Journey to Cleveland Ledge Lighthouse

Restored peapod boat to be launched and rowed to the Rockland Breakwater Light

Not since the days when keepers staffed Rockland Breakwater Lighthouse has a trip to the site in a peapod boat been more historic than the row set for August 15, 2010.

History will be made when a restored late 1800s wooden peapod boat departs the shoreline of Rockland, Maine, for the lighthouse where the artifact will be placed on permanent exhibit inside the light station’s boathouse.

(L to R) Kevin Carney & Brian McClellan of The Apprenticeshop, and Brian Trask, vice-chair of the Friends of Rockland Breakwater Lighthouse, take the restored late 1800s peapod out for a brief row in Rockland Harbor on August 2, 2010. Photo by Bob Trapani, Jr.

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Open Houses at Portsmouth Harbor Lighthouse, NH

Inside the 1878 lighthouse tower.

Portsmouth Harbor Lighthouse stands at Fort Point in New Castle, New Hampshire, one of the most historic spots in New England. Adjacent Fort Constitution was the scene of a raid in December 1774 that many people consider the first skirmish of the American Revolution. And the first lighthouse at Fort Point, built in 1771, was the first lighthouse established north of Boston in the American colonies.

The Friends of Portsmouth Harbor Lighthouse, a chapter of the American Lighthouse Foundation, offer open houses at the lighthouse every Sunday afternoon, 1:00 to 5:00 p.m. The open houses will continue every Sunday through October 10.

You can read all the details about the open houses by clicking here.

The photos seen here were taken by Bob Trapani at the August 1, 2010, open house.

Volunteers Bob Hancock, Joanne Yeaton, and Pat Heffernan

Volunteers staff tables outside, offering literature and souvenirs

Volunteers at the August 1, 2010 open house, L to R: Ross Tracy, Jeremy D'Entremont, Robert Kearns, Jennifer Kearns, Pat Heffernan, Ruth Knowles, Sam Knowles.

Ross Tracy, chairman of Friends of Portsmouth Harbor Lighthouse, tells visitors about the station's history.

Jeremy D'Entremont tells visitors about past keepers of Portsmouth Harbor Lighthouse

Robert Kearns told visitors about the still-active fourth-order lens, surrounded by a green acrylic cylinder.

The Thacher Island Association needs a better boat, and you can help!

Located a short boat ride from Rockport, Massachusetts, the twin lights of Thacher Island -- a national historic landmark -- are a tremendous attraction for lighthouse buffs and other visitors to Cape Ann each summer. The small launch being used by the Thacher Island Association to transport visitors to the island is now more than 30 years old, and a new one is sorely needed. There are plans to have a new boat built at a cost of $158,000.

Pierce Sears, owner of Twin Lights Beverages of Rockport, has stepped forward to help. His company has developed a line of Twin Lights apparel, featuring a variety of vintage soda bottle labels from Twin Lights Beverages' 103-year history.

Twin Lights apparel can be found at several local shops, including John Tarr's (Rockport), Willow Rest (Gloucester) and Alexandra's Bread (Gloucester), and on Thacher Island in the boathouse store.

To contribute to the boat campaign, send a check to the Thacher Island Association, Box 73, Rockport, MA 01966.


To read more, click here.

Keeper's house at Five Mile Point Lighthouse might go solar

Five Mile Point Lighthouse is a familiar landmark to the thousands of people who visit Lighthouse Point Park in New Haven, Connecticut each summer. The 1847 lighthouse's neighbors include one of New England's most beautiful carousels. You can read all about the park and its offerings by clicking here.

The former keeper's house has long served as a residence for New Haven city workers. The city’s Office of Sustainability and the Board of Parks Commissioners want to add 20 solar panels to the house; you can read more here.

Parks Director Bob Levine points out, “The lighthouse is an icon of New Haven, so having it lit by solar energy would be a symbol of our commitment [to sustainable energy use].”

Bravo!

Welcome to Rose Island Lighthouse!

Rose Island Lighthouse in Newport Harbor, Rhode Island, is one of the jewels of New England lighthouses. Whether you choose to visit for an hour or to spend a week as the "keeper," I guarantee you'll love this place. You can read all about what Rose Island has to offer on the website of the Rose Island Lighthouse Foundation.

When I visited the island two days ago, I took this video of Dave McCurdy, director of the Rose Island Lighthouse Foundation, at the top of the tower.

Plum Beach Lighthouse License Plate

The Friends of Plum Beach Lighthouse, owners of the historic lighthouse located under the Jamestown Bridge on Narragansett Bay in North Kingstown, RI, remind everyone that their Rhode Island Lighthouse license plate program begins in earnest this weekend.

More than 1600 lighthouse license plates have been ordered through the Friends as a fund-raiser to repaint the lighthouse.  The "Plate Event" will be held in retail space at the Quonset Gateway Shopping Center in North Kingstown on Saturday and Sunday, July 24 & 25, from 9-5 each day.

The space the group is using was donated to the nonprofit group by owners New Boston Fund.  It is located at the corner of Post Road and Rt. 403 in North Kingstown.On hand at the event will be several North Kingstown merchants from the shopping center along with others from the town to promote the area.  One quarter of the plate applicants are from North Kingstown and Saunderstown, where the lighthouse is located, but applicants from 38 of 39 Rhode Island towns will be coming to collect their new plates.