| The earliest lighthouses were merely hillside | | | | bring in supplies. Today Farallon lighthouse has a |
| bonfires to warn ships away from the shore and | | | | radio beacon as well as a light and a fog signal and |
| were believed to have been started in Alexandria, | | | | is surrounded by seals as well as being a major |
| Greece around 285 B.C. The first lighthouses in | | | | nesting area for birds. |
| America were built in the North Atlantic to serve | | | | Another of America's famous lighthouses is the |
| the brisk trade brought by clipper ships to the | | | | Cape Florida lighthouse, finished in 1825 and |
| new world. | | | | standing 65 feet high with a solid base of |
| America's first lighthouse was Boston Lighthouse, | | | | five-foot thick brick. This lighthouse helps guide |
| built on Little Brewster Island in 1716, has a long | | | | mariners through the dangerous Florida Reed and |
| and exciting history. For instance, its first keeper | | | | into Cape Florida Channel. Like so many other |
| was responsible for piloting vessels entering the | | | | lighthouses, its history is fraught with peril and |
| harbor but was drowned along with his family one | | | | adventure. In 1836, the Seminole Indians attacked |
| stormy night when his boat capsized. Benjamin | | | | the lighthouse, manned only by the keeper and his |
| Franklin wrote a ballad about the sad incident, | | | | servant. During the ensuing battle, they set fire to |
| selling it on the streets of Boston to curious | | | | the wooden door and windows. The keeper was |
| readers. The lighthouse was damaged by fire in | | | | forced to flee to the top with his servant, |
| 1751 so badly that only the walls remained; the | | | | destroying the stairs so they wouldn't be pursued. |
| British commandeered the restored lighthouse in | | | | Trapped at the top of the lighthouse with the oil |
| 1774 and it was the scene of many guerilla | | | | for the lamps burning fiercely, they stepped out |
| operations and other skirmishes. | | | | onto the walkway where the unfortunate servant |
| When the British finally left America in 1776 amid | | | | was shot dead. Only by pretending that he, too, |
| a hail of gunfire, they left timed charges at the | | | | was dead, did the keeper escape a similar fate. |
| lighthouse that destroyed it once again. Boston | | | | As the fire was about to burn him to death, it |
| Lighthouse was rebuilt shortly afterward and still | | | | burned through the floor and sent everything to |
| stands today on a very dangerous strip of | | | | the bottom. The lighthouse keeper was rescued |
| coastline so beset by fog that one particularly | | | | by a passing ship the next day and the lighthouse |
| dense area is called the Ghost Walk. Its light was | | | | was rebuilt in 1846 only to be destroyed in the |
| extinguished during WWII but burns today with | | | | civil war then rebuilt in 1867. |
| 1,800,000 candlepower that is visible for sixteen | | | | The loneliest lighthouse in America is probably the |
| miles. | | | | Spectacle Reef Lighthouse in Michigan, 1,012 miles |
| Just outside San Francisco, Farallon Lighthouse | | | | away from the nearest land and surrounded |
| was built in 1855 just after the gold rush. The | | | | much of the year by ice. It was built in 1870 and |
| influx of people into California meant that the | | | | first lit in 1874; supplies were brought in by |
| increasing number of trade ships would need | | | | steamer and eleven of its 93 feet is built |
| protection from the coastline and so a lighthouse | | | | underwater. The ice can pile up to seven feet |
| was built on Farallon Island. It was not without | | | | above the door! |
| considerable difficulty that the lighthouse was | | | | The alternating white and red lights can be seen |
| finished; the cliffs of the island were so steep that | | | | seventeen miles away. |
| for years a mule was kept on the island to help | | | | |