Under the National Historic Lighthouse Act of 2000, each year several lighthouses are being transferred to suitable new owners. If no qualified organizations apply, the lighthouses are auctioned to the general public. The latest list includes three very historic lighthouses in the Northeast:
Robbins Reef Light in New Jersey, longtime home to heroic lighthouse keeper Kate Walker.
Saddleback Ledge Light in Maine, a rugged and remote lighthouse designed by famed architect Alexander Parris.
Minot's Ledge Light (left), off Boston's South Shore in Massachusetts, one of the greatest of all American lighthouse engineering achievements and one of the world's great wave-swept towers.
For the rest of the lighthouses on the list, check Sue Clark's "Lighthouse News" site.
Hopefully, some qualified nonprofit organization -- or maybe a partnership or coalition of multiple groups -- will be interested in Minot's Ledge Light. To me, it would be a crime to sell one of our most historic lighthouses to the high bidder.
What kind of zoning applies to lighthouses? If a conservation group managed to buy one, could custodians live there?
ReplyDeleteYes, a caretaker could live there in theory. The living conditions at Minot's would be primitive at best.
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