The world's first lighthouse Pharos in Alexandria. Michigan historical lighthouses. Choose your favourite lighthouse poster and lighthouse pictures

The earliest lighthouses were simply bonfires built on hillsides to guide ships. The first light served the old world city of Alexandria in 285 B.C. The first American light came to life in 1716 at Boston Harbor.

The world's first lighthouse, the Pharos was built to warn sailors of the treacherous sandbars of Alexandria, one of the busiest ports of the ancient world. Pharos consisted of a three-stage tower, decorated with sculptures of Greek deities and mythical creatures, atop which stood a lantern with a giant bonfire whose light may have been focused by mirrors, perhaps made of polished bronze, into a beam visible 35 miles out to sea. More than 300 feet tall, it was among the tallest man-made structures until the completion of the 1,050-foot Eiffel Tower in 1889. The lighthouse was still functioning when the Arabs conquered Alexandria in A.D. 642, but an earthquake damaged the lantern about 50 years later. The Pharos was hit by another earthquake in 1303, and by 1349 it was in ruins; in 1480 Qait Bay's fortress was built on the site.

CastleMania provides history, pictures, posters, lore and workings of lighthouses along shorelines of the world.

First Lighthouse

The history of the Pharos (that lighthouse poster to the right), Aexandria, Egypt, begins in the third century BC, when Ptolemy II built the lighthouse on an idea of his father Ptolemy I. It rose some 100 meters in a kind of courtyard of colonnades, set on a square base surrounded by an octagonal level, then a third cylindrical level. At its top there was a lantern crowned with a statue of Poseidon. From the fourth to 14th centuries AD, however, the mighty structure was destroyed by a series of earthquakes.

Pharos of Alexandria - a lighthouse that was one of the seven wonders of the ancient world - has been salvaged from the Mediterranean Sea.

When the Arab traveller Ibn Battuta visited Pharos in 1349, he found it "in such a state of ruin that it was impossible to enter". Over a century later, the Mamluke Sultan Ashraf Quaitbay built a fort on the site.

Peggy's Cove Lighthouse

What better for an introductory photograph on the Maritime provinces, than one of the famous lighthouse at Peggy's Cove, just down the coast from Halifax, Nova Scotia? Perhaps the world's most photographed lighthouse, this image is unusual in that despite the fact that it's a sunny summer day, the lighthouse is not surrounded by tourists! See this lighthouse poster to the right!

Michigan Historical Lighthouses Project

As a result of the U. S. Coast Guard's decision to excess over seventy historical lighthouses in the state of Michigan, numerous individuals representing federal and state agencies, federal and state legislators, and national and regional nonprofit organizations convened in Lansing in the spring of 1998 to address the need for preserving these treasured structures on behalf of the public. In order to more effectively resolve the various exigencies accompanying the transfer and preservation of such a large number of lighthouses, these governmental agencies and nonprofit organizations established the Michigan Historical Lighthouses Project. In August of 1999, these same public and nonprofit entities signed a Memorandum of Agreement setting into motion the grand project of facilitating the transfer and ensuring the preservation of Michigan historical lighthouses for generations to come.

The primary focus of the Project is the timely transfer of the Michigan historical lighthouses in Michigan to stewards capable of preserving the structures for the enjoyment of the public. Following the spirit and guidelines of the National Michigan Historical Lighthouses Preservation Act of 2000, the Project seeks to transfer lighthouse property at no cost to federal agencies, state agencies, local governments, nonprofit corporations, or community development organizations. Get your most picturesque lighthouse poster to the right side ->

American lighthouses

California lighthouses dot a coastline that is rugged, forbidding, beautiful, often fog bound and frequently deadly. Lighthouses on the western coast were built later in the nation’s development, driven partly by the discovery of gold. The lighthouses of San Francisco and Los Angeles, as well as more remote regions of the state, such as beautiful Big Sur, are interwoven with the history of this region. The stories of keepers and their families who lived in the lighthouses show how life at a lighthouse was both rich and harsh. The most interesting of American lighthouse pictures, and lighthouse poster' s available on CastleMania.

Lighthouses of the North Atlantic

This is the area where lighthouses began in America. The first lighthouses were built to foster the growing maritime economy of the colonies and many precede the birth of the nation. This region ranges from the rocky coast of Massachusetts to the barrier islands of the North Carolina coast.

Lighthouses of the South Atlantic

Lighthouses in this area were often built to warn mariners away from the dangerous shoreline that stretches from the Outer Banks of North Carolina to the Lands End of Key West. These lighthouses stand as centerpieces of a varied and dynamic region, rich in character, culture and history. Cape Hatteras Lighthouse is the most famous lighthouse in the region, but the stories of the "Wreckers" and "Mooncussers" and of Blackbeard’s hideout on Ocracoke Island show the other rich history of the region.

Lighthouses of the Pacific Northwest

The lighthouses of the beautiful and dangerous wilderness coasts of Washington and Oregon are some of the greatest engineering stories of the late 1800’s. Building lighthouses here required extraordinary ingenuity, courage and strength - this is an area of huge waves, high winds, towering cliff faces, rolling sand dunes and pounding surf. Whaling and fishing were major industries and provided some of the impetus for lighthouse building.

Lighthouses of the Western Great Lakes

The shorelines of Lake Superior and Lake Michigan once included hundreds of lighthouses. The wild and remote coastlines of Isle Royal National Park and those of the slightly more accessible Apostle Islands National Park are just two examples of the rigors of lighthouse keeping on the Great Lakes. The waters of the lakes can become almost as vicious as the waters of the open ocean, and have caused many shipwrecks; the most famous of which is the Edmund Fitzgerald.

Lighthouse poster of Ponta de Topo Lighthouse, Portugal

Lighthouse poster of Old Point Loma Lighthouse

Look through more picturesque and fabulous lighthouse pictures, lighthouse poster and photos and history of Fortresses, Castles, Alcatraz prison on CastleMania pages!