Useful Links

Websites to Explore

There is a vast amount of lighthouse information on the Internet. These comprehensive sites are useful for exploring lighthouse history and for finding your way to lighthouses you might want to visit.

Lighthouse Digest magazine
www.lighthousedigest.com
Read current and back issues of this magazine for lighthouse enthusiasts; check out the “Doomsday List” of endangered lighthouses. Articles cover a wide variety of topics, such as keepers’ lives, lighthouse history, and restoration projects; many are accompanied by historic photos.

The Lighthouse Directory
www.unc.edu/~rowlett/lighthouse/
If you are looking for information about lighthouses in other countries, check out this site. Maintained by a mathematics professor with a passion for lighthouses, it compiles photos and brief histories of hundreds of lighthouses around the world. Site also includes up-to-date news about lighthouses.

Lighthouse Explorer Database (by Lighthouse Depot)
www.lighthousedepot.com/database/ searchdatabase.cfm
Database includes brief information about 7,000+ lighthouses around the world. Search by U.S. state, Canadian province, country, or lighthouse name. Includes names of keepers at many U.S. light stations and brief descriptions of light characteristics.

Lighthousefriends.com
www.lighthousefriends.com
This site offers wonderful maps showing locations of all lighthouses in a particular state. Click on a lighthouse name from each state map to obtain photos, histories, and driving directions. Some histories are detailed and include bibliographies.

The Lighthouse People
www.thelighthousepeople.com
A husband-and-wife team, known as “the Lighthouse People,” have posted hundreds of photos of U.S. lighthouses on this site, as well as stories of their adventures traveling to remote lighthouses.

National Park Service’s Inventory of Historic Light Stations
www.cr.nps.gov/maritime/ltsum.htm
Organized by state, this site lists historic lighthouses, the year in which they were built, and their current use.

National Park Service’s List of Publicly Accessible Lighthouses
www.cr.nps.gov/maritime/ltaccess.html
Arranged by region, this site lets you know whether you can visit the grounds of a lighthouse, see a lighthouse museum, or climb the tower; includes addresses and brief directions.

National Park Service’s Report on Lightships in the United States
www.cr.nps.gov/maritime/ltshipnhl theme.htm
Provides a detailed history of the construction and evolution of lightships in the United States.

National Park Service’s Maritime Heritage Program
www.cr.nps.gov/maritime
Click on “Lighthouse Heritage” on this top-notch site to read explanations of lighthouse types, review detailed histories of lighthouses nominated for National Historic Landmark Status, and to view photos of Fresnel lenses at different lighthouses. Also includes information on the National Historic Lighthouse Preservation Act of 2000.

New England Lighthouses: A Virtual Guide
http://lighthouse.cc
Maintained by author Jeremy D’Entremont, this thorough site includes a detailed history of New England’s lighthouses, as well as current and hard-to-find historic photos. It lists lighthouses by state and provides information on New England lighthouse tours and special events. A bibliography of sources for each lighthouse is included. Site also includes a long list of lighthouses around the world where you can spend the night.

Public Broadcasting Service’s Legendary Lighthouses
www.pbs.org/legendarylighthouses
Designed to supplement PBS’ Legendary Lighthouses series, this site includes photos and histories of lighthouses featured on the shows and information about their keepers and the people restoring them.

Seeing the Light: Lighthouses of the Western Great Lakes
www.terrypepper.com/lights
This comprehensive site contains photos, histories (with a bibliography for each lighthouse), and directions to each lighthouse, arranged by the lake on which they appear. Database section lists lighthouses by architectural type, type of lens, and other characteristics. Beyond that, there is much historical information about lighting technology, fog signals, and lighthouses in general.

U.S. Coast Guard Historian’s Office
www.uscg.mil/hq/g-cp/history/collect.html
A great resource for learning more about lighthouses and lightships. Includes a detailed time line, fun facts, information on lighthouse types, photos of light keepers, and an expanded version of the National Park Service’s Inventory of Historic Lighthouse Stations with photos.

U.S. Coast Guard Light List
www.navcen.uscg.gov
Click on “Light List and Corrections” from the menu on the home page to review a list of all lighted aids to navigation, including lighthouses. Details to aid sailors include the geographic position of each lighthouse, a description of the light characteristic, and information about the structure’s appearance.

U.S. Coast Guard Index of Lightship Station Assignments
www.uscg.mil/hq/g-cp/history/Lightship_ Station_Index.html
Offers brief historical sketches of more than 100 lightship stations, including a list of the different vessels that served those stations.

Organizations

American Lighthouse Foundation
www.lighthousefoundation.org
ALF is dedicated to the preservation and restoration of lighthouses, lightships, and lifesaving stations in the United States; the home page has links to chapters devoted to specific lighthouses.

Association of Lighthouse Keepers
www.alk.org.uk
Founded by active and retired lighthouse keepers, membership in this British organization is open to lighthouse enthusiasts around the world. Site includes photos and histories of lighthouses throughout Great Britain.

Florida Lighthouse Association
www.floridalighthouses.org
The association’s Web site includes photos, background information, and visitor information about the state’s lighthouses.

Friends of Flying Santa
www.flyingsanta.org
This group is dedicated to making sure the Flying Santa tradition continues today in the Northeast. Its site includes extensive historical information and photos about the history of the Flying Santa, who delivers toys and goodies to lighthouse and Coast Guard families at Christmas

Great Lakes Lighthouse Keepers Association
www.gllka.com
Dedicated to lighthouses along the Great Lakes, this organization has been successful in getting young people involved in restoration efforts. The group’s Web site includes photos and details on the St. Helena, Michigan, restoration project.

Hudson River Lighthouse Coalition
www.hudsonlights.com
Visitor information and histories of seven lighthouses along New York’s Hudson River.

International Association of Marine Aids to Navigation and Lighthouse Authorities
www.iala-aism.org/web/index.html
This organization is devoted to authorities around the world that oversee lighthouses. Lighthouse Stamp Society www.lighthousestampsociety.org Hundreds of photos of lighthouse stamps from around the world can be found here.

Michigan Lighthouse Conservancy
www.michiganlights.com
Although this group is dedicated to lighthouses in Michigan (and there are plenty of them), it has valuable resources for anyone wanting to learn more about lighthouses in general. Of special note is a section on lighthouse keepers’ tools with color photos.

New Jersey Lighthouse Society
www.njlhs.org
The NJLHS has an exceptional Web site loaded with historical information, old photos, and transcribed documents about the history of the state’s lighthouses. Includes time line of New Jersey lighthouse history.

The Outer Banks Lighthouse Society
www.outer-banks.com/lighthouse-society
If you live in North Carolina or plan to go there, follow the tour of the state’s lighthouses on this Web site for information important to visitors.

United States Lighthouse Society
www.uslhs.org
Publisher of The Keeper’s Log, an excellent magazine of lighthouse history, the USLHS also offers lighthouse trivia on its Web site and information about lighthouses where you can spend the night. The group’s site includes links to regional chapters, such as the Chesapeake Bay and Long Island chapters, as well as those focusing on a single lighthouse.

Washington Lightkeepers Association
www.walightkeepers.com
This group is dedicated to the preservation and restoration of lighthouses and lightships in Washington state.

World Lighthouse Society
www.worldlighthouses.org
This international group is devoted to saving lighthouses and light vessels around the world.