Lighthouse

An aid for navigation at sea, a lighthouse is a tower building or framework sending out light from a system of lamps and lenses or, in older times, from a burning fire. More primitive navigational aids were once used such as a fire on top of a hill or cliff, (see beacon). Because of modern navigational aids, the number of active lighthouses has declined to fewer than 1,500 worldwide. In the United States, lighthouses are maintained by the United States Coast Guard.

Perhaps the most famous lighthouse in history is the Lighthouse of Alexandria, built on the island of Pharos in ancient Egypt. The name of the island is still used as the noun for "lighthouse" in some languages, for example Spanish (faro).

Lighthouses

• Eddystone Lighthouse, Plymouth, Great Britain
• Falkner Island, Guilford, Connecticut
• Little Red Lighthouse, Manhattan, New York
• Sable Island Nova Scotia, Canada
• Seguin Light, Georgetown, Maine
• Wood Island light Biddeford Pool, Maine
• Highland Light, North Truro, Cape Cod, Massachusetts
• Portland Head Light, Cape Elizabeth, Maine
• Cape Elizabeth Light, Cape Elizabeth, Maine
• Gay Head Light, Marthas Vineyard, Massachusetts
• Race Point, Provincetown, Cape Cod, Massachusetts