timeline info

Time Line Information for the Teacher Lighthouses have been used to help ship find their way for many years. The oldest lighthouse in America is built called Boston Light and was built in 1716. It stands in Boston Harbor in Massachusetts. The second oldest lighthouse is called Brant Point. This lighthouse as built in 1750. It is on Nantucket Island in Massachusetts. Lighthouses used to be cared for by lighthouse keepers like Abbie and her father. But in 1939, the U. S. Coast Gurard started caring for all of the lighthouses. Now there are over 10,000 lighthouses in the United States. For more information on lighthouses see the following sites. http://www.mariner.org/baylink/ojb7.html and http://www.alaska.net~ccandc/light.htm or http://www.mariner.org/baylink/uide7.html or the widely acclaimed lighthouse site http://www.usalights.com Abbie Burgess was born in 1839 and her family moved to Maine in 1853. Her father became the lighthouse keeper there. One day he had to leave the island to get food, medicine, oil for the lamps and other supplies for the family. While he was gone, Abbie had to care for the lights and her family and her sick mother. Abbie cared for lighthouses for the rest of her life. She married and had four children and on her tombstone there is a miniature replica of a lighthouse. Did you know the Statue of Liberty is really a lighthouse? See http://www.usalights.com/northatlantic/liberty.htm