Three weeks after the fire, we finally made the trip down to the ill-fated Mispillion, DE, lighthouse today. We left around 7am for the two hour drive, fully expecting to get tied-up in holiday weekend beach-going traffic and the cars from the 150,000 people expected for the weekend at the Dover Air Force Base Open House and airshow. But I didn't care. And the weather was mostly cloudy. But I didn't care.

Well, we hit absolutely no traffic, and the sun came out just as we turned down Lighthouse Road. The Lighthouse Gods were smiling on us. Unfortunatly, they didn't smile on our destination.

It is a very sad sight indeed. Sadder than before. In addition to the lantern room being gone, and the tower being almost completely gone, the interior looks severely burned, from what I could see inside the upper windows. The lower windows and the front door are boarded up. The lighthouse has suddenly become the home for many, many birds. They were continuously flying in and out. The red siding has been removed, revealing an older white siding. The holes that were in the roof are much larger now. There is broken glass and twisted metal all around the front of the building. The smell of charred wood, even three weeks later, is strong.

The current abandoned car is the same one that was there when we were there a month ago.

And today was stranger than any of the other four visits we've made to Mispillion. There were people outside almost every one of the small houses that surround the lighthouse. There were kids on bikes and scooters. It was really weird.

Sadly, every one of them believe that the lighthouse will be torn down. And, after seeing it with my own eyes, I regretably have to agree with them. I see no hope. It is worse than any picture can show.

Click here to see some of the pictures I took today.

I also picked up a small souvenir. While walking around, I looked down, and mixed in with the dirt and gravel, I found several small pieces of the red asbestos siding. They were quickly shoved in my pocket:



If you have the opportunity (or if you don't, make it), be sure to visit Mispillion soon. I don't think she'll be there much longer.

[This message has been edited by Larry (edited 05-26-2002).]