Digest>Archives> May/Jun 2015

From Around The Globe

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Country Island - Nova Scotia’s Country Island Lighthouse, also known as Green Island Lighthouse, was established in 1873, but the current tower shown here was built in 1965; it replaced a wooden tower that had been built in 1927, which replaced the original 1873 lighthouse. The island is an important bird nesting site. (1996 photo, courtesy Canadian Coast Guard.)

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Scarborough Lighthouse - On the island of Tobago, which is the smaller of the two main islands that make up the Republic of Trinidad and Tobago, on the grounds of historic Fort King George, stands the Scarborough Lighthouse. Because of its location, it is often called the Fort King James Lighthouse. Built in the early 1700s, the fort was named by the British after King George III. The site was selected because of its suitable location as a defense for the newly appointed Capital of Scarborough. During a short lived French occupation (1781-1793), it was called “Fort Castries” after the Marquis of Castries who was at that time the French Minister of War. Today, on the ground where the lighthouse is situated, there are many interesting structures from the past to explore: the officers mess, powder magazine, barracks, condemned men’s cell, and of course the lighthouse. In the month of January, 1854 the British garrison at Fort King George was withdrawn because the British decided to concentrate their forces at Windward Island in Barbados. The fort was then utilized by other armed forces to safeguard and keep order over the town. Today, Fort King George houses the Tobago Museum that occupies what once was the fort’s guard-house, and the grounds of the fort are open to the public.(Information and photo by Fazimoon Samad.)

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Galera Point - On the island of Trinidad, which is the larger of the two main islands that make up the Republic of Trinidad, stands the Galera Point Lighthouse, which is one of the most visited lighthouses in the island nation. Because it is in the city of Toco, it is often times called the Toco Lighthouse. Located on the northeast coast of the island where the Atlantic meets the Caribbean, the lighthouse was first lighted on November 1, 1897. In the 1950s the lantern room was removed from the lighthouse and a small blinking light was installed. In 1984 a 26-foot tall metal skeletal structure was placed on top of the tower with a beacon at its highest point. In 2006-07 the lighthouse was restored and additional restoration was done in 2011. In honor of the Trinidad’s 2012 Olympic gold medal Javelin winner, the structure will be renamed the Keshorn Walcott Lighthouse. (Information and photo by Fazimoon Samad.)

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Port of Spain - The 64-foot tall Port of Spain Lighthouse, now more commonly known as the St. Vincent Jetty Lighthouse, is located in the Republic of Trinidad and Tobago. Built in 1841, the lighthouse is now land-locked and its color scheme has changed in recent years to honor events of national pride. The lighthouse is on the island of Trinidad, which is the largest of the islands of the nation. (Photo by Fazimoon Samad.)

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Swedish Lightship 23 - The Swedish Lightship 23 is a long way from its original location in Sweden. The former lightship was decommissioned in 1970. Today, it may be the most unusual looking lightship in the world. After decommissioning, the original superstructure and light tower was removed from the ship and placed on display in a museum in Sweden. After a couple of different owners, the lightship was sold in 2005 and shipped to the West Indies where, in 2007, it opened up as a restaurant and conference center at a marina in the nation of Grenada, which is located in the southeastern Caribbean Sea. To refresh your memory about Grenada, under orders from U. S. President Ronald Reagan, Grenada was invaded by armed forces of the United States, England, and Trinidad-Tobago on October 25, 1983 to rescue American citizens and restore the democratically elected government to power. The vessel was originally named the Lightship 21 Trelleborgs. From 1923 to 1970 it served on the Vastra Bankan station in the Baltic Sea off Gävle, Sweden, north of Stockholm. The current superstructure’s tower and lantern were added before the lightship opened as a restaurant in Grenada. (Photo by Hilari Seery.)

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Bell Island - The Bell Island Light Station was first established on Bell Island in Newfoundland, Canada in 1940. In 2004 the lighthouse was rebuilt further back from the eroding bluff of its original location. (Photo by David Siegelman.)

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Point Perpendicular - The Point Perpendicular Lighthouse was the first lighthouse in New South Wales to be built of cement-rendered concrete blocks. The lighthouse was built in 1898 and first lighted in 1899. Over the years the intensity of the First Order triple flashing dioptric light increased from 100,000 to 1,200,000 candles. The original light was decommissioned in 1992 and replaced by a solar-powered light. And unfortunately, a pot of gold was not discovered at the end of the rainbow. (Photo by John Ibbotson.)

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Prospect Point - Canada’s Prospect Point Lighthouse and Fog Signal Station was established in 1888 at the entrance to Vancouver Harbor in British Columbia. The lighthouse itself is shown here at the bottom of the photo by water’s edge. Good close-up photographs of the station are hard to find. Sadly, this historic structure no longer stands and has been forgotten by most. But, once upon a time, this was a family run station.

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Ai-Todor Lighthouse - This vintage post card features the Ai-Todor Lighthouse. However, because the old post card is not dated, we don’t know if this image is of the 1876 lighthouse tower from prior to World War II or after World War II. Reports indicate that the lighthouse, located in Crimea part of the Ukraine, was destroyed in World War II and that an exact replica was rebuilt after the war. In 2012 it was reported that Mr. Jury Tyurin, an 87-year-old lighthouse enthusiast of the Hydrographic Society of Russia, had established a museum at the lighthouse near the city of Yalta.

This story appeared in the May/Jun 2015 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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