Saturday, August 27 - Lighthouses

As my followers know, I have an extreme fascination for lighthouses. I cannot explain why, or when it began, but they draw me in as a moth to a flame. I saw so many of them on my trip to the Maritimes, yet I still cannot get enough of them!

I am hoping to see at least 3 or 4 of the Vineyard's lighthouses next month when my brother and I visit. He is not enamored of them, but as I am driving on this trip we shall see where we end up :)

Lighthouses are so very fascinating! Of course they were erected for excellent reasons in strategic places, and have been kept through the years by lighthouse keepers and their families. A few years ago my sister and I journeyed to Pemaquid Point, Maine, and had an up-close, one of a kind tour. She had contacted the keeper ahead of time, and it was just the 2 of us. He was eager to allow us to climb to the top of the lighthouse (which is narrow and cramped and rather claustrophobic).

It was really cool, but also very small (space-wise). First and last time for me! Not an experience I care to repeat. I am claustrophobic and was shaking by the time I came down.

I did get quite a lesson on Fresnel lenses however. They slowly replaced the parabolic reflectors lighthouses along the east coast of America had used previously. Parabolic reflectors had a maximum light distance of 2-4 miles. Fresnel lenses will project light for over 20 miles. It is really fascinating, and the history and science quite something! if interested just google it :) Fresnel lenses are rated on orders; the one at Pemaquid is only one of only 6 in Maine that is on the fourth order.

Although many of the lighthouses are no longer actively used, quite a few are still are. Most lighthouses in the United States are owned and run by the Coast Guard. Pemaquid Point is still active due to the tricky waters and tides in the bay. Here are some pictures that clearly show why!

Pemaquid Point

Pemaquid Point

I will never forget our guide that day, Marty. His enthusiasm, knowledge and dedication to keeping the Pemaquid Light are something I will always remember.

 The 5 lighthouses on the Vineyard... (a lot of the following descriptions are paraphrased and distillled from several websites).

The 5 lighthouses on the Island represent the most diverse group in a small, contained area in the country, according to lighthouse buffs. All are on the north side of the Island overlooking Vineyard and Nantucket Sound.

The West Chop Lighthouse was the Island's last manned lighthouse. It was built in 1817, and in 1838 the wooden building was replaced by the present brick structure. It was moved back from the edge of the 60-foot-high bluff in 1848 and again in 1891. It is now privately owned and not open to the public.

The East Chop lighthouse in Oak Bluffs stands on the site of one of the first telegraph signals, set up in 1828. Signals from Nantucket were received here and relayed on to Woods Hole, South Plymouth, Duxbury, Marshfield, and Dorchester Heights. A series of raised and lowered arms and flags conveyed news about cargos of ships arriving at Nantucket. 1891. Originally called "Holmes Hole," it acquired the name Vineyard Haven in 1871.

East Chop Lighthouse

West Chop Lighthouse

The original Edgartown Lighthouse was built in 1828, on a small man-made island in the Edgartown harbor. An Act of Congress allocated money to build it 1/4 mile from shore. The first structure was replaced in 1938 by one reached via raft to the Vineyard from Ipswich. Although the new light was placed on the original site, sand had filled in the area between the island and the mainland, and the current Edgartown Lighthouse stands on shore.

Edgartown Lighthouse

Martha's Vineyard sits in treacherous seas, with one tide coming in from Boston, affecting the south side of the Vineyard, and another from Rhode Island, affecting the north shore. There are reefs, rocks, and shoals, and the infamous Devil's Bridge off Aquinnah, which wrecked the steamship "The City of Columbus" on January 18, 1884, with the loss of 120 crew and passengers in the icy waters. Thus the need for so many lighthouses on such a small island.

The Gay Head (Aquinnah) lighthouse has always been perilously close to the ever-eroding cliffs. The red brick light was built in 1844 to replace a wooden tower authorized by President John Quincy Adams. In 1856, a Fresnel lens was installed, after having been proudly exhibited at the World's Fair in Paris. It is now preserved at the Martha's Vineyard Historical Society in Edgartown, and is lighted every evening after dark throughout the year.

Gay Head Lighthouse

Aquinnah cliffs

Cape Poge lighthouse, the island's most remote, was built in 1801 when an Act of Congress appropriated $2,000 for its 4 acre site. The original lighthouse was made of wood and had a small caretaker's cottage.

By 1838, the building was destroyed by the ravaging sea and rebuilt farther inland. It lasted 50 years before the sea again claimed it and it was rebuilt, with a change from reflector lamps to red and white revolving prisms. The sea would not be denied, and reclaimed the lighthouse again in 1892. It was rebuilt but only lasted another 35 years. The present wooden structure was built in 1922, 55 feet high with a light visible for a distance of 12 miles. In 1985 it gained the distinction of being the first entire lighthouse to be moved by helicopter; in 1997 the lantern was again moved by helicopter for repairs. The lighthouse's current site is 300 feet from the ever-hungry sea.

Cape Poge Lighthouse

 


The lighthouses of Edgartown, East Chop, and Gay Head are still operating. Their lanterns are now automated, but the US Coast Guard minds them carefully :)

Monday, August 22 - Masschusetts

I read an article in Sunday's paper which disturbed me a bit, so I am going to vent a little about it.

In summer the US welcomes a lot of foreign college students arriving to work for the season and experience a bit of our country and culture while they are here. Most are from eastern Europe, the Soviet Republic, etc. Yes they do work long hours, but are paid more than they would earn in their home countries.They know this prior to arrival.

Most want to be here, experiencing a different culture while earning money.

The article was about foreign students working on Matha's Vineyard, and contained several interviews. One student was very unhappy about his experience. He felt MV did not have any history, and was too "clean and shiny".

Really?

Perhaps our civilization does not go back as far as Europe's. It does not make it any less. The first Europeans that visited Martha's Vineyard were the Vikings, who landed about the year 1000, naming it Vineland. In some of their writings are descriptions that can be of no other place than Martha's Vineyard (the largest island for miles and miles).


From the website: "The next explorer, and the first one to leave any account of the island, was Bartholomew Gosnold, of Falmouth, England. In 1602 he sailed for Virginia. Contrary winds drove him to the Azores; thence he sailed a little north of west, and struck out boldly across the Atlantic. He was the first Englishman to sail directly to the American coast, thereby saving nearly a thousand miles in distance and at least a week in sailing time. He landed on a cape which he named Cape Cod from the abundance of codfish found there. Then doubling the cape and sailing to the southward he landed on a small island about six miles southeast of Gay Head which he called Martha's Vineyard. The next day he landed on the larger island. After exploring it and finding it so large, well wooded, and with such luxuriant grape vines, many beautiful lakes, and springs of the purest water, he transferred the name and called it Martha's Vineyard, in honor of his mother whose name was Martha."

The other island he re-named No-Man's-Land (Nantucket).

English settlement began with the purchase of Martha's Vineyard, Nantucket, and the Elizabeth Islands (in the harbor, south of the Cape and north of the Islands) by Thomas Mayhew from two English "owners". He had friendly relations with the Wampanoags on the island, in part because he was careful to honor their land rights. His son, also named Thomas Mayhew, began the first English settlement in 1642 at Great Harbor ( which later became Edgartown).

Prior to that, for many thousands of years, indiginous Native Americans roamed and wandered. Martha's Vineyard was called "Noepe" by the Wampanoag, which means "In the Midst of the Sea"

The whaling industry boomed between 1820 and 1865. Herman Melville spent time there, although his novel was based on his adventures out of Nantucket. We ALL had to read Moby Dick, did we not :) ?

Born and bred in Massachusetts, I am well aware of what MV has evolved into over the years.

I realize this is not "home" for the students, but is that not why they decided to come? To experience and learn? The interviewee in the paper said he could not wait to leave; wanted to get home and away from here.

Apprently too different for him, but he was disgusted and did not disguise it.

I do not disrespect anyone's culture. Please do not disrespect mine.

There are many states I have not visited - Wyoming, Montana, Arkansas, Hawaii to name but a few! I certainly would not dismiss them as "less" or "gross" simply because I am not from there. There is always something of value to be learned.

And you got a short history lesson as well :)