Leading lights, also known as range lights in the United States, are a pair of light beacons used in navigation to indicate a safe passage for vessels entering a shallow or dangerous channel; they may also be used for position fixing. At night, the lights are a form of leading line that can be used for safe navigation. The beacons consist of two lights that are separated in distance and elevation, so that when they are aligned, with one above the other, they provide a bearing. Range lights are often illuminated day and night.
The Ludington Light is a 57-foot (17 m) tall steel-plated lighthouse in Ludington, Michigan, which lies along the eastern shores of Lake Michigan, at the end of the breakwater on the Pere Marquette Harbor. Given its location on the northern breakwater where the Pere Marquette River meets Lake Michigan, it is sometimes known as the Ludington North Breakwater Light. Underlying the building itself is a prow-like structure, which is designed to break waves.
Point Pinos Lighthouse was lit on February 1, 1855, to guide ships on the Pacific Coast of California. It is the oldest continuously operating lighthouse on the West Coast of the United States and even the lens is original. Alcatraz Island Lighthouse preceded Point Pinos by eight months, but was replaced in 1909 by the expanding military prison. The Point Pinos Lighthouse is still an active United States Coast Guard aid to navigation. On-site museum exhibits and other lighthouse related functions are operated by the city of Pacific Grove, Monterey County, California. The lighthouse is surrounded by the Pacific Grove Municipal Golf Links.
Grand Traverse Light is a lighthouse in the U.S. state of Michigan, located at the tip of the Leelanau Peninsula, which separates Lake Michigan and Grand Traverse Bay. It marks the Manitou passage, where Lake Michigan elides into Grand Traverse Bay. In 1858, the present light was built, replacing a separate round tower built in 1852. The lighthouse is located inside Leelanau State Park, 8 miles (13 km) north of Northport, a town of about 650 people. This area, in the Michigan wine country, is commonly visited by tourists during the summer months.
A lighthouse keeper or lightkeeper is a person responsible for tending and caring for a lighthouse, particularly the light and lens in the days when oil lamps and clockwork mechanisms were used. Lighthouse keepers were sometimes referred to as "wickies" because of their job trimming the wicks.
The South Haven South Pierhead Light is a lighthouse in Michigan, at the entrance to the Black River on Lake Michigan. The station was lit in 1872, and is still operational. The tower is a shortened version of the Muskegon South Pierhead Light, and replaced an 1872 wooden tower. The catwalk is original and still links the tower to shore: it is one of only four that survive in the State of Michigan.
The Beaver Head Light is located high on a bluff on the southern tip of Beaver Island. Boats trying to navigate North on Lake Michigan need to carefully work their way between Beaver Island and Gray's Reef.
The Bridgeport Harbor Light, later the Bridgeport Harbor Lighthouse, was a lighthouse in Bridgeport, Connecticut, United States. It is located on the west side of the Bridgeport Harbor entrance and the north side of Long Island Sound. Originally constructed in 1851 and rebuilt in 1871 with a dwelling, it had a red-fixed light throughout its service life. The builder and first keeper of the light was Abraham A. McNeil who is also credited as improvising the first light for the Bridgeport Harbor in 1844. By 1953, the lighthouse was in poor condition and the United States Coast Guard opted to build a skeleton tower in its place. In the 2014 edition of the Light List Volume 1, the skeleton tower is marked as "Light 13A" with a height of 57 feet (17 m) and a visual marker of a square green dayboard with a green reflective border. The lighthouse was sold and an attempt was made to move it to serve as a monument for Connecticut's maritime history, but it was later decided to scrap the structure. The lighthouse caught fire and was destroyed during the dismantling in 1953.
The Ladies Delight Light is a small lighthouse on Lake Cobbosseecontee, in Winthrop, Maine, United States. It was constructed in 1908 and is believed to be the only active inland waters lighthouse in Maine. The tower is 25 feet (7.6 m) tall, and is equipped with a solar powered high-intensity marine beacon. It operates every night of the year. At the time of its construction, it was the only inland lake lighthouse east of the Mississippi River. It was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1984.
Marshall Point Light Station is a lighthouse at the entrance of Port Clyde Harbor in Port Clyde, Maine. The light station was established in 1832.
Bishop and Clerks Light is a lighthouse located in open water on Bishop and Clerks Rocks, about two nautical miles south of Point Gammon in Hyannis, Massachusetts.
The Long Tail Point Light, also known as the Tail Point Light, was a lighthouse in Green Bay, Wisconsin, USA. Long abandoned but still standing, it was succeeded by two further structures, both since destroyed.
The Willapa Bay Light, originally the Shoalwater Bay Light, was a lighthouse at the north side of the entrance to Willapa Bay in the U.S. state of Washington. It was demolished when shore erosion threatened to topple it.
Margaret Norvell was a lighthouse keeper, employed by the United States Lighthouse Service, a precursor agency to the United States Coast Guard. Norvell became a lighthouse keeper in 1891, and remained in that service for 41 years. Widows whose husbands were lighthouse keepers, who died in office, were allowed to hold positions as lighthouse keepers themselves. Norvell's husband drowned in the course of his duties. Norvell was credited with saving many lives, including by venturing out into storms in a rowboat to rescue stranded mariners.
The Battery Gladden Light was a lighthouse in Mobile Bay which marked a turn in the old ship channel. It was deactivated in 1913 and no longer exists.
The East Pascagoula River Light was a lighthouse in Pascagoula, Mississippi. A house with a lantern on top, it was first lit in 1854 but was extinguished in the Civil War and was not relit until 1868. It was destroyed in the 1906 Mississippi hurricane and was never rebuilt.
The Lake Borgne Light was a lighthouse in Mississippi at the entrance to Lake Borgne on what is now Lighthouse Point, east of Heron Bay. It was built in 1889 to replace an earlier light on St. Joseph's Island further east, which was shrinking and is now completely gone. The new light sat on a screwpile foundation in the marsh and was reached by a boardwalk; it was equipped with a fifth order Fresnel lens. The house was destroyed by the 1906 Mississippi hurricane but was rebuilt; it was deactivated in 1937 and abandoned. The foundation of the light is marked as a hazard on present day charts, as the point of land has eroded further.
The Horn Island Light was a lighthouse in Mississippi originally located at the eastern end of Horn Island. Moved and rebuilt several times, it was deactivated and abandoned in 1961.
