Its not just the Minots Ledge lighthouse thats changing hands. In my winter gloves, treadless rubber boots, ski pants, and a life jacket, I climb, pausing on each step to prevent my forearms from seizing up in the cold. When I accepted the post, I closed my ears against the reports of the former keeper, treating them (as I now find) too lightly, and here I shall remain so long as a vestige of the lighthouse remains; but the truth must be told. Vandals subsequently entered the lighthouse and smashed sections of the second-order lens. The ladder up from sea level, Graves Light, built in 1905. lens, which had been removed from the tower in 1993, was given to the Kittery Historical and (8 minutes) Bobby Sager thinks in bulk. Cape Hatteras Lighthouse, North Carolina, is traditionally open for climbing the stairs, though closed periodically in recent years for restoration. 4 From the top deck of Graves tower, Waller points two miles south to Little Brewster Island, home only to Boston Light, the first lighthouse in the United States, built in 1716. Breakwaters, River Lights, Channel, Small Islands in Sounds. Weve all stopped to take a picture of these icons, lighthouses, at some point, but in another 50 or 100 years we might not be able to. 3 Works at Self-Employed. Turn north on 228, and follow East Street, The Blizzard of 1978 helped write the last chapter in Boon Islands history as a manned light. But when you own a lighthouse, the repairs are never really done. At this time, the second-order lens was dismantled and placed in storage in the tower, and a third-order Fresnel lens was installed. Lewis, nephew of Winslow Lewis was asked to report on the conditions of the many of the lighthouses along the coasts of Maine, New Hampshire, and Massachusetts. The inaccessibility of the station, especially during inclement weather, made the delivery of supplies difficult, and visiting the mainland sometimes impossible. Their website is full of Black Hawk helicopters and former cop cars. He is also the producer and host of the U.S. Lighthouse Society podcast, "Light Hearted." He can be emailed at [email protected] The ledge its built on was notorious for wrecking boats because of its steep shelf and twitchy tides. We boiled every bit of what we drank or bathed with. Although Merrill said he took pains with the mortar and later wrote, I did my utmost to have it done well, an 1843 report said it was laid up in bad lime mortar, the tower was leaky, and the walls inside were covered with ice in winter and green mould in summer. After the twelve lamps, set in fourteen-inch reflectors, went into service in the new tower, the old one was taken down to a height of twelve feet and used as a wood shed. Grover was cleared in court, but the accusations, and other difficulties, would continue. She is shaking a good three feet each way as I write. Florence Idella Batty: Memories of Maines Boon Island,, Keeper of the Light Was Painter of the Light,. The new owner is Bobby Sager, a lighthouse enthusiast and philanthropist with enough assets to fund a thorough restoration of the tower. As early as 1695, a schooner crashed on those treacherous rocks and sank, leaving no survivors. Bobby has created an easy way for those that would like to make a difference and a way for anyone to send a Hope Soccer Ball to underprivileged children. The new owner is Bobby Sager, a lighthouse enthusiast and philanthropist with enough assets to fund a thorough restoration of the tower. But who owns the thing? Waller has been coming here from his home in Malden at least twice a month for eight years. The wind reached nearly 100 miles per hour and stirred up waves that dashed against the dwelling and tower, coating them in thick layers of ice. In June 2007, Coast Guard Maritime Safety and Security Team divers were transported to the waters near Minots Ledge Lighthouse aboard the Coast Guard Cutter Abbie Burgess. I have been hear 13 years and 4 months 28 days and never see such a time before. Sager hasnt officially said anything about what hes planning to do; hes actually been radio silent since the sale. Great Lakes Lighthouses, Seacoasts, Islands, Sounds. Vessels mostly use satellite, GPS, and radar to dodge rocks, avoid the bottom of the ocean or bay, and dock safely in a harbor, even if someespecially small boatsstill rely on lighthouses as visual aids, like buoys. It says a lot about Dave Waller that he and Bobby Sager have worked out an agreement, making Sager a partner in the Graves Light project. Two water tanks, weighing about four tons each, were lifted off their granite foundations and carried a distance of seventy-five feet to the northeast end of the island and totally wrecked. See list below of other lighthouses that allow tours and lodging. Whaleback Lighthouse sits at the mouth of the Piscataqua River, Kittery, Maine; the Atlantic Ocean stretches away in the background. Part of that is nostalgia. Eva recalls, Sometimes I played alone on the rocks, and when there were a lot of seals, Id make believe that was my army. Lives in Kenbridge, Virginia. The fact that it no longer belongs to the public that its owned by an individual who can turn it into a vacation house or tear it down feels like a transgression. In 2000, hed had enough. Thats when I look up, and realize were only halfway to the entrance. Two lighthouse keepers were killed when it went down and theyre said to haunt the new house. In winter, ice covered the stone buildings, even capping the chimney of the dwelling on one occasion. His first renovation was his Malden home, a 10,000-square-foot Queen Anne style firehouse that had nearly burned to the ground when he and his wife, Lynn, bought it from the town for $32,500. Sager has agreed to share financial resources and Dave has agreed to share the lighthouse. It lets the federal government give away lighthouses to qualifying local governments, non-profits, or community development organizations. Turn left on He says no. Fort Point Lighthouse was completed in 1853, shortly after its twin lighthouse at Alcatraz Island, San Francisco Bay, California. 1 The original 1905 iron ladder, corroded in aqua that matches the sea, runs from the granite under my feet from sea level up a tight parallel against the side of his 113-foot lighthouse. Seacoasts, Sounds, River Entry, Bays, Channels, Range Lights. Fine. Captain F.A. Shad Sager Overview Shad Gary Sager has been associated with one company, according to public records. Waller and I gaze from the top deck through the windows of his seaswept kingdom at the shoreline towns, historic shipping ports that arose here in the first place because of the water, and we look toward Boston Light. Breathing the salty clean winter air, out in the middle of the harbor, we stand in front of his time machine. Several keepers were convinced that the ghosts of the two doomed assistant keepers still resided in the lighthouse, sending signals to each other, cleaning the lens, and warning others of the dangers presented by Minots Ledge. Gulls circle round in clear skies, and time slows. After a year on the island, Keeper Hanna wrote the following threat: unless the Government provides for me and my family as agreed, I shall on the first day of April leave this place. Hannas request was forwarded to Secretary of Treasury Albert Gallatin with the following notation, it has been difficult to get anyone who would consent to accept the appointment as keeper for the compensation allowed. Join Outside+ to get Outside magazine, access to exclusive content, 1,000s of training plans, and more. . In 1901, the Lighthouse Board requested $10,000 for a powerful fog signal to replace the bell used on Boon Island. Lighthouse. A few years ago, the mooring was ripped out of the ocean floor by a gale, and a breaker dragged Dave Wallers boat, a U.S. Coast Guard cutter he bought used, into the shoal below the lighthouse. Mahan devised a system where the flash panels in a Fresnel lens were so arranged to indicate numbers. The Late Gale at Minots Rock Light, John W. Bennett, 1851. (Photo: Javaris Johnson/Snipezart). This lens was one of two lenses, built using the Mahan system, that were displayed at the Columbian Exposition held at Chicago in 1893. At the conclusion of the operation, a memorial plaque honoring Joseph Antoine and Joseph Wilson, the two keepers lost with the lighthouse, was lowered to the seafloor. 5th }Customer Service. The worst storm that struck the island during Keeper Williams lengthy tenure began on January 31, 1898 and was described by Williams in a letter to The Portsmouth Herald. We walk the fresh pale planks, turn around, and I see it why Waller would throw down the most moneyjust shy of a million dollarsever spent privately on a lighthouse. (See this video of the Gay Head rescue.). When youre out here, the whole world stops, as far as youre concerned, says Waller. Part way to the tower, the dory sprang a leak. At 133-feet-tall, the new Boon Island Lighthouse, built of granite quarried in Biddeford and lined with brick, was and is the tallest in New England. The island is now owned by philanthropist and lighthouse enthusiast Bobby Sager. First Assistant: Christopher C. Littlefield (1854), George G. Bowden (1854 1855), Charles H. Tobey (1855 1859), William Baker (1859), Josiah Tobey, Jr. (1859 1861), Calvin Gray (1861 1866), George H. Yeaton (1866 1867), John W. Card (1867 1873), Leander White (1874 1878), David R. Grogan (1878 1880), George O. Leavitt (1880 1881), Paschal Fernald (1881 1885), Orrin M. Lamprey (1885 1886), William C. Williams (1886 1888), James Burke (1888 1890), Charles W. Torry (1890 1893), William M. Brooks (1893 1897), Charles S. Williams (1897 1905), William T. Stevens (1905), Mitchell Blackwood (1905 1911), Charles W. Allen (1911 1913), Fuller E. Larrabee (1913), Roger P. Philbrick (1913 1917), Roscoe M. Chandler (1917 1919), Harry M. Kelley (1919 at least 1921), Eugene L. Coleman (1924 1930), Fred C. Batty (1930 1932), Benjamin Stockbridge (at least 1935), Hoyt P. Smith (1936 1937), Harry H. McClure (1937 1940), George A. McKenney (1940 1942), Jack McCoe (1944 1945), Thomas J. Guice (at least 1945), Robert Adams (at least 1947), Gordon B. Kenny (1951 1952), Charles Eaton (1962 1965), August Pfister (1967 1968). 26.25 In May 2000, Boon Island Lighthouse, from which a flashing white light, visible for nineteen nautical miles, is emitted every five seconds, was leased to the American Lighthouse Foundation. The identity of the new owner was soon revealed to be Bobby Sager, a Boston philanthropist and Chairman of the Board of Directors of Polaroid. Right in her hair.So after that, she started using the chamber pots. To improve the conditions described in 1888, the exterior of the stone dwelling was torn out and rearranged, and a frame upper story was added to the dwelling. Were climbing up this? I ask, as if its not obvious. The lighthouse was automated in 1980. It is old and its interior is in bad condition, needing thorough renovation. The company was incorporated in California twelve years ago and is no longer active. We cut off the cabin and converted it into a barge to haul heavy materials out to Graves, says Waller, referring to the historic lighthouse he owns. His globetrotting children, now 25 and 22, have learned this important lesson: Poor people are happy with almost anything. Rich people? Phone Number: (661) 296-MJKV. 3.15 On May 16, 2012, Boon Island Lighthouse was made available under the National Historic Lighthouse Preservation Act of 2000 to eligible federal, state, and local agencies, non-profit corporations, educational agencies, and community development organizations to be used for educational, recreational, cultural, or historic preservation purposes. We have come to Graves Light Station on a good day. My dad grew up in the harbor the light protects, and my grandmother trolled for striped bass with a handline out past the ledge. Sager has been taking photos of youngsters from war-torn countries for several years now, as he and his family have traveled the world practicing what he calls "eyeball-to-eyeball philanthropy.". Use One has to have a varied knowledge of things to be a lightkeeper. On October 13th, Bobby Sager, Polaroid's chairman, won the auction and bought the lighthouse for $222,000. Order Boon Island Light sold for second time, Paul Briand. First, a little background: Sager grew up in Malden, where he met and married his high school sweetheart. Lighthouses across the country are crumbling amid worsening storms and dwindling funds. Although this request was repeated for over a decade, a fog horn did not replace the bell until around 1960. Snowman is the only female in history among the 69 others to keep Boston Light. When no interested party was found to assume ownership, Minots Ledge Lighthouse was placed on the auction block on June 25, 2014. White Shoal Light, Lake Michigan With an asking bid of $15,000, this delightful candy cane of a lighthouse has been made famous for its representation on the "Save Our Lights . At the bridge, I can finally move laterally, my soles sinking into the planks, and I tell Waller, with only 13 feet left, I dont like heights. We cross the bridge to the former oil room he turned into a guest house. Sylvester (1861 1863), James D. Baxter (1863 1873), Wallace Willcutt (1873 1874), John G. Hayden (1874 1877), Amiel Studley (1877), Joseph B. Vinal (1877 1879), Charles S. Davis (1879 1880), Alonzo Smith (1880), Joseph A. Noble (1880 1881), Frank F. Martin (1881), Frank W. Thomas (1881), Lester G. Willett (1881), Albert H. Burdick (1881 1882), Joseph E. Frates (1882), George L. Lyon (1887 1889), Winfield L. Creed (1889 1892), George F. Holmes (1892 1893), James Kingsley (1893 1894), John E. Morrill (1894), Charles Grey Everett (1894 1895), Daniel D.L. What kind of a guy can buy a lighthouse? At first, Boon Island was barely able to attract and retain a keeper. Some sit submerged under the waters of the Chesapeake Bay or are about to topple over in the Great Lakes. Rocks weighing fifteen tons or more were moved twenty feet, and two outbuildings were swept away. If you apply too much logic to itlook at the cost, the resale, and the amount of workit doesnt make sense, says Waller. 12,800 Keepers were by-the-book, sober, carefully chosen men. At the time it was the most anyone had paid for a lighthouse. I was thinking of that recently as I sat on a South Shore beach, listening to excitement rise in Joe Castigliones radio voice as a home-team fly ball cleared the bullpen wall at Fenway. They try to put them in the hands of groups that will keep them open to the public, but sometimes, like in Minots case, no public entity wants the responsibility. Find your friends on Facebook. The light, which is powered by solar batteries, will still flash, and the Coast Guard will come by every once in a while to check on it. Indeed life inside the lighthouse did prove precarious. Captain Sumner H. Cobbett and some of his crew from the North Scituate Coast Guard Station set off in a rowboat in pursuit of the leaky dory and were finally able to rescue the men, who were exhausted and suffering badly from exposure. Brides (1939 1940), Percy A. Evans (1940 1942). Also: bikes, going places, and what the F were doing to the planet. Sign up today. That cistern had green scum an inch thick on top of it., Despite the storms and hardships, several children and grandchildren loved their time on Boon Island. Past Addresses: See available information. Image courtesy of The Power of the Invisible Sun, by Bobby Sager.Last week Sting and his wife, Trudie Styler, hosted a concert at Carnegie Hall to benefit the Rainforest Fund, the nonprofit they . Until construction of the new dwelling was completed in 1905, animosity festered, as was noted in a letter by First Assistant Charles W. Torry, charging the Keeper of that station with neglect of duty, in not properly keeping an account of oil expended at the station, and a waste of the Government property in throwing surplus oil away in order to make his account of expenditures tally. Apparently, no disciplinary action was taken against Keeper Williams; but Torry soon found himself unemployed.