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First keepers at Point Fermin Light
We believe that this photo showing three women and one man in a horse drawn buggy at California’s Point Fermin Lighthouse was taken in 1875. We are nearly positive that two of the women are Mary Louisa Smith, who was the head keeper here from 1874 to 1882, and her sister, Ella Townsend Smith, who was the assistant keeper from 1874 to 1882. We don’t know who the third lady is, but it is highly speculated that the man is their brother, Victor Smith, who was the Collector of Customs. The two sisters were the first lighthouse keepers to serve at the gingerbread style lighthouse that was lighted for the first time on December 15, 1874. Both sisters had previously served at Ediz Hook Lighthouse in Port Angeles in Washington: Mary as assistant keeper from 1869 to 1870 and head keeper from 1870 to 1874, and Ella as assistant keeper from 1870 to 1873. Their father, George Knight Smith, had previously been the head keeper at Ediz Hook, from 1864 to 1870 and before that he had been the keeper at Cape Flattery Lighthouse on Tatoosh Island in Washington from 1862 to 1864. The restored Point Fermin Lighthouse in San Pedro, California is now part of a beautiful 37-acre park.
Mispillion’s Replacement
This 1930 photo shows the 60-foot steel tower that replaced the Mispillion Lighthouse in Milford, Delaware after the 1873 lighthouse was deactivated on December 29, 1929. For many years, the old lighthouse was on the Lighthouse Digest Doomsday List of Endangered Lighthouses. In May of 2002, lightning struck the tower of the wooden lighthouse and virtually destroyed the structure. A private individual purchased what was left and used some of the material to build a replica of the lighthouse at a new location. In 2016, the steel tower was removed.
OIC St. Simons Lighthouse
David C. O’Hagen was the Coast Guard Officer-in-Charge (OIC) of Georgia’s St. Simon Island Lighthouse from 1945 to 1947. He died at the age of 82, on August 1, 1986, and is buried at the Christ Church Cemetery in Frederica, Glynn County, Georgia. Hopefully, the day will come when a Coast Guard lighthouse keeper marker can be placed at his gravesite. This photo was taken by Seaman 1st class Harold F. Gregg, Jr., who was stationed at St. Simons Lighthouse with him at that time.
Sheffield Island’s Teacher Caretaker
In 1987, after having been owned by a private family since 1914, the Norwalk Seaport Association in Norwalk, Connecticut, purchased the 1868 Sheffield Island Lighthouse, so that it could be made available to the general public. In looking for a caretaker, they settled on Bill Benton, a local math teacher and recently divorced father of three grown daughters. Benton’s job included greeting the 50 visitors a day, who had to provide their own transportation and get tickets ahead of time that allowed them to visit the island. Because there was no running water or electricity on the island, Benton would take one day a week off to go to his apartment on the mainland for a hot shower. This previously unpublished photo of Bill Benton at Sheffield Island Lighthouse was taken on July 8, 1987 in the kitchen of the lighthouse. This recently discovered photo is the second photo that we have published of Bill Benton, the first having been in the January/February 2022 edition.
Where are They Now?
Visitors listen to a guide point out the interesting spots from the 360-degree views from the lantern of Connecticut’s 1868 Sheffield Island Lighthouse on August 9, 1990. We wonder where these people are today and if anyone of them garnered a major interest in lighthouses after this visit. This photo, now in the archives of Lighthouse Digest, was taken by Lucy Pemoni for The Advocate newspaper for a story titled “Day Trip.”
Coast Guard Station Moved
Volunteer workers from Bill Smith Construction are shown here, in this original press photo, moving the historic Coast Guard Station in Surfside, Texas on October 6, 1991. Local residents raised money to move it so that it wouldn’t be demolished for the widening of the Freeport Harbor Channel. Reportedly, it was originally built as a boathouse by the U.S. Life-Saving Service and converted to the Coast Guard station when the old station was destroyed. In 1915 the Revenue Cutter Service and the U.S. Life Saving Service were merged to create the United States Coast Guard. The photo was taken by Steve Campbell for the Houston Chronicle.
Before the Golden Gate Bridge
A lot has changed since this 1920s photo overlooking California’s San Francisco Bay and the 1906 Mile Rocks Lighthouse that was once staffed by three lighthouse keepers was taken from the Lincoln Park Golf Course in San Francisco. Not shown in this photo is the Golden Gate Bridge, which was not constructed until years later in 1937. And, in 1966, after the lighthouse was automated, the United States Coast Guard spent $110,000 to decapitate the tower by demolishing the top two tiers and installing a helipad on what was left of the tower. Today, the short stubby tower is in deplorable condition. (Sonoma Library Collection, Lighthouse Digest archives)
Gathering of the Keepers
We believe this photo was taken in 1929 at California’s Point Sur Lighthouse because it is the only year when all four keepers were stationed together at the same time. Shown from left to right are: William Mollering, Bill Fraser, Charles G. McMonigal, and Harry R. Miller. William Mollering, born in 1892, served at Point Sur Lighthouse from 1927 to 1931 and at Ballast Point Lighthouse from 1931 to 1938, when he died. Bill Fraser was the 1st assistant keeper at Point Sur Lighthouse from 1927 to 1930. Charles G. McMonigal served as a 3rd assistant and then 2nd assistant keeper at Point Sur Lighthouse from 1928 to 1929, and then as 3rd, 2nd, and 1st assistant keeper at California’s Point Reyes Light from 1929 to 1935, when he resigned. Harry R. Miller served as a 3rd, 2nd, and then 1st assistant keeper at Point Sur Lighthouse from 1928 to 1935, when he transferred to Point Cabrillo Lighthouse as 1st assistant keeper where he served until 1939.
Climbing an Abandoned Light Tower
These unknown people risked their lives in 1915 by climbing Wisconsin’s abandoned Tail Point Lighthouse, which is in a remote area about three miles north of Green Bay. Look closely, and you will notice a lady standing at the base of the tower, while a person above her, to the left, dangerously attempts to climb the exterior of the tower. One slip or wrong move could have resulted in falling from the tower causing serious injury or death. Two other people, standing on the tower’s rickety wooden stairs, are looking out a window opening. The 65-foot-tall Tail Point Lighthouse, also known as Long Tail Point Lighthouse, was built in 1849 and originally had a bird-cage style lantern. There are no known photos of the lighthouse with its lantern. The lighthouse was deactivated in 1859 and abandoned. The interior staircase is long gone. Over the years, two other lighthouses were built as replacements; neither one of them stands today.
Former Lighthouse Tender
This vintage post card, postmarked in 1912, shows the Naval Training Ship Gopher as it sails past the 1901 Duluth Harbor South Breakwater Inner Lighthouse in Duluth, Minnesota. The Gopher was built in 1871 as the U.S. Lighthouse Service lighthouse tender Fern. In 1891, it was transferred to the U.S. Navy as the Gunboat Fern. In 1905, it was transferred to the Minnesota Naval Militia and renamed the Gopher until 1907, when it was transferred back to the U.S. Navy as a training vessel at the Great Lakes Naval Training Center. The vessel sank in 1923 during a gale in Gulf of St. Lawrence. You will note that the lighthouse was painted white when this post card was made. Today, the lighthouse is painted black.
Unknown Lighthouse
Unfortunately, we don’t know the name or location of the lighthouse on this old cabinet photo in our files. At first glance, we thought it was the original Brandywine Shoal Lighthouse in Delaware Bay, New Jersey. But, we ruled that out. Another thought is that it was an early water intake crib with a beacon atop it. If so, where? If any of our readers can help us out, please email Editor@LighthouseDigest.com or by mail to P.O. Box 250, East Machias, ME 04630.
Cloverdale Citrus Fair
California’s Point Arena Lighthouse, made from oranges, and other citrus fruit, is shown here in 1908 at the Cloverdale Citrus Fair, in Cloverdale, California. The first fair was held on January 27-28 in 1893. With the exception of three years, in 1915, 1918, and 1944, it has been going on ever since. (Courtesy Sonoma County Library)
Yesteryear at Cape Flattery
This old photo of Washington’s 1857 Cape Flattery Lighthouse came to us from an old family photo album found in an antique store. Not only does it show a well-maintained light station, if you look closely, you will see clothes drying on the line. Abandoned in 1977, this light station will need millions to restore and save it. Located on Tatoosh Island, in Neah Bay, it is now owned by the Makah Tribe. Currently, to the best of our knowledge, nothing is being done to take care of it.
This story appeared in the
May/Jun 2022 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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