August is National Lighthouses Month. Visiting, touring and collecting lighthouses are very popular with some hobbyists and tourists.
In antiquity, mariners were guided into port by fires raised on a platform. The lighthouse grew from this idea, and originally served as an entrance marker into the ports.
Themistocles established a lighthouse during the 5th Century BC in the harbor of Piraeus, Greece.
The Romans began building additional lighthouses by the 3rd Century BC.
By the middle ages, lighthouses had fallen into disuse but the practice began to gradually expand throughout Europe and Western Europe.
Hook Lighthouse in County Wexford, Ireland is one of the oldest working lighthouses, having been built during the medieval period.
Lighthouses were privately owned and the owners had the right to collect dues. However, lighthouse owners began to take advantage of this practice until the Lighthouse Act of 1836 was passed limiting such abuse in the UK.
Boston Light, built in the Boston Harbor in 1716, was the first lighthouse built in America.
With the passage of time many improvements have been designed to assist in lighting.
Those manning the lighthouses and directing the ships in often lived in the lighthouses. Some stated this could be a “very lonely job.”