Monday, April 7, 2014

Abandoned Places: Grand Harbour and Other Lighthouses

[Image by Seth Frantzman used under the linked Creative Commons license.]
Note: The Grand Harbour Lighthouse at Fish Fluke Point in Canada was actually destroyed by storm late in 2013.

The Whiteford Point lighthouse in Wales, built in 1866, is the only cast-iron lighthouse in the UK. Due to almost non-existent shipping in the area by the early 1900s, the lighthouse fell out of use in the 1920s. It was sold for the equivalent of a couple bucks in 2000.
Images by Thomas Guest and used under the above linked agreement.

The Klein Curacao lighthouse was originally built in 1850 and has had to be rebuilt at least twice since then. The small island the lighthouse is located on is currently uninhabited and the lighthouse has begun to fall into ruins despite the fact that it contains an active LED light. The windward side of the island serves a graveyard for ships that failed to benefit from the warning light.
Above photos credited to Mingo Hagen under the same agreement.

As an added bonus, here some photos of the "Ghost Mansion" by Lake Como in Italy.
Photo credit to Fabrizio under the same agreement.
Photo credited to In giro con mama [Flickr/ingiroconmama] under the same agreement.

29 comments:

  1. Oh I love lighthouses. They have both something romantic, and something creepy about them.

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  2. I love lighthouses so these make me sad. The Ghost Mansion deserves it's name. CREEPY!

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  3. Sold for a couple bucks - wonder what they intend to do with it?

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  4. I'm really enjoying this series, Andrew.

    It's too bad so many lighthouses have fallen to such a state of disrepair. We have some preserved lighthouses in my area - just beautiful!

    Elsie
    AJ's wHooligan in the A-Z Challenge

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  5. I LOVE old houses and abandoned sites. I can't even pass up a broken foundation.

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  6. Being in Michigan we have a lot of lighthouses, most of which are not actively manned anymore. I've been to a majority of them on the Lower Peninsula; there are still plenty in the Upper Peninsula I haven't bothered with because that's too long of a drive.

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  7. Definitely love this post. I hope that in my lifetime that I can visit all of the lighthouses on the east coast.

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  8. I have wanted to live in a lighthouse since I saw "Pete's Dragon" as a kid. Someday I'll probably move to Hawaii and build a lighthouse to live in. Someday.

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  9. Old lighthouses always make me think of horror movies. There's something intrinsically creepy about them. I bet that Lake Como house was gorgeous once.

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  10. Old lighthouses are neat. I love the look of them and their mysterious feel. :)

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  11. This is another great post! When I was a child, down the road from us was a little place tucked into the side of a hill that had a table and chair and an old cot in it. No one lived there, but it looked like someone had at one time.
    Then at another house, there was an abandoned house at the end of our drive. Everything was still set up in the house, but the driveway was overgrown, and bushes and tall grasses surrounded the house. In the 10 or so years we were there, that's how it stood. Table still set, but no one ever came home.

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  12. Beautiful pictures! Thank you for sharing! Happy A-Z!

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  13. And then in North Carolina they spend millions to move one of the lighthouses.

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  14. And then in North Carolina they spend millions to move one of the lighthouses.

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  15. I love it! Lighthouses kind of have become a thing of the past, haven't they? It's kind of sad.

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  16. I love lighthouses and ghost inhabited mansions.
    happy A to Zing

    Moonlit Glow

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  17. Veronica: And for some reason they need to have a giant sea creature attack them during the middle of a storm.

    Sheena: It is creepy.

    Alex C: Nothing, evidently, since it's just been sitting there since then.

    Elsie: We just don't need them that much anymore. It's unfortunate.

    Huntress: Old houses can be pretty cool, but I'll skip the broken concrete.

    Pat: Oh, yeah, I should have remembered that before doing this post. Are most of those still active?

    G_G: That would be a lot of lighthouses. Have you started doing that yet?

    Briane: I haven't seen Pete's Dragon since I was probably about 8, so I don't really remember that. Personally, I've always wanted something a little roomier than a lighthouse. Something with secret passages.

    Lexa: That house probably was great once upon a time. You know, before the demon moved into it.

    Chrys: I agree!

    Donna: That's weird. Like an alien abduction kind of thing.

    Jessica: I just wish I had taken them.

    somberscribbler: What I just said to Jessica.

    Jo: Really? Maybe it was cheaper than building a new one?

    Crystal: They have. Like covered wagons. Sort of.

    Moonie: There's a ghost inhabited mansion out here that I really need to go visit.

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  18. Ooh, ship's graveyard. Watch out for the undead crawling around.

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  19. Growing up on the Chesapeake Bay, I've always been fascinated by lighthouses. Such history, and such an important part of seafaring life at the time. It breaks my heart to see them fall apart, though The Engineer would enjoy the fact that some are using LED lights...
    Tina @ Life is Good
    A to Z Team @ Blogging From A to Z April Challenge 2014

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  20. Klein Curaçao - man, that thing is phallic.

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  21. Jeanne: I hate ocean zombies!

    Tina: I guess if you put one of those LEDs in one, you don't really have to go back.

    Rusty: Aren't all lighthouses?
    But yeah...

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  22. We have loads of beautiful old lighthouses here in New England; I absolutely love them. Great choice for yesterday's post...and, as always, thanks for the vivid images!

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  23. Too bad that old lighthouses aren't preserved for posterity. Even though they're essentially unneeded with modern navigational systems in place, it would be nice if they could find other uses for them. Maybe just decorative?

    Lee
    Wrote By Rote
    An A to Z Co-host blog

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  24. randi: I would like to visit some lighthouses. I've never actually seen one "in the flesh."

    Lee: Yeah, kind of like earrings! That should be a thing.

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  25. Or maybe like statues or monuments and the like. I know there are some that are kept like that and some are probably not worth keeping. But the ones with the more unique designs or historical significance should definitely be kept up.

    Lee
    Wrote By Rote
    An A to Z Co-host blog

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  26. Lee: I'm sure there must be some that are registered as historic landmarks.

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  27. Sorry I'm so behind on reading your posts, Andrew! Work has been nuts this week (first week of school here). Anyway~ these lighthouses are so awesome. I just love the looks of them. I'll echo what a lot of other people have said in that I'm really enjoying this series!

    Alex Hurst, fantasy author in Japan, participating in Blogging A-Z April Challenge.

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  28. Alex H: Don't worry about it. Life is life.
    I'm glad you're enjoying it.

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