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September 15, 1856: Egg Rock Lighthouse, near Nahant, Massachusetts, goes into service. Milo, a dog belonging to the first keeper, George Taylor, becomes internationally famous for his lifesaving abilities.
September 1, 1867: Little Cumberland Island Lighthouse, Georgia, is lighted for the first time.
September 28-29, 1915: A hurricane batters New Orleans, Louisiana, with winds up to 130 miles per hour and a 12-foot storm surge. The bulkhead of the New Canal Lighthouse is destroyed.
September 20, 1938: The first-order Fresnel lens in Fire Island Lighthouse, New York, is converted to electric operation. A hurricane arrives on the next day, causing some damage at the station.
September 21, 1938: The worst hurricane in recorded New England history wreaks havoc along the south-facing coast. Seven people die at the region's light stations and one lighthouse (Whale Rock, Rhode Island) is completely destroyed.
September 24, 1942: The children's classic, "The Little Red Lighthouse and the Great Gray Bridge" is published. The book, written by Hildegarde H. Swift and illustrated by Lynd Ward, tells the true story of New York's Jeffrey Hook Lighthouse, which stands in the shadow of the George Washington Bridge.
September 14-15, 1944:
A Coast Guard crew manages to keep Cleveland Ledge Lighthouse in Buzzards Bay, Massachusetts, operating through a hurricane. The men used a barricade made of boards and mattresses to stop the water from rising after a skylight was dislodged, flooding the engine room.
September 11, 1952:
The 65-foot granite Bishop and Clerks Lighthouse, off Yarmouth on Cape Cod, Massachusetts, is demolished by the Coast Guard. The tower, abandoned since 1928, was leaning and missing many blocks.
September 1, 1974:
Cape Decision Lighthouse, Alaska, is automated and the last Coast Guard keepers are transferred elsewhere. The Cape Decision Lighthouse Society now maintains the facility.
September 14, 2004:
The Friends of Wood Island Light-house, a chapter of the American Lighthouse Foundation, hold a formal flagraising ceremony on Wood Island, off Biddeford Pool in southern Maine. The Friends now offer regular
tours to the island in summer; see www.lighthousefoundation.org.
This story appeared in the
September 2007 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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