Loyal reader solicits memories

I just had to write and tell you how much I enjoyed the article "Life at Numero Uno" in the December 1997 issue. I visited Boston Light on a harbour cruise by the "Friends of Boston Harbour" two summers ago. It was fascinating! My love for lighthouses grows every year as I visit and collect them. Having lived in Weymouth, Massachusetts for many years it wasn't until I moved to Central New York, far from the ocean, that I felt the need to visit the "first" light. And what could have been more perfect than to have the very photo I took on that cruise be used with the article written by Capt. Paul J. Bartoszewicz! I have framed the article and you have a dedicated subscriber for life. I also ask every lighthouse fan I run across "Do you subscribe to the Lighthouse Digest?" And I always have your address available. Keep up the great job. You provide a great publication.

Sheryl M. Iovanna

Liverpool, NY

She makes a challenge

I received my December issue of Lighthouse Digest and upon reading through it came across page 3 (with the computer graphics of Cape Hatteras Light toppling down). It almost brought me to tears. Can this possibly happen?

It certainly got my attention out here in Washington State.

I would like to challenge every reader of Lighthouse Digest to write their Congressmen and women and or President Clinton, since he supports the move. People should also write to the Governor of North Carolina. Make a zerox copy of page 3 of the December issue and send it along with your letters. Can't you just see this picture all over Washington D.C.? Let's do it!

Dorine Lundbeck

Tacoma, WA

Group endorses Staten Island site and looks for support

I wanted to take a moment to talk about plans for the National Lighthouse Museum and to suggest that the old U.S. Lighthouse Depot here in the New York Harbor would make an excellent location for it.

The depot here is, first of all, of major significance to the history of lighthouses and the U.S. Lighthouse Service. The property was the original headquarters of the Lighthouse Service and many of the historic structures were built by and for it.

It was also a beautiful site. The property lies just inside the Narrows facing the Upper Bay of New York with views of the Statue of Liberty, Robbins Reef Lighthouse, the New York skyline and the Verrazzano Bridge.

Moreover, its location, directly adjacent to the Staten Island Ferry, with its millions of tourists, creates a unique set of opportunities that other sites do not have. One of the most powerful images we all share of lighthouses is of a single isolated structure standing against an expansive, dramatic and sometime dangerous landscape. It is a wonderful sight, but it might not be the best place for a large and busy museum. Nor would it be a place that a casual visitor who is curious about lighthouses might visit.

The depot, by contrast, was a place where all elements of lighthouses and lighthouse history were literally brought together. Old photos show the grounds here filled with everything from buoys, to lighthouses and lightships. Workers are shown assembling and repairing lenses. There are huge underground vaults where whale oil was stored. It was a lively place; busy, noisy, and full of people.

A museum here would bring all of that to life in a uniquely appropriate way. Just as the depot was the support system for the Lighthouse Service, the museum could support the work of all of the lighthouse organizations around the country. It could operate year round-helping to organize travelling exhibits, coordinating the work of local groups, retrieving lost artifacts and communicating our concerns with government officials. Visitors would be introduced to the history of the Lighthouse Service and would return to their homes with a new interest in the history, current condition, and future prospects of the lighthouses in their own region.

The site also works well as a research center, a focus and repository for records and documents that are currently difficult to locate and review. The presence of major libraries and maritime institutions in the New York area insures that scholars working at the center would have a broad range of resources on hand to work with.

Finally it would be a rich educational experience for millions of school children. A favorite field trip around here is a ride on the Staten Island Ferry. A visit to the Lighthouse Museum would complete their day as nothing else could.

I hope that once your readers see the possibilities for the museum here they will agree that it is a proposal that makes a lot of sense.

Henry Stephenson

President, New York Harbor Lights

Chapter of the U.S. Lighthouse Society

Photo Brings back Memories

Seeing the picture of the lighthouse tower at Avery Point. Connecticut (in your December issue) brought back many memories to me. Avery Point was a technical school of instruction for most grades or rates for Coast Guardsmen. I went to service school there in 1952 for engineman's schooling, followed by aids to navigation school. My brother went to radioman's school there in 1950. Most all Coast Guardsmen in the 40's and 50's were schooled there for their various duty rates.

As I recall, Avery Point was privately owned and built by a famous movie star or entertainment individual who owned it until the Coast Guard took it over. There were many brick and wooden buildings the Coast Guard built for barracks and classrooms. The big mansion up on the hill was the headquarters and quarters for officers. There was a stone boathouse on the north side by the water that I believe was the Officers Club and of course, this tower that I'd all but forgotten. Engineman's and A to N school was in a building on the south side near the Thames River Entrance.

I remember sitting in the 2nd floor classroom in the morning watching the subs heading out and submerging. In the afternoon they would surface and head back to the Navy sub base. There was an enlisted man's stone canteen near our barracks that I believe was formerly a gardener's or potter's house. The guard house at the entrance was a former guard house and a high wrought iron fence was around the estate which was then the Coast Guard base.

This was a magnificent place when I was there in 1952 for schooling. All of the original buildings, etc. were of gray or granite block. The Coast Guard added many buildings, but it didn't take away from the elegance of the massive lawns on the water sides. I remember going on liberty to Groton and New London and passing the Electric Boat Company with the massive first atomic sub Nautilus sitting outside as it was being built.

Those were the days when you were proud to go on liberty wearing your uniform. In New London on weekends that's all you'd see - officer candidates from the Navy and Coast Guard Academy, and lots of enlisted personnel. Lots of saluting. My favorite hangout was the Seven Brothers with live dance bands and good beverages. Those were the good ol'days. At that time at A-to-N school (believe it or not) we worked with IOV's, air horn unites, and other navigation aids that today can only be found in museums. We've come a long way, or have we? Back then you didn't have the light on and horn blowing when it shouldn't have, or not on when they should have been. Is this automation, really progress? When graduating from service schools we were informed we now had enough knowledge to be dangerous. The real training comes when you get to your duty station and from others that have been there before. It was a far different service back then.

That picture of Avery Point Lighthouse brought back memories and I hope I haven't bored you with them. Maybe some other past Coasties will write you of their memories there and have some old photos which I long since lost. It was a beautiful place where I was glad to have spent time. Thanks again, for bringing back the memories.

Donald Nelson

Lake Linden, Michigan.

Fourth Grader's lighthouse letter gets reply from the top.

I have been visiting schools in the last few years, telling & sharing with school children information about lighthouses, the Great Lakes and our state of Michigan. I have often mentioned that most of the original lenses are being removed. One teacher and classroom decided to do a project by writing the governor about preserving our lenses.

My grand-daughter was visiting with us for spring break. She loves doing artwork and school work. She decided to write the President about the preservation of lighthouse lenses. She showed me the letter for correction, which I helped her with and she wrote and re-wrote the letter. When she was done, she mailed it on her own. And I was sure it would be ignored or forgotten.

But months later, she called me excited she had received a letter from President Clinton with his picture. She could hardly wait for me to come and see her and show us the letter. She kept the envelope and all. She was very pleased and I gave her mother the scrap practice letters that she had written which I had saved. Her mother framed all of it for her room.

But the letter was only a form letter, and his picture was like a baseball card. I could not tell her this. But she did say something precious to me. "The President probably hears from many girls and boys like me, but I didn't think he would care about the lens. They need a teacher like mine at the White House, because whoever addressed the envelope had "poor handwriting." And she didn't think it was the President's daughter.

How true, our future is in the hands of our young people. I am so pleased of her, she and her brother will definitely carry on my heritage.

Ann Hoge

This story appeared in the February 1998 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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