标签 灯塔 下的文章
楠塔基特岛大点灯塔,麻萨诸塞州 Great Point Light on Nantucket Island, Massachusetts (© Cate Brown/Cavan Images)
楠塔基特岛大点灯塔,麻萨诸塞州 Great Point Light on Nantucket Island, Massachusetts (© Cate Brown/Cavan Images)
There once was a lighthouse from...
Nantucket is the island home of about 12,000 people. But venture to its sandy northern reaches, composed of narrow sand spits and only accessible via 4x4 vehicles, and you might not bump into many folks on your way to this historic—and still very important—lighthouse.
The Great Point Light on the island's northernmost tip traces its origin to 1784, a time when Nantucket was world famous—not so much for appearing in countless (often bawdy) limericks, but as the epicenter of the American whaling industry. Herman Melville wrote that Nantucket whalers once controlled two-thirds of the globe's waters, and to get home, all those whaling ships had to navigate the perilous shoals between the island's north shore and nearby Cape Cod. This lighthouse was the solution, first in the form of a wooden tower that burned in 1816, then a stone version toppled by a storm in 1984. The current structure, built partly with materials from the previous one, was dedicated in 1986 and has been in official operation since.
缅因州达马里斯科塔地区的佩马基德灯塔 Pemaquid Point Light in Maine's Damariscotta region (© Tom Whitney/Adobe Stock)
缅因州达马里斯科塔地区的佩马基德灯塔 Pemaquid Point Light in Maine's Damariscotta region (© Tom Whitney/Adobe Stock)
Celebrating 200 years of statehood
We're wandering out onto the striated coastal rocks of Maine's Pemaquid Point at sunrise to mark 200 years since Maine joined the Union as the 23rd US state. With roughly 5,000 miles of jagged, rocky coastline, Maine is studded with dozens of lighthouses, and the light at Pemaquid Point is one of the most celebrated—and historic. First, that history: President John Quincy Adams commissioned the lighthouse in 1827, but it needed to be rebuilt in 1835 after the original began falling apart. (Note: Don't use saltwater when mixing your mortar.) Maine residents chose the Pemaquid Point Light for display on their state's coin as part of the US 50 State Quarters Program.
Visitors to the lighthouse are invited to climb the spiral staircase of the 38-foot tower. At the top, they can see the beacon's original Fresnel lens, which is still in use. Gazing out the window offers a superb vantage point of the ridged coastline below. The ancient metamorphic coastal rock is striped with lighter igneous rock, creating banded ledges and lots of scenic drama.