Just to start a conversation and for newbies to learn.. what lighthouses do people here think are the top 10 lighthouses? I know this is very general and everyone has their favorites.. but think would be a good topic of conversation.. I do not have many.. but so far my favorite 3( since do not have many)

1.Statue of liberty- Just like the look and what it stands for.

2. Oak island- like the detail and the coast guard station connected with lighthouse

3. Montauk Point- mostly because grew up near there, so many happy childhood memories

what would be your favorite lighthouses?

I list the top 20 lighthouses (produced by Harbour Lights) voted on by Forum members about 2 years ago in Volume 10 of the 26 Volume PDF Files that I send out "FREE" to anyone that requests them from me in an email. My email address is flacoastie@embarqmail.com and you must request by an email so I can keep records on who requests them for later updates.

With that being said my 10 favorite lighthouses in decending order are:
1. Coquille River
2. Ponce Inlet
3. St. Augustine
4. Nauset Beach
5. Cape Hatteras
6. Erie Land Light
7. Portland Head
8. Old/New Cape Henry
9. Montauk
10. Currituck Beach

I like
Waugoshance as it was
Waugoshance as it is
Sabine Pass
Detroit River
Pottawatomie LL
Baileys Range set
Erie Land Light
Wisconsin Point

These are special to me because I either picked them to be made or had a hand in the selection.

Other favorites:
Old Michigan City (the "home light")
Michigan City East Pier (almost "home")
Racine Reef
the Exposition pair
(because both are very interesting & unique lights)

Other really great Harbour Lights, IMO, include:
Cape Canaveral LE
Hooper Strait attendee version with the removable roof
many of the lenses

You will find that favorite lights may be chosen because of a personal attachment or because they are very interesting lights or because of the hunt people undertook to find them. Lots of interesting stories and reasons for favorites.

Dave - Please explain the "Exposition Pair"?

There was a pair of lights (o same base)from, I believe, the Philadelphia Exposition. The light reminds me of Racine Reef. I would have to go downstairs and find the box as I don't have it displayed.

I can't seem to find the piece you are talking about. Was it a regular limited edition or a special issue?

Finally found it!! HL382 1876 Centennial Expo, PA. Truly a beauty and very unique.

That HL382 is interesting and unknown to me before seeing this thread. Even an old-timer can learn something new!

I read the original note as asking about favorite lighthouses, not necessarily favorite HLs. I don't know if I have 10, but here goes, in no particular order.

Barnegat, NJ. Went there in February one year to look for ducks in the inlet. Beautiful blue sky and FRIGID temps. The ducks didn't mind. We did.

Key West, FL. Climbed the tower, looked around using binoculars. Had to skip past a few rooftops where people were working on their tans.

Biloxi, MS. We were driving to Brownsville, TX for some birding. Came across this wonderful little lighthouse that sits in the median of the coastal highway through Biloxi. In the median! No treks through the marsh. No drives on what passes for a road. It is in the middle of the road!

Ponce Inlet, FL. Probably more for the lens museum than for the lighthouse.

Point Reyes, CA. Glad we did those steps, down and up, when we were younger!

Pemequid, ME. Gorgeous setting, beautiful light. The rocks! No wonder Maine needs so many lighthouses.

Cockolds, ME. Watching the light from my grandfather's cottage.

Cape Hattaras, NC. We saw the work being done in preparation to move it. What a feat.

Fort Jefferson, Dry Tortugas, FL. Took the seaplane to and from. Great views, and who decided to build that so far out and away from anywhere in the first place? Sea trutles, dolphins, and schools of fish. Wonderful adventure.

Point No Point, WA. Great place to watch the shipping traffic in and out of Seattle and other Puget Sound ports. Home of the United States Lighthouse Society. Still indebted to the Cooks for taking me out there.

Rick

The HL382 1876 Centennial Expo, PA is a fabulous piece. I keep wanting to start back up collecting Harbour Lights again and it would be the HL355 To HL399. Most of them if not all of them have a production of only 550 and if you can find them, they can still be purchased for around $65 to $125 depending on the Lighthouse.

There so many Harbour Lights I like and the only way I could put my finger on this, is to list the lighthouses I would never sell. My favorite harbor light lighthouses would be the first 17 that were produced in California. These are very rare and over the years I have been lucky to have 14 of the 17. Still need the California made Cape Hatteras , Coquille and the Burrows Island.

Now my more standard favorite list. I like the more resent lighthouse because frankly I am tired of the 1997 to 2004 harbour light lighthouses that flood the market on eBay everyday.

This my list for today.


1. HL389 Key Largo, FL colorful, full of character and probably the hardest to find limited edition lighthouse other than the Type 1 Cape Hatteras. Didn’t know it existed until HL made its figurine and I live in Florida.
2. HL395 Alligator Reef, FL – Been there, like it and another hard to find Harbour Light.
3. HL390 Crooked River, FL –been there
4. HL382 1876 Centennial Expo, PA- I agree with Dave this is a great HL Piece.
5. HL370 Carysfort Reef, FL-Been there
6. HL363 Cape San Blas, FL – Been there
7. HL338 Galveston Jetty, TX (Not Forgotten) -very neat and unusual
8. HL331 Fowey Rocks, FL-seen it from distant.
9. HL137 St Simons, GA – my first lighthouse to visit and a good looking lighthouse.
10. HL138 St Augustine, FL - my closest lighthouse and a good looker. A lot of memories at the real lighthouse.

The 1876 Centennial Exhibition was much like the World's Fairs of the mid 20th century. The HL382 actually commemorates two separate exhibits.
There was much hype and excitement being generated by the press about France's gift of the Statue of Liberty. Although the sculpture wasn't quite completed yet, the torch was packed up and rushed to the states in order to be displayed at the Exposition. Patrons were charged a fee to climb to the top to view the entire Fairgrounds. Money raised from this extremely popular climb helped build the base for the statue.
As for the lighthouse, the Lighthouse Board was in the process of building the Ship John Shoal Lighthouse to be erected in New Jersey waters. It is that lighthouse which was on display at the Centennial Exposition. At the conclusion of the fair the lighthouse was dismantled then reassembled in its current location.

Just got back from Charleston SC. Morris Island was one of the coolest lighthouses that I have viewed. Standing like a silent sentinel in the middle of the inlet.

Saint Augustine and Ponce are also favorites. If you have never seen the lens museum at Ponce it is a must.

Last time I was at Charleston it looked like you could almost walk out to the Morris Island light. It is a pretty structure that has been hanging in there.

1. Old Cape Henry
2. Cape St. George
3. Ponce Inlet
4. Carysfort Reef
5. Statue of Liberty
6. Toledo Harbor
7. Blackwell Island
8. Execution Rocks
9. Navesink
10. Oak Island (lit the year I was born.)

My favorites are for more than just the beauty of the piece but for the memories I have created there. It's hard to pick only 10 because they are all so beautiful and unique in their own way! :)

1. HL616 - Rose Island Lighthouse, RI
2. HL671 - St Augustine Lighthouse, FL
3. HL386 - Stratford Shoal, CT
4. HL357 - Cedar Point, OH
5. HL177 - Alcatraz, CA
6. HL551 - Hilton Head Front Range, SC
7. HL157 - Selkirk, NY
8. HL707 - Old Field Point, NY
9. HL362 - Long Beach Bar, NY
10.HL509 - Sea Girt, NJ

1. Cape Hatteras - first light I ever touched and it touched me back, starting my love of lighthouses
2. Rose Island - could see it after a one minute walk from my Navy house in Newport.
3. Portland Head
4. Pensacola
5. Point Loma
6. Cape Neddick
7. Cape Lookout
8. Cape Henry (Old & New)
9. Holland Harbor
10. Grand Haven South
If I'd do this list next week I'm certain it would change - too many are top ten that I'd need a
Top Ten list of Top Ten lists.

Sounds as if at least some of your top 10 are sentimental favorites. I would believe that sentimental attachments factor in to many people's choices. That and the adventure attached to viewing some lights.

Why don't you write me a story about your travels and the lighthouses you have seem and how you feel special thoughts about them for my volumes.

Now that I have seen Rock of Ages, I would add that to the list, but what would I take out???

It's so hard to pick only 10!!!