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Lighthouse Keeper Rescue
This International Newsreel photo, dated January 1926, shows the lighthouse keeper being rescued via line and tackle. According to the caption, in late 1925 into 1926, the coast of France had been besieged by severe storms. Because of the storms, a lighthouse keeper of one of the coastal lighthouses, was imprisoned on his light for a period of three months, relief boats were unable to approach near enough to the light to take the man off the problem was solved when a line and tackle was used in effecting the rescue. The caption did not name the lighthouse, which is the Pierres Noires Lighthouse in Brittany, France. (Present-day photo by Stephane Bidouze)
Postcard to a Keeper
This postcard, postmarked in 1951, while not a picture of a lighthouse, is addressed to the person in charge of the West Quoddy Lighthouse, the easternmost point in the United States. The writer is requesting a postcard of the lighthouse. Pictured on the card is the John Hancock Life Insurance Company building in Boston, Massachusetts. As the post card states, from the observation deck on the 26th floor, one can see 65 miles inland and 25 miles out to sea. In case you are wondering, that isn’t a lighthouse on the top. It is known as the Berkeley Weather Beacon, its light colors telling the weather. The Beacon also celebrated in lights when Boston Red Sox finally broke the curse in 2004, winning the World Series after 86 years. Such a neat little glimpse into the lives of people from nearly 75 years ago.
Russia’s Aniva Lighthouse, Russia
In Russia’s Far East, an abandoned lighthouse towers over the Sea of Okhotsk on Sakhalin Island. The Aniva Lighthouse is one of the most inaccessible lighthouses in Russia. For years, it had been warning ships off the dangerous coast of the rocky Aniva Cape in the Sea of Okhotsk. Although abandoned, it is a highly popular tourist attraction.
Lubec Channel Light
Maine’s Lubec Channel Lighthouse, had been painted brown up until 1903 when its color scheme was changed to the iconic white and black that it is today. Originally constructed in 1890, this distinctive caisson or “spark-plug” style lighthouse welcomed Frederick W. Morong as its inaugural keeper. Morong, whose son Frederick Morong, Jr. wrote the famous lighthouse keeper’s lament, “Brasswork,” served diligently until his transfer in 1898.
Living amidst the swirling waters for eight years, Morong, Sr. harbored a desire for his family to share in his station life. Advocating for his capable assistant, Loring Myers, Morong recommended to the government that Myers be his successor. Myers must have loved the job, because he stayed at the Lubec Channel Lighthouse until his retirement in 1923 and never once during all those years did he request a transfer.
The indomitable spirit of lighthouse life resonates Connie Small’s book, “The Lighthouse Keeper’s Wife.” Confronting the daunting ladder ascent, Connie found solace in the reassuring words of her husband, Elson (keeper from 1920-1922), saying “You can do it, always look up and never look down.” Their story symbolizes the resilience intrinsic to the lighthouse community, where keepers and their families navigate life’s challenges together amidst the ever-changing seascape.
(Courtesy Linda Osborne Cynowa)
This story appeared in the
May/Jun 2024 edition of Lighthouse Digest Magazine. The print edition contains more stories than our internet edition, and each story generally contains more photographs - often many more - in the print edition. For subscription information about the print edition, click here.
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