Sunday, December 27, 2009

Photo of the Day: Herrick Cove Lighthouse, NH


This is one of three wooden lighthouses built on New Hampshire's Lake Sunapee in the 1890s in an effort to improve the safety of steamboat travel. The builders were the Woodsum Brothers, who ran the steamships that traversed the lake in its heyday as a resort.

This photo was taken a few years before a 2003 restoration, when the lighthouse was lifted by helicopter off its base. When the tower was lifted it was dunked briefly in the lake, as it turned out it weighed more than had been expected. It was was quickly lifted to safety in the yard of Court Cross, chair of the Lake Sunapee Protection Association's lighthouse committee. The crib base was overhauled and the outer wooden panels of the lighthouse were replaced by maintenance-free panels.

Click here for a 2003 article.