10 things we didn't know about lighthouses
Henry Hanks and Katie Hawkins-Gaar, CNN • Updated 11th December 2017
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(CNN) — In honor of National Lighthouse Day, we invited you to share your best lighthouse photos with CNN iReport. As dozens of images started pouring in, we were reminded of a near-universal fact: People love lighthouses. The beacons of light are popular destinations across the world.
Here are 10 other lesser-known lighthouse facts for the travel set:
1. The first lighthouse was Egypt's Pharos of Alexandria, built in the third century BC. The lighthouse of Alexandria was made from a fire on a platform to signal the port entrance.
2. The United States is home to more lighthouses than any other country.
3. The first keeper in America, George Worthylake, met an untimely death: He drowned, along with his wife and daughter, when returning to the Little Brewster Island lighthouse in 1718.
4. With more than 115 lighthouses along the Great Lakes, Michigan boasts the most lighthouses of any U.S. state.
5. Many enthusiasts yearn to experience the life of a lighthouse keeper. Ohio woman Sheila Consaul paid $71,010 for Lake Erie's Fairport Harbor West Breakwall Lighthouse in 2011 and has been fixing it up ever since.
6. The world's oldest existing lighthouse is considered to be Tower of Hercules, a UNESCO World Heritage Site that marks the entrance of Spain's La Coruña harbor. The lighthouse, which was erected in the first century, is still operational.
7. The most expensive lighthouse built in America is St. George Reef, near Crescent City, California. It took 10 years to construct and cost $715,000.
8. Lighthouse keeping was one of the first U.S. government jobs available to women, going back to the 19th century.
9. Despite advances in technology, lighthouses are still considered aids to navigation by the U.S. Coast Guard.
10. Towers are given different colors and patterns -- diamonds, spirals and stripes, for example -- to distinguish them from each other.
