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At Maine’s Isle au Haut
Shown here in 1986 is Jeff Burke shortly after he and his wife Judi purchased the former keeper’s house at the Isle au Haut Light Station on an island off the coast of Stonington, Maine. The couple went heavily into debt to purchase the keeper’s house for $190,000 and then to immaculately restore it to open it for overnight stays as the Keeper’s House Inn. At the time, Jeff Burke said, “I saw probably the best opportunity in my entire life to create something very special out of something very rough.” The Burkes’ years of hard work in operating the Keeper’s House Inn paid off when in 2012 they sold the property. Although we don’t know what the selling price was, the listing price at the time was nearly $2 million. Jeff Burke authored two books about the Isle au Haut Lighthouse: An Island Lighthouse Inn, A Chronicle, and one of our favorites, The Lighthouse & Me – History, Memoir & Imagination.
Light-House Inspector Henry Halleck
Shown here from an original engraving, from a painting by Alonzo Chappell, is Major General Henry Wagner Halleck who served as a Light-House Inspector from 1850 to 1854 when he resigned to become president of the Pacific and Atlantic Railroad and to practice law in California. At the start of the Civil War he was recalled to active duty. This image was painted when he was Chief of Staff of the Union Army. He served as one of the pallbearers at President Abraham Lincoln’s funeral. Born on January 16, 1815, he died on January 9, 1872 in Louisville, Kentucky at the young age of 57.
Staten Island 1983 Restoration
A major restoration took place in 1983 at New York’s 1912 Staten Island Lighthouse. The lighthouse is also known as the Staten Island Range Rear Lighthouse. The beautiful former lighthouse keeper’s house is now privately owned.
Tourists at Nubble
We will probably never know who the four ladies and one man are who posed for this photo with Maine’s Nubble Lighthouse behind them. But every old photo has a story to tell. We know that the photo was taken sometime before 1961, because that’s when the bell tower was demolished and the bell was removed from the island and put on display at Ellis Park in York, Maine.
Spiraling Stairs
Shown here are the spiraling stairs in the Matagorda Island Lighthouse in Matagorda, Texas as they appeared in 1996. The lighthouse was lighted for the first time on New Year’s Eve, December 31, 1852. (Photo by James Mikes.)
Radio Beacon Tower at Yaquina
Shown here from a photo dated May 20, 1951 is the Yaquina Head Lighthouse in Newport, Oregon. At the time, John L. Zenor was the lighthouse keeper. Mr. Zenor served at Yaquina Head Lighthouse for an amazing 22 years, from 1932 to 1954. Yaquina Head Lighthouse was automated on May 1, 1966 and its last Coast Guard keepers were removed. The keeper’s house was demolished in 1984. Perhaps the day will come when a replica of the keeper’s house will be built at the site.
Rare Historic Photo Donated
At a lighthouse conference held in the autumn of 2005, Tim Harrison, editor of Lighthouse Digest donated a rare historic photograph of Maine’s Burnt Island Lighthouse to Elaine Jones of the Burnt Island Living History Museum. (Photo by Kathleen Finnegan.)
Ready for Placement
Shown here in 1925 are a number, of then recently completed. light towers at the Tompkinsville General Lighthouse Depot on Staten Island. New York as they awaited shipment to various locations to be installed on breakwaters, jetties, or rocky outcroppings.
This story appeared in the
Jan/Feb 2020 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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