Coast Guard’s Last Lightkeeper Looks to 300-year Milestone

In this Aug. 17, 2016 photo, Boston Light, America’s oldest lighthouse, sits on Little Brewster Island in Boston Harbor. The U.S. Coast Guard’s last manned station will celebrate the 300th anniversary of its first lighting on September 14th. (AP Photo/Elise Amendola)

LITTLE BREWSTER ISLAND, Mass. (AP) — A singular lighthouse and its unique keeper are celebrating a milestone.

Boston Light, the nation’s first and oldest lighthouse station, turns 300 on September 14.

Sally Snowman, the light’s first female keeper and the Coast Guard’s last resident keeper, is helping with celebrations for the occasion.

Events are planned for downtown Boston’s waterfront and other parts of mainland Massachusetts. The lighthouse’s beam, which is visible for 27 miles, will even be ceremonially re-lighted at sunset.

The Coast Guard has phased out resident keepers as it has automated lighthouses or transferred their control to other organizations. But Congress mandated Boston Light specifically be staffed by the Guard in perpetuity.

Snowman, who has been keeper for 13 years, says she loves the solitude the job often affords.