Lighthouses

lighthouse at dusk with a yellow beam coming out into the purple sky

Thinking about Lighthouses? Welcome to LighthouseRover - where we take you with us, roving the world to discover all there is to find about this passion we have: those famous indicator beacons! It's just amazing, all there is to know and bring to light! So much lore, history, interesting stories.

How did this passion for lighthouses begin for you? What drew you there? Anything like it began for us? Well, it started for us, with our love for travel. Plus our love for islands, for seas & shores, and for history. That drew us to seaside areas, to boating and sailing lore. It just tied together with visiting interesting lighthouses. And it took off from there. 

We want to share our findings with others. See if our ideas help you have great ideas for your own trips, or your own lighthouse discoveries. Helping to feed all our captivation!

There are so many of them: lit now, historically so, or only in memory. The variety of design, the settings! How can we ever get to see them all? We can at least vicariously visit, while trekking to as many as we can. And learn all we want to know about these beacons. Are you wanting to learn about lighthouses?

Here is anything you can imagine about lighthouses. Stop back often, because we're always adding more.

Related to Covid-19

Because of the continued World-Wide Pandemic of Covid-19, travel may be restricted, overnight stays may be curtailed, specific rules may be locally enforced. Please be aware, and check local circumstances accordingly. When this situation is finally relieved, we'll all be thankful, and glad to return to a normal ability to visit our favorite lighthouses, wherever they may be.

Your Best Site for Lighthouses if You -

  • Love to visit lighthouses while on a beach vacation
  • You just got that lighthouse fervor - now you want more!
  • Think lighthouses on a bay have an air of romance
  • Can't pass up a museum that features lighthouses
  • You love real stories of the past about lighthouse life
  • Have been on many a lighthouse tour (and maybe compare them!)
  • Wonder what it would be like to be a Lighthouse Keeper
  • Have attended or thought of attending a Lighthouse Festival
  • Plan trips to areas because of proximity to lots of lighthouses
  1. Like In Michigan
  2. Or Maine, even the rest of New England - like Cape Cod
  3. Or North Carolina: think Outer Banks!
  4. Or Florida>
  5. Or along California's Shore or the Oregon Coast
  • Have a variety of lighthouse decor scattered throughout your house
  • Try to get to that lighthouse, even if it doesn't have easy access
  • Love to read a good book with that guiding beacon as its theme
  • OR you'll catch any movie that involves something about a lighthouse!

OR Lots More...

Come On In - We've Got Something For You!

A Bit About Lighthouses

Before lighthouses came about to help seagoing vessels, people first had the idea to build large bonfires on hilltops. These were placed at particularly hazardous entry points to rivers or bays that led to towns.2 These waterways could have strong currents with submerged boulders.

If there was no significant elevation, the fires may be difficult for mariners to see. That led to the idea of building a high platform on which to stage a signal fire.2 Bringing us to the infancy of the History of Lighthouses.

But rather than a warning to the hazards, these early signal fires were more a mapping marker. Leading the way into the river, inlet or bay. Marking the way for early navigators.2

A true lighthouse was first constructed in Ancient Egypt. Finished by about 284 to 246 BC in Alexandria.1 Thus the age of Lighthouses in Antiquity had begun. Another built in Galicia, Spain. About the 2nd century AD, influenced by the Egyptian tower. Spoken of as Farum Brigantium, which in Greek essentially means Lighthouse of Alexandria.3 Still standing today, as a World Heritage Site.4

What's the Latest?

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  1. Cape Henry Lighthouse - There are Two! Discover Why & How to Visit

    Aug 02, 21 06:52 PM

    Cape Henry Lighthouse is quite amazing in several ways. Why are the two? How many steps to climb? How much does it cost to go there? We tell all.

    Yes - Tell me more>

  2. This Lighthouse Newsletter is Timeless & Covers the World! Subscribe>

    Jul 26, 21 10:02 PM

    Our Lighthouse Newsletter, Beacon Lore has a free gift to new subscribers. Keeping you up to date with lighthouses & historical interest stories you'll love.

    Yes - Tell me more>

  3. Big Sable Point Lighthouse - An Eye-Opening Setting for Keepers' Lives

    Jul 26, 21 05:16 PM

    Big Sable Point Lighthouse is an amazing lighthouse - for the history, its state park surroundings, the chance you have to be a keeper & so much more! Visit!

    Yes - Tell me more>

Coins from the 2nd century Alexandria Egypt with Lighthouse imprint on either sideCoins Showing the Ancient Lighthouse From Egypt

By the end of the 1600s, sea transportation was increasing. The need for safety intensified. Knowledge was improving in areas of lighting and architectural building structures. All this gave rise to more and more lighthouses, with improved construction techniques. Some lighthouse builders were famous, and their crafting sought after. Many of their works still stand today! Wouldn't we like to see their efforts?

Best Lighthouse Visits

So many lighthouses to see around the world! Virtually, tours, vacations to plan, movies to see, lighthouses to visit near your area, history to know, decor to have for lighthouse aura surrounding us daily! Plus so much more: for all of you, all of us  lighthouse fanatics -

  • What's Your Opinion on the Best lighthouse?
  • Want to stay in a lighthouse inspired resort when you plan your lighthouse centered vacation?
  • Or like staying in an actual lighthouse? A real historical place where the light was kept? Do you have those experiences? Tell us>
  • Have you been a lighthouse keeper? Did you know there's still a way to do that?!
  • What kind of Lighthouse Related books are there? Which do you recommend?
  • Don't you just love art that features lighthouses? Any kind! Or what kind?
  • Have you heard about really interesting stories of lighthouses - the keepers, or rescues, something scary, or heroic? Which is most memorable to you?

We'll Take You There!


Lighthouse on a cliff overlooking the oceanSee the Best Lighthouses
Lighthouse in the dunes by a beach with some scattered fir treesThe Most Famous Ones
Looking up inside a lighthouse at the spiral staircase leading up to the beacon's lightLighthouse Construct
A lighthouse and lighthouse-keeper's home in a park settingLighthouses With Parks
A lighthouse painting on a wall, with some seaside inspired decorLove Lighthouse Art?
Some driftwood on a beach by the side of a lighthouse along a beach. Just where you may find some natural seascape decor for your home.All Kinds of Lighthouse Decor
A lighthouse on the Cape May Atlantic Ocean coast of New JerseyAtlantic Lighthouses
A lighthouse, just like those found along the Pacific coastal areas of the Pacific oceanPacific Lighthouses
A lighthouse keeper winding the clock mechanism of a lighthouse in the 1800s.The Keepers of the Light
Brown stocky lighthouse at seaside as the sun sets on a clear sky. A few palm trees by it side.World-Wide: More Lighthouses

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References

1 Clayton, P.A. (2013). Chapter 7: The Pharos at Alexandria. In Peter A. Clayton; Martin J. Price (eds.). The Seven Wonders of the Ancient World. London: Routledge.

3 Marina Militare (2018). Ancient lighthouses. Ministera Della Difesa. Retrieved from marina.difesa.it/EN/history/fari/Pagine/ancientlighthouses.aspx

2 Trethewey, K. (2018). Ancient lighthouses. England: Jazz-Fusion Books. ISBN 978-0-99265-736-9.

4 Tower of Hercules Visitor Services (n.d.) Tower of Hercules. CIAV: Gobierno de España. Retrieved from ciav.torredeherculesacoruna.com/en/