Light spirits

They say the keeper's house at Wood Island Lighthouse in Biddeford Pool, Maine, is haunted. At left is an unretouched photo I took inside the keeper's house yesterday.

I'd say this is proof that the place is haunted. Or maybe proof that the Friends of Wood Island Lighthouse are good at decorating the place.

For more on hauntings at Wood Island, click here.

Bob Trapani at Wood Island Lighthouse, Maine

Bob Trapani, executive director of the American Lighthouse Foundation, at the Wood Island Lighthouse in Biddeford Pool, Maine, on June 5, 2010.

The lighthouse is managed by the Friends of Wood Island Lighthouse, a chapter of the American Lighthouse Foundation. For more, see www.woodislandlighthouse.org.

A Visit to Wood Island Lighthouse, Maine

In the video above, Friends of Wood Island Lighthouse chairman Brad Coupe invites everyone to come and visit the lighthouse.

Following an American Lighthouse Foundation board of directors meeting today in Biddeford Pool, Maine, a group board members and a few others took a boat ride out to Wood Island Lighthouse, courtesy of the Friends of Wood Island Lighthouse.



The lighthouse, a 47-foot stone tower built in 1839, is currently under restoration. When that's done, there are plans to restore the keeper's house.






The Friends of Wood Island Lighthouse run boat tours to the island three days a week in July and August. If you're in the area and you love lighthouses, you need to put this at the top of your list.

Click here for more on the Friends of Wood Island Lighthouse.

Repainting of Portsmouth Harbor Lighthouse almost done!

At left: Loyd Dussault of Johnson Interiors puts a new coat of paint on the bottom section of Portsmouth Harbor Lighthouse, NH.

The $30,000 repainting project, paid for by Friends of Portsmouth Harbor Lighthouse, is almost complete.

Early next week, the J.B. Leslie Masonry Company will attach protective netting beneath the ironwork on the lighthouse's lantern deck, which will prevent cliff swallows from nesting there.

Over the years, the nesting birds had caused much corrosion of the ironwork.

The swallows have easily adapted by building nests in the walls of nearby Fort Constitution.

See www.portsmouthharborlighthouse.org for more information.

Bagpiper on the Rocks

Bagpiper John Daggett entertained visitors to last Sunday's open house at Portsmouth Harbor Lighthouse. Here he is on the rocks near the lighthouse in a photo taken by Sharon Mills, secretary of Friends of Portsmouth Harbor Lighthouse.

Preservation Award for Monhegan Lighthouse

The Monhegan Historical and Cultural Museum Association, which cares for the historic lighthouse on Monhegan Island, Maine, has been awarded an Historic Preservation Honor Award from Maine Preservation for their recent restoration of the lighthouse. The restoration work was carried out by the J.B. Leslie Masonry Company, the same company that has performed work on Cape Elizabeth and Pemaquid Point lights in Maine, and is just completing work on Portsmouth Harbor Light, NH.

Congratulations to the Monhegan Historical and Cultural Museum Association and the J.B. Leslie Masonry Company for a job beautifully done!

You can read more about the award by following this link.

Portsmouth Harbor Lighthouse in the fog

Portsmouth Harbor Lighthouse in New Castle, NH, was covered with scaffolding and enshrouded in fog today.

The paint job on the lighthouse should be finished within a few days. See www.seacoastonline.com/articles/20100529-NEWS-5290313