Lens returns home

Members of the U.S. Coast Guard have hand delivered the original St. Joseph, Florida Beacon Hill Lighthouse lens back to its home. The lens was delivered to members of the St. Joseph Historical Society during ceremonies that were held at the Gulf County Library. The lens was commissioned in 1902 and decommissioned in 1959. The light had been used to navigate into St. Joseph Bay in the deep channel of the bay. The Cape San Blas Lighthouse was also used to triangulate locations when following the channel.

Amelia to get money

Florida’s Amelia Island Lighthouse was recently ranked fourth on a list of 94 applicants for funding from a Florida state historic council, which means as long as Florida’s governor signs the budget the lighthouse will receive $350,000 for restoration. The lighthouse was originally built in Georgia in 1820 and it was moved brick by brick to Florida in 1839. The lighthouse was under the care of the Coast Guard until March of 2001 when it was turned over to the city of Fernandina Beach.

Crossed the Bar

The Lightship Sailors Association has lost one of its loyal members in the passing of CWO Chuck Mascio (USCG Ret). Chuck served on the Lightship Huron in World War II and many other locations including a lifeboat station. He was originally trained as a gunner to serve on freighters during WWII. He later became a civilian employee of the Coast Guard and his last assignment was in Italy. He retired from the Coast Guard in 1994.

Historical Information

We are looking for historical information, old newspapers stories, recorded memories and anything else we can find on the Southwest Point Lighthouse on Anticosti Island in Quebec, Canada. If anyone has anything to share with us, please send to Tim Harrison, Lighthouse History Research Institute, PO Box 250, East Machias, ME 04630.

Harbour Lights Donates $40,000 to charity

On behalf of their collectors, Harbour Lights, manufacturers of authentic replicas of lighthouses, recently donated $20,000 to the American Red Cross New York Relief Fund and upwards of $20,000 to lighthouse groups. The money came from auctions held at the 2001 Harbour Lights Collectors Reunion held in Baltimore, MD. Among the rare items auctioned off was a one-of-a-kind replica of the Macquarie Lighthouse in Australia. In addition attendees entered in the Opportunity Drawing for rare items such as a gold plated pewter sculpture of the Cape St. George Lighthouse in Florida. One group dear to our heart that received money, which was funneled through the New England Lighthouse Lovers, was a large check for Little River Lighthouse in Cutler, Maine. The check will be used to pay the contractor who will be doing the re-shingling of the keeper’s house.

Lightship Memorial needs funds

An effort is made to complete the National Lightship Sailors Memorial in New Bedford, MA. The American Lighthouse Foundation and the Lightship Sailors Association have located the names of all known members of various lightship crews from 1819 to 1983 who died in the line of duty at sea in hurricanes, ice jams, ramming, collisions etc. The additional lettering of these names to the Lightship Memorial will cost $10,000. Donations can be sent to American Lighthouse Foundation, Lightship Sailors Memorial Fund, P.O. Box 889, Wells, Maine 04090 or Arthur Motta, Lightship Sailors Memorial Fund, Wharfinger Building, Pier 3, New Bedford, MA 02740.

Manitowoc Marine to build cutters

Manitowoc Marine Group out of Manitowoc, Wisconsin has announces that its subsidiary, Marinette Marine was awarded options to build two new Juniper-class Coast Guard Buoy Tenders. The options are valued at more than $60 million. The tenders, numbers 15 and 16 in the series will be 225 feet in length and will operate with a crew of six officers and 34 enlisted personnel. The multi-mission vessels will be equipped to perform search and rescue, law enforcement, pollution response, and domestic ice breaking missions, as well as servicing aids to navigation. Scheduled for delivery in April and Sept. of 2004, it is proposed that one of the vessels will be home ported in the Great Lakes.

Lighthouse Leader Gone

Jim Gowdy, co-author of one of the best lighthouse books ever written has died. Long before lighthouses were in the vogue Jim Gowdy and a limited few were researching and documenting lighthouse history. Jim’s specialty was the Delaware area. His book Guiding Lights of the Delaware River and Bay is suburb to say the least. The following tribute is from Bob Trapani, president of the Delaware River and Bay Lighthouse Foundation, “His professionalism and expertise were applied to the many facets of lighthouse preservation: including historic documentation, human interest and structural preservation. Though the lighthouse community has lost a dear friend, Jim’s legacy will always remain a beam of guidance to all who delve into the history of the Delaware River & Bay lights and his standards of excellence as a historian will be the bar by which others who follow after him will be compared.”

New Lighthouse

Santa Cruz, California has a new lighthouse. Efforts to build a new lighthouse were started in 1999 when a local group proposed the new tower that would look more like a traditional tower. Over the years (since 1868) a series of lights has guided boaters into the harbor, the most recent a small entrance light and foghorn which was built in 1996. The new 42-foot tall tower cost $350,000.00 to build of which only $200,000 has been raised to date. However, the builder said he was willing to wait to get paid. Santa Cruz also is home to the Mark Abbott Memorial Lighthouse, which was dedicated in 1967. Donations to the lighthouse can be sent to: Santa Cruz Port District, Lighthouse Fund, 135 5th Av., Santa Cruz, CA 95062.

This story appeared in the January 2002 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.

All contents copyright © 1995-2024 by Lighthouse Digest®, Inc. No story, photograph, or any other item on this website may be reprinted or reproduced without the express permission of Lighthouse Digest. For contact information, click here.