the subjects discussed is the “Franklens” created by Dave Waller and friends — a first-order Fresnel lens made of spare panels from various Chance Brothers lenses. Also discussed are th...

Neil Hurley Neil Hurley's interest in Florida lighthouses goes back to the mid-1980s. He was serving as a staff officer for the Seventh Coast Guard s District Aids to Navigation Branch, and he often had to answer questions about lighthouses in Florida. Neil decided to make Florida lighthouse history his off-duty hobby. That led to countless hours of research, and he’s been the historian for the Florida Lighthouse Association since it was founded. His books include Florida’s Lighthouses in the Civil War, An Illustrated History of Cape Florida Lighthouse, and Lighthouses of the Dry Tortugas: An Illustrated Hist...

This is an edited version of an interview that was first heard in episode 60 in May 2020. The guest is Dave Waller, the owner of Graves Light in Boston Harbor. This is part one of two parts. Graves Light in June 2001, photo by Jeremy D'Entremont Dave Waller The ledges in outer Boston Harbor called the Graves – about 10 acres in all – have been home to a lighthouse since 1905. The 113-foot tower is made of granite, and a first-order Fresnel lens was installed in the lantern. After the light's automation in 1976, weather and vandalism took its toll. Under the guidelines of the National Hist...

Barcelona Light Station, photo by Mike and Carol McKinney In 1828, Congress appropriated five thousand dollars to construct a lighthouse in Barcelona Harbor on Lake Erie in New York. The harbor had just been designated an official port of entry when the lighthouse was built. In the early 1800s, lumber, salt, flour, and fish were shipped to and from the port. The lighthouse is a conical stone tower, 40 feet tall. It's believed to be the very first natural gas-powered lighthouse in the world. Barcelona Lighthouse is undergoing a major restoration (New York State Parks) Marla Bingham-Melcher The light was discontinued as...

Fred Mikkelsen This is an edited version of an interview first heard in episode 43 in January 2020. Conimicut Lighthouse is a cast-iron caisson structure built in 1883 to mark a dangerous shoal at the mouth of the Providence River. 18-year-old Coast Guardsman Frederick Mikkelsen was assigned to the station in 1958. One of his most memorable experiences in his three years at the lighthouse was a 1960 hurricane. Shortly after Fred Mikkelsen left, Conimicut became one of the last lighthouses in the nation to be converted to electricity. The light was automated and the resident keepers were reassigned in 1963. The lighthouse is owned today...

Desiree Heveroh at East Brother Light Station in Richmond, California Desiree Heveroh describes herself a steward and keeper of the history of the city of Richmond, California, located in the San Francisco Bay Area's East Bay region. She was a longtime board member of the East Brother Light Station, which is situated on an island in the strait that separates San Francisco Bay and San Pablo Bay. East Brother is open to the public as a B&B inn, and Desiree actually lived in the lighthouse for 14 months during the COVID pandemic. She’s also the shipkeeper for the historic SS...

Pencarrow Lighthouse (1859) was the first permanent lighthouse in New Zealand. Mary Jane Bennett - the first official lighthouse keeper in New Zealand, and the only woman to ever hold the role - is profiled in "Guiding Lights." This is another episode of Light Hearted Lite, the series where we revisit interviews from the past six years of Light Hearted. First is a chat about an upcoming virtual conference the U.S. Lighthouse Society will be hosting in March. The conference will celebrate the 25th anniversary of the National Historic Lighthouse Preservation Act of 2000 and will feature a broad spectrum of...

Pomham Rocks Lighthouse, photo by Gary Point Pomham Rocks Lighthouse is at the northern end of Narragansett Bay in Rhode Island, offshore from the community of Riverside. Alex Dias joined the Friends of Pomham Rocks Lighthouse (a chapter of the American Lighthouse Foundation) in 2012, but his fascination with lighthouses dates back to 2005 when he was in the 5th grade. He’s been involved with virtually every aspect of the group, including the development of the museum inside the keeper’s quarters, the ongoing restoration of the building inside and out, and helping to facilitate public tours. Alex has a captain’s lice...

This is a re-edited version of an interview that was first heard on "Light Hearted" in 2019.  Jim Pope was a keeper at rugged Whaleback Lighthouse in Maine from 1960 to ’62, and the light was automated and de-staffed a short time later. Whaleback is a ledge on the northeast side of the entrance to the Piscataqua River, on the approach to the harbor of Portsmouth, New Hampshire. The 70-foot granite lighthouse tower was built in 1872. The keepers lived inside the tower itself. Whaleback Lighthouse, photo by Jeremy D'Entremont Jim Pope was born in Scarborough, Maine, in 1938. After graduation from Traip Academy in Kit...

Peter Halil and his wife, Isla This is part two of a two-part interview. Peter Halil was a lighthouse keeper in the UK from 1974 to 1997, and he was among the last traditional lighthouse keepers there before all the lights were automated. Peter Halil was keeper at South Stack Light Station in Wales 1980-83. USLHS archives. He also shot video at as many lighthouses as possible before they were automated. His videos sometimes include footage of the keepers at work, and, when possible, interviews with keepers. He’s posted the videos on his YouTube channel, which you can access at youtube.com...

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This is part two of a two-part interview. Peter Halil was a lighthouse keeper in the UK from 1974 to 1997, and he was among the last traditional lighthouse keepers there before all the lights were automated.

He also shot video at as many lighthouses as possible before they were automated. His videos sometimes include footage of the keepers at work, and, when possible, interviews wi...

Peter Halil and hjis wife, Isla

This is part two of a two-part interview. Peter Halil was a lighthouse keeper in the UK from 1974 to 1997, and he was among the last traditional lighthouse keepers there before all the lights were automated.

He also shot video at as many lighthouses as possible before they were automated. His videos sometimes include footage of the keepers at work, and, when possible, interviews with keepers. He’s posted the videos on his YouTube channel, which you can ac...

Peter Halil and hjis wife, Isla

This is part two of a two-part interview. Peter Halil was a lighthouse keeper in the UK from 1974 to 1997, and he was among the last traditional lighthouse keepers there before all the lights were automated.

He also shot video at as many lighthouses as possible before they were automated. His videos sometimes include footage of the keepers at work, and, when possible, interviews with keepers. He’s posted the videos on his YouTube channel, which you can ac...

Rob Benchley at Sankaty Head Lighthouse, photo by Jeremy D’Entremont This is re-edited version of an interview with Rob Benchley first heard in episode 81 in September 2020. Rob is the volunteer modern day keeper of Sankaty Head Lighthouse in the Sconset village on Nantucket in Massachusetts. He’s also an accomplished photojournalist who has been the staff photographer for three island newspapers, and his photography has been featured in the New York Times and the Boston Globe. Rob was one of the first people on the scene when Great Point Lighthouse on Nantucket was toppled by a storm in March 1984. He h...

Peter Halil There are two segments in this episode. The first guest, Peter Halil, was a lighthouse keeper in the UK from 1974 to 1997. He was among the country's final traditional lighthouse keepers before all the lights were automated. He was stationed at some well known light stations in England and Wales, including South Bishop, Dungeness, St. Catherines, Bishop Rock, the Lizard, and others. Peter interviewed Prince Phillip (master of Trinity House, the UK lighthouse service) in 1995 During his final years as a keeper, he visited as many lighthouses as possible before they were automated. He shot video at the lighthouses...