Touring Georgia’s Shining lights

What’s Not to Love about a Lighthouse? Whether it’s for their beauty, romance or usefulness - or a combination of all three - most of us would admit to a fascination with Lighthouses. Come along celebrate Georgia’s treasured coastal beacons and explore the nature of my love and fascination with them.

The Lighthouse

The sea is calm tonight,
Only the gentle pound of waves
On breakers far offshore
Carries on the wind.
The new moon rising
Gives way to a lighthouse beacon
In search of the lost.
Finding only gentle swells of
An ocean at peace, if not at rest.

My soul is calm tonight,
Only the gentle thoughts of days
On good ships far offshore
Carries me again,
The new moon rising
Gives way to paths not taken
Sweeping the darkness
In search of the coast,
Finding only gentle tales of
An ocean at peace, if not at rest.

Author unknown

Tybee Island—-This light station, the oldest in the South and second oldest in the nation, was established less than four years after the colony of Georgia was founded.—Active; focal plane 144 ft ; continuous white light. 145 ft tapered octagonal brick tower attached to workroom; upper and lower portions painted black, center white. The 1° Fresnel lens has been in use since 1867. The lower section of the lighthouse incorporates 60 ft of the 100 ft octagonal tower built in 1773. A major restoration in 1998 restored the tower to its original appearance and its 1916 day mark. A remarkably well preserved light station with three keeper’s houses and other historic buildings; the restoration of these buildings is continuing. The 1881 principal keeper’s house has been restored recently and furnished as a museum. The second assistant keeper’s house was built in 1861 as a Confederate Army barracks. The brick summer kitchen, built in 1812, is the oldest building preserved. Ownership of the station was transferred to the Tybee Island Historical Society in 2002 under the National Historic Lighthouse Preservation Act. In 2004, volunteers helped paint the lighthouse. Located on the south side of the Savannah River entrance, off US 80 in Tybee Island. Site and tower open daily (admission fee for buildings).

Cockspur Island—-Located two miles west of Tybee Island Lighthouse on Cockspur Island, the first Cockspur Lighthouse was built in 1849 and used to mark the entrance to the south channel of the Savannah River. This structure proved inadequate and was rebuilt in 1857. A twin channel-beacon was constructed at the same time on the north channel of the Savannah River. Built of Savannah gray brick, the lighthouse was fitted with a fourth-order Fresnel lens and illuminated by a sperm oil lamp. Unlike many lighthouses of the South, this small beacon received only minor damage during the Civil War. After the war, the light resumed operation until 1909, when ships with deep drafts were no longer able to use the south channel. The U.S. Coast Guard abandoned the property in 1949, and control was transferred to the National Park Service. 46 ft round brick tower with lantern and gallery, painted white. The keeper’s house (formerly located at Fort Pulaski) has been destroyed. The tower is a reconstruction of the 1849 tower. Despite being transferred to the National Park Service in 1958, the lighthouse was long endangered by high water and years of neglect. A Park Service restoration project completed in 2000 has addressed most of the tower’s problems, but it remains vulnerable to wave damage during hurricanes or other severe storms. In March 2007 the park service relit the lighthouse. Located on a sandbar, nearly covered by water at high tide, on the north side of the entrance to the south channel of the lower Savannah River. Accessible only by boat;, but tours from Tybee Island provide a good view of the lighthouse. Site and tower open. Owner: U.S. National Park Service. Site manager:

Savannah Harbor Range Rear (Beacon Range, Old Harbor Light)—-Ornate 25 ft cast iron tower, decorative, rather like a giant streetlight, painted dark green. This structure is not a lighthouse, but it is a unique and historic light tower built by the U.S. Lighthouse Board. Originally it was the rear light of a range, the front light being on Fig Island downstream. In 1999 the Savannah Morning News and CSX Real Property contributed $125,000 to restore the rusting tower as part of a larger city effort to spruce up historical monuments. The restoration began in August 2000 and the light was relit January 11, 2001. Located in Savannah’s Emmet Park, off East Bay Street. Site open. Owner/site manager: City of Savannah.

The tour of Georgia’s Shining Lights will continue for one more stop here—-and then Beyond the Crossroads will return to its regular schedule—