For lighthouse lovers, the name Harbour lights is synonymous with the ultimate in quality, accuracy, and attention to detail of the world's most glorious lighthouses.
When people that adore lighthouses are searching for lighthouse collectibles, they need to look no further than the Harbour Lights Lighthouses.
Some wonderful lighthouse collectibles that are perfect for your home are ones that have been retired.
One such lighthouse is Old St.
Augustine Lighthouse of Florida.
Old St.
Augustine, the sentinel of the Ancient City, was first completed in 1824.
The lantern of this magnificent beacon held ten patent lamps with fourteen-inch reflectors.
On April 3,1824 the lamps were lit.
The old Spanish watchtower along with its historic fort,became the first official lighthouse in Florida.
For years the Lighthouse Keepers continued their duties with no incident, until, in late 1859, a tragedy occurred.
As Keeper Joseph J.
Andreu was pulling himself up about 60 feet high along the tower on a scaffold to begin the arduous task of whitewashing the Lighthouse, the ropes on the scaffold suddenly gave way.
The sixty-year-old Andreu plummeted to his death.
At this tragic turn of events, the government appointed Andreu's wife to the new Keepers position.
She served as the first woman Keeper of the Light Station at St.
Augustine.
Another great lighthouse collectible to consider Cove Point Lighthouse in Maryland.
Maryland's oldest continuously operating light station, Cove Point was first lit in December 1828.
It was built on a 2-acre tract that was acquired for $300.
Its original optic was a configuration of 13 oil lamps with 16-inch reflectors.
These were replaced with a 4th Order Fresnel Lens in 1857.
Major improvements in the light came in 1928 -- a hundred years after operations began -- when electricity replaced the kerosene lamp.
At that time, the existing lens was replaced with a 6-panel 4th Order Fresnel Lens that had been built in 1897 by Barbier and Benard of France.
The 115-volt, 150-watt bulb increased candlepower from 2,900 to 35,000.
The first keeper was appointed, chosen from eleven applicants.
James Somerville accepted the job at an annual salary of $350.
He served until 1834 and was one of 20 civilian keepers who manned the light between 1828 and 1958.
At that time, USCG personnel took over and staffed the sentinel until it was fully automated in 1986.
It was in 1996 that the Calvert Marine Museum entered into preliminary negotiations with the Coast Guard, whereby the USCG would relinquish title to the property to the Calvert County government.
There would need to be many improvements and repairs before the historic site could be open to the public - repairs to buildings, fencing, restrooms, grounds maintenance and security headed the list.
An intensive fund raising program was put in place to finance the community project.
In the spring of 2001, a long-awaited opening was held.
After years of preparation and transfer of ownership of Cove Point Light to the Calvert Marine Museum Society, the historic lighthouse was officially opened to the public.
Still an active aid to navigation on Chesapeake Bay and operated by the USCG from computers in Baltimore, the familiar landmark remains one of the most important beacons on the Mid-Atlantic coastline.
The Lorain Lighthouse of Ohio should be added to your lighthouse collectibles.
The original navigational light at Lorain, Ohio, was a lantern hung from the end of a pole on the Lake Erie shoreline, but by 1837 a full-fledged lighthouse had taken over.
The new light, however, was not much of an improvement.
The tower, built at the end of a pier, was wooden, and its lamps burned soot-producing lard oil.
In contrast the present light tower is a monument to lighthouse technology.
Its 1917 builders, the Army Corps of Engineers, used hundreds of tons of concrete and fill to form a foundation massive enough to resist Lake Erie's awesome storm waves.
They constructed concrete-and-steel walls ten inches thick to protect keepers from gale-force winds.
The Grand Haven Lighthouse in Michigan is another lovely lighthouse collectible.
In 1905, the sturdy South Pier at Grand Haven, one of Lake Michigan's best deepwater harbors, was extended more than a hundred feet out into the lake.
At the same time, officials decided to move two lighthouses onto the pier, marking the entrance to the Grand River and the harbor.
Both beacons are still active.
There are many wondrous Harbour Lights lighthouse collectibles that can add charm and elegance to any home, while allowing the tremendous history of some of the world's most loved lighthouses to be right within arm's reach.
You will be in awe over the perfect details and life like renderings that Harbour Lights is so famous for capturing.