- Isles of Shoals (White
Island) (2)
- 1859 (station established 1821). Active; focal plane 82 ft (25 m);
white flash every 15 s. 58 ft (17.5 m) cylindrical brick tower with
lantern and gallery; solar-powered 190 mm lens. Tower painted white,
lantern black. Fog horn (blast every 30 s) operates continuously.
The 1-1/2 story keeper's house is leased to a diving school. The station
also includes a NOAA C-MAN automatic weather
station. One of D'Entremont's photos is at right, Anderson also
has a good page
for the lighthouse, Marinas.com has aerial
photos, Huelse has a historic postcard
view, and Google has a satellite
view. In 1993 the light station was transferred to the state of
New Hampshire, which proceeded to ignore it completely. By 2001 the
tower was in poor
condition, riddled with cracks; it was placed
on the Lighthouse Digest Doomsday List in March 2002. A local
school group, the Lighthouse
Kids, drew public attention to the plight of the lighthouse. In
2003, the Lighthouse Kids successfully lobbied the state legislature
for $125,000 to repair the tower, and in April of the same year a
$250,000 federal grant for restoration was announced. In May 2005,
another $50,000 grant was received. During the summer of 2005, contractors
carried out a complete restoration
of the tower and a partial restoration of the keeper's house. In early
May 2007 a powerful nor'easter, known in New England as the Patriot's
Day storm, washed completely over the island, damaging
the newly restored lighthouse. The solar panels, foghorn, and walkway
connecting the tower and keeper's house were all destroyed, and the
parget covering of the tower was damaged. Federal funds will be sought
for repairs. The Isles
of Shoals are a group of 18 islands and rocks 9 miles (15 km)
southeast of Portsmouth. The New Hampshire portion of the Isles comprise
a state park. Accessible only by boat; cruises
from Portsmouth pass the site. Site open, tower closed. Owner/site
manager: N.H. Division of Parks
and Recreation (light tower) and Atlantic
Aqua Sport (keeper's house). ARLHS USA-406; Admiralty J0246; USCG
1-0235.
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