March 3, 2025 • 36 mins
In honor of WIC week, we are covering the lighthouse with the most years kept by women keepers! Biloxi Lighthouse is also known well in Mississippi as a symbol of resilience after surviving Hurricane Katrina in 2005.
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Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
(00:00):
Hi everyone, I'm Emily and I'm Vince and this is the lighthouse lowdown
(00:14):
Choking down your coffee. It's not coffee
So yeah, I'm not drinking caffeine right now or I'm minimizing caffeine and sugars and stuff
So this is I asked for a decaf black coffee
Hot and they're like we can't do that
But we could do a decaf americano
That doesn't make sense. Okay, so you have decaf espresso, but not I've never once heard of decaf espresso
(00:41):
This is a coffee shop. Yeah anyways, so I
Just added some honey to it because I couldn't drink the
Combination before and even now it's you're cooing. It's like coffee tea
Oh, I had some tea. Well, I mean it's watered-down coffee
If it's iced I usually like americano's, but if it's hot I feel like it would be really obvious
(01:04):
Right, that's watery. I'm sorry. I didn't say the number of the other just realized we forgot that
Vincent I were trying to get a good system for data storage
Yeah, and it included saying the number of the episode at the beginning and we didn't do that
So that's fine. I just was distracted by the fact that you this is episode number 72
(01:27):
I'm like holding up my arms
Like are you going to see this? This is why we need cameras
We need people to be able to see me hold up my arms. We really don't and see we really don't because every other part is going to be
My facial expressions. Yes, that would be great. Then I would have to dress nice
No, that's people don't want you to dress nice. They want you to be yourself. That's
(01:49):
irrelevant
This is the third best lighthouse podcast in the world at least
We're in the top three for sure. Yeah, probably second best in the United States for sure and
They don't have video so it's not like we're behind on the times
But if we had video maybe we'd be number one. Yeah, it would be all over tick-tock
(02:11):
Yeah, capture the kids. We get a whole new generation at that Jeremy was saying Jeremy Deftramont when we talked with him
Yeah, he interviewed us. Yes. Yeah, he was saying
How do we get the next generation involved? Just the thought of also?
prioritizing a bunch of the social media like I'd have to quit some of my other hobbies
(02:31):
Some of your other jobs that are unpaid and we can't because we're planning a wedding and I have a list of about 20 things to do
With my hands. Yeah, there's a lot of other things to do. These are just DIY things to do
Yeah, and that's why this episode is being recorded two days before it's released and
That's also why we went for a shorter episode and I don't have a history buoy rock chalk
(02:54):
Let's go trying to convince it down so that when I edit it today
It's uh what what?
I'm just like blank staring blank staring at my face and let's do a personal history buoy because we don't have a lighthouse history
Buoy, okay, but the whole point of the no history buoy is that it's a shorter episode
(03:15):
Well, then I'll stop talking well
But what was it gonna be anyway cuz now I'm curious the thing we talked about with restaurants and memories and like we have three restaurants
We could go to for our anniversary in the future. Oh, yeah, that's not
Worth mentioning. All right, we're going cut that out and cut here Emily
Oh no, okay, I'm gonna go into our episode so that
(03:43):
It's so it's good
we're gonna be talking about
Biloxi lighthouse and this is a direct result of
When we were driving in the car the other day and I was saying
We've never covered a lighthouse in Mississippi
Is there even any lighthouses in Mississippi because the coastline is so tiny and turns out there are down in the sip
(04:05):
Yeah, so we're pronounce it again Biloxi Biloxi bi
L O X I
Okay, Biloxi and I did listen to some videos to figure out the pronunciation and
There that did not happen for anything else in this episode. So I'm just gonna be like
There's two words in particular three words right now that I'm looking at that
(04:26):
I won't know how to pronounce par for the course. We're fine
It's kind of part of the spirit of our podcast. That's why we're the third best lighthouse podcast in the world
Jeremy says everything confidently and I just wallow Jeremy is a historian and a professional
(04:47):
We are amateur or amateurs tour lighthouse enthusiasts. Yeah, so we don't have to know it all
We're not getting paid for anything, but we got Biloxi. We're going to Mississippi
Biloxi lighthouse was one of three Mississippi sound lighthouses
Authorized in 1847 back in the day
So I pulled a picture of the coastline just to it
(05:09):
Accentuate how tiny it is the dotted lines are all that we have of Mississippi touching water
So twelve thousand dollars was set aside in March of that year with one acre bought from John
Faird for six hundred dollars to build the South's first cast iron lighthouse and keeper's dwelling
Which were completed a year later in 1848. Nice the lighthouse is 65 feet tall made of bolted plates of cast iron
(05:35):
Painted white and reinforced with a brick lining which we've talked about with other lighthouses. Yeah fairly standard for a lot of American lighthouses
Yeah, but at this time in the south it was the first one to have that sort of build
So it's kind of fun. It's skinny. Oh by the way, this picture that I just pulled up was taken in 1892
I'm like, why is it so clear? This looks like a 1900s photo
(05:58):
Like a night like a really good photo
70s photo. I mean it was big news though, right? It's the first lighthouse like this in the area
So it's probably a professional just surprised by that because it's so clear. I thought for sure it'd be like 19
But six five feet tall
I'm pretty good nowadays
So let me just keep I keep wanting to like
(06:21):
Talk about the interesting things that I know I'm gonna talk about and just say it right now
I'm like no, there's a structure made of cast iron. Although the first keeper was a man
Marsilis
Hey point of interest you said a brick lining. Yeah, so the inside yeah, I figured the outside be break. No the inside
It's yes. Interesting. The outside keeps more water out than brick. Yeah historically. Yeah welded and
(06:49):
Interesting. Okay. Thank you
The first keeper I tried to pronounce his name Marsilis J Howard. I'm gonna say so he was a man
But this lighthouse is known for having the most it's kept by women for the longest amount of years in the US
Thanks first female keeper and second keeper of the lighthouse was Maria Reynolds and she started working in 1854 and
(07:13):
Worked through 1866 so solid over a decade 12 years
Yeah, and she was a keeper
She was the keeper when the reflectors were replaced with fixed white fourth order lens in 1856
So that's pretty early to get a Fresnel lens
I think considering how far south we are and how like it took
This long to get a lighthouse down here that I don't know
(07:36):
I feel like it would have been a lot later that they would have supplied a light a Fresnel lens over here
Yeah, it's interesting in fourth order too is I forget the ranges, but it's
Smaller range. Yeah mid-level. So this is are we looking at this photo that's on screen
It looks like we're standing in the low tide. We're standing in the water. Yeah, potentially
(07:58):
So there's a bay right here. Anyways, the point is fourth order is right on the coast. Yeah, so fix white
Cool, and that's the Gulf, right?
Yeah, yeah, that's Gulf of Mexico
small pause
Due to the deaths of her relatives she was the guardian to several orphan children
(08:19):
So even during the Civil War she and the kids lived in the lighthouse
So like oh in a lot of instances during a war keepers were not in the lighthouse, you know, they
Shuttered the lighthouse until the end of the war
But in this case they let her stay there and continued to pay her because she had so many orphan children living in the lighthouse
So crazy, I guess I've never considered this before so during the Civil War, right?
(08:48):
I don't remember the time frame. I thought it was before this
The reason I asked wait, let me
1861 it started and I think it ended in 1866. Let's find it
1865 so
Okay, you say they paid her who paid her
LHS well when
(09:09):
US splits into I'm not sure that's what I was gonna say is it's probably a northern
governmental body
So I don't think they were paying any southern it had to well when the South separated they formed their own government
Yeah, so like I'm sure that they had every avenue of what they used to have
(09:29):
Interesting crazy that that happened in our history. I've never thought about it before but being a government sponsored
Activity and then the government splits. That's yeah, she's probably like oh, no
Have lots of kids in here
I
I
I
(09:50):
I
I
I
I
I
I
I
I
I
I
I
(10:12):
I don't know. I was like I'm watching this video. I was like, I don't know why it
You know, we watched the nun the nun too, and I'm like terrifying. Oh the horror movies. Yes
and then there's like all these stories of
You know abuse and stuff and I'm like that doesn't sound nice, but like modern nunneries seem to be
People elect to do this with their lives. Well, I think most nuns throughout history. I've had good lives
(10:36):
Yeah, I don't I think the story like for one the horror movie is you know
Oh, yeah, but the stories that stand out are atypical I think
from
What is it monasteries or monks nunneries or nuns and there are they?
None nuns are part of the Catholic Church. Yeah, right? Okay, sure
So for example, I saw you said I saw some video on nuns last week. I saw one too
(11:02):
said mine was a
basketball game. Oh my gosh nuns were in full full dress playing basketball and
Shooting three pointers and making them. Oh, it'd be so sweaty. I'm pretty sure it's a real video. You know, yeah
I mean, I'm sure
Okay, sorry I got so distracted the nuns don't even have anything to do with the story
(11:27):
speculation
okay
In the 1850s the lights stood less than 30 feet from the sand
So a 104 foot concrete seawall was built to protect the tower from the waves
And I'm pretty sure that's what's in this photo surrounding
Oh, yeah, the lighthouse. That's the seawall nice in 1860 part of the seawall collapsed from a storm
(11:48):
And this area gets lots of hurricanes like over history
Mm-hmm, and it washed away sand around the lighthouse
And so it formed a void under one part of the light and it developed a two-foot lean
And they said that if the lighthouse was not
Surrounded by the cast iron it absolutely there was no way it would have survived because just brick you think about two feet difference
(12:10):
Oh, yeah lean it would be over
But because it had cast iron it
Held together until they were able to fix it
But instead of filling the void underneath they took earth from the other side of the lighthouse and it slowly
settled
Back to normal. That's impressive. Yeah, I wonder if it settled lower in elevation
(12:31):
Oh, I bet so they just took it all well
This anything with sand is constantly changing. So I guess I don't really know I'm really tempted to talk about the cast iron
I think I'll save that for a future. Oh history buoy. Yeah, I have some cast iron news at work. Anyways, oh
I'm interested but just yeah for next time a
(12:52):
Fifth order for nolens was installed after the war and is still there today
So you can go and see it nice and I have a picture. I don't think it's very good quality, but
Yeah, it's bad quality
But still you can see what it looks like. It's pretty neat. It appears that it's got some pitting going on
I mean, how can you just be the image quality? Yeah, maybe it's just really sparkly. So so you said fifth order?
(13:16):
Yeah, so I don't know that we've talked about a fifth order lens other than when we first talked about for now lenses
And the size is available. Yeah, maybe
They're definitely not common because most lighthouse like if we talk about lighthouses on the Great Lakes or whatever fourth order is pretty much
What they always get so the third is rare
So cute
(13:37):
Still looks heavy. Oh, yeah, for sure
So it was it was downgraded from fourth to fifth hour order interesting and they did that while the tower and the dwelling were being restored
So the dwelling was painted white while the tower was given a coat of black coal tar to protect from rust
However, the timing of this was poor because many thought the tower was painted black in morning after Abraham Lincoln's death and
(14:01):
So like it caused some unrest and yeah, because it was in the south
Yeah, it to Bellum and on top of that
Sailors found it very hard to see a black lighthouse against all the dark like trees that they had going on
And so it took another two years, but they painted it white again
1868 well, it's hard to get
(14:25):
Tar off of any structure. That's one of the benefits of it's protecting it from being rusted
Yeah, so you see they just painted over the top of the
Campaign over tar paint over tar. I don't think you can I think they'd have to strip it. Oh, man with chemicals or straight. I mean
Sounds terrible
They're like fine. No wonder it took two years
(14:47):
Oh
Here's another keeper's name that I'm gonna have to pronounce Perry young ins young hands
Young ins of course
He was keeper following the war but passed away within the year like the first year of his service
So his wife Maria took over as keeper until 1918
(15:08):
that
From the 60s to the 20s almost
67 to
1918 okay, so over 50 years 40
50
70 90 10s
(15:31):
50 years oh my gosh
So crazy we don't see a lot of people serving for that long and especially not like women usually were
Placeholders well, yeah, I'm starting in the 1800s. It was like oh, you know my husband died until you find the next one
I'm gonna be keeper. Yeah, but this is crazy
(15:52):
It's hard to understand but things moved slower
Ten years ago. I can't imagine the 1800s how fast or rather slow things moved
So like a job listing goes out. Oh, there's no LinkedIn. Yeah, there's there. Maybe they'll post it locally
I don't know. I don't know. I don't know what the technology at the time was maybe that's the newspaper
(16:15):
The newspaper used to have job listings in it, but I don't know how you're gonna find a new
Person who wants to be a lighthouse keeper that often. Yeah, so yeah husband dies
maybe they the wife often takes over or family member takes over and then I don't know if they're active even actively seeking new
Yeah, they're just kind of like okay good
(16:36):
There's no school of lighthouse keeping at this time really it is interesting that I know of there's no like there's no where they're coming from being
Generated from right so they're just like people who it's not like a specific
Thing you learn how to do yeah, and that's another history
But I want to do is what qualifies you to be a lighthouse keeper like if you apply
(16:57):
What makes you more likely is it like having a mechanical like having an engineering background or you know like
Um, what's the word a mechanic, but yeah handy handy man
handy woman
Yeah, well, and then that's probably part of the US LHE and their establishment of like we wear uniforms
(17:17):
Yes, we do that like his military was the way that they organized. Yeah, we can't look like a bunch of civilian people like we got to make it
Look real interesting
Anyway, well it's 50 years of service the New Orleans Daily
Was that was that Emily
(17:38):
The what why don't they just call it New Orleans Daily
Newspaper, but it probably was a different one called that New Orleans Daily pick a you know
Pick a youn pick a youn. I don't know. What is that?
Anyone knows how to pronounce that please let us know this is what I get for copying and pasting this one thing
I was like, I don't feel like typing that out. Well now I forget to look up pronunciation
(18:01):
Anyway, October 21st
1893 they noted Maria's action during a hurricane that struck earlier that month quote at Biloxi Mrs.
young ins
The plucky woman who was in charge of the light kept the light going all through the storm notwithstanding the fact there were several
Feet of water in the room where she lived
I'm quote. Oh my gosh, and there was actually lots of mentions of Maria being a like hearty people saying a man
(18:30):
What would be a Paul that the stuff that she like marched out and just dealt with like especially during hurricanes
They always had mentioned of how she was just like a powerful lady. Well, she had seen some shit. Yeah
You know she there's there's two options and she chose to go through it. Yeah, I
Don't know those stories, but I could just tell
(18:52):
Lucky woman. So she actually lived in the tower. There was a keeper's well, okay
It sounded like the dwelling was in the tower for a moment. Oh, no. Yeah, it was separate
Hurricane that they mentioned heavily damaged the breakwater protect the lighthouse
But it was repaired the following year using timber and concrete
So nothing, I mean the light house has lived through this is still original
(19:14):
So it's lived through every single hurricane that's come its way to today. Mm-hmm. So there
1877 the board noticed the dwelling was in disrepair so much so that they decided to demo it and build a new one. So
Maria got a new house
$4,000 in
1880
During the end of Maria's stint at the lighthouse her daughter Miranda served as assistant keeper unofficially
(19:38):
It's not listed as like an official keeper, but she took over as headkeeper in 1919 until 1929 so another decade of young ins
in the system
The light was electrified in
1926 and given a new flash pattern of an occulting white light that was dark for two seconds and lit for three seconds
And it was automated in 1940. I think the flash pattern is still the same today. So
(20:02):
So how long is it the young ins is the name? Yeah, how long were they operating that lighthouse? That seems like a long time
the 50s until 1867 to
1929 okay, I thought that was earlier than the 60s, but still yeah, dang pretty cool
The lighthouse was declared surplus property in 1968 and the city of Biloxi has had ownership ever since
(20:29):
So they got the deed the lighthouse at that time and they take really good care of it. They've done restorations and
You know, they're ahead of their time great shape today. So that's smart of them
I mean as we've talked about there's there was a real dry spell
It appears in lighthouse care taking an interest in the 80s and 90s
You know windows and fresnel lenses are being shot at on several several different places
(20:52):
People would just use them as target practice. I know people broke in
Burned them down stole things. So it's good for Biloxi to take care of their tower through that time
Yeah, and I'm seeing uh, I follow Hillsborough inlet lighthouse Hillsborough. I think
And they're doing a restoration right now and it's just like just gonna be
(21:15):
So expensive. Oh, yeah
I just I'm happy that there's people that care enough about it to be like we have to we have to do this
So like even though it's so painfully expensive in order for it to survive we have to and that's what we're gonna do
Yeah, well we so we were in construction and design and there's some customers where
(21:36):
These project timelines are long like five years between so for example a project was designed
So the customer said hey, we need this thing. It's an industrial big commercial customer. Yeah, we need this process
So our company designs it on paper and we give them a price
to build it and they say okay
(21:58):
And then five years went by because the money's coming together because we're finding people to actually do the construction
You know, we're managing it
Getting permits the whole process and then over those five years the equipment that goes inside this building
Has escalated in cost so much that the customer says what the heck?
(22:18):
We can't afford to build this. It's not what the what we were quoted. It's like
well
It's like those a long time. It was a long time. It was five years ago. So you took too long to do paperwork
Yeah, and and so the point of this is our construction is just crazy crazy expensive
I wouldn't be surprised if specialty construction like lighthouses will set new records
(22:40):
Uh for sure this decade any restorations that happen. Yeah, and like materials and stuff are
Probably not especially if you're trying to do like a restoration based on
historical yes, like historical
materials and stuff for acerellings. Yeah, it's got to just be crazy
cast iron casings
(23:01):
Not common. I'm glad there's still people out there that are doing that kind of stuff even though the price tag is insane
A hurricane destroyed the keepers dwelling in 1969
But the lighthouse survived and its construction was tough enough to withstand all hurricanes since then
So we don't have a keepers dwelling anymore sad
lighthouse wiped out
(23:22):
In 1998 with the destruction of round island lighthouse in mississippi
Biloxi became the last of over 10 lighthouses to be built on the mississippi coastline to still be standing. Wow
It's the only one. There's some other little ones, but I don't think that they're they're not like originals
Yeah, that's crazy the last of 10 that were constructed. Mm-hmm on the coastline
(23:45):
In 2005 Biloxi lighthouse became the symbol of resilience still standing draped to the american flag after hurricane kurchina ripped through the south
I've got a picture of what?
Like this first picture is what the lighthouse looked like after the hurricane so
Where did it pick up an american flag?
Well, I assume someone took it up there
No, I mean with the way that it's draped it kind of looks like
(24:08):
Maybe it was hanging
Before hand and then it got all tangled up or something, but katerina was that was in our
Well in my lifetime when I was paying attention. It was awful. Yeah
I have a vague memory of that happening, but being in texas, you know, we were pretty close. Yeah
Yeah
(24:28):
But uh, but lexy gosh. Yeah, it is not far from
New Orleans, which is not at all. It like when I showed the
Maps screenshot you could see New Orleans off to the side cool photo. Yeah, glad it made it
Its imagery was printed on stamps and license plates in the state following that as the symbol of powering through
(24:49):
I want one of those license plates. Isn't that cool? It's awesome
The script on mississippi is really cool, too. I like that it um, bulloxi has a
Weather vane on top
Yeah, we haven't I think I've seen one or two of those I can say we haven't seen that before I have seen it once
Or maybe we haven't covered the lighthouse that has that
It's pretty cute and I love the tiny little windows
(25:12):
That's probably how it's survived all this time. It's right on the water, too. Yes, it's right there
And that was um, you know what I was saying earlier is it used to be
30 feet from the shoreline and so now nowadays it's not it's like 100 something and it's actually in the median of
A highway, so it's just like the lighthouse with a highway going on either side
(25:34):
I was gonna say there's a road in the Katrina photo. There's a road
What 10 feet from the base? Yeah, no on the other side is the other split. Yeah. Oh my gosh
It's so crazy how the world just builds around history
So if you want to go visit this lighthouse, is that something you can do? Yes
Yeah, and I looked at their website and there's no description of how you're supposed to get there
(25:57):
So it's gotta be obvious. There's gotta be some kind of crop tunnel or bridge or something. Yeah
Just run across the highway
That's so funny
But 2010 a restoration of the tower was completed following
extensive damage to the brick lining following Hurricane Katrina
katikatikachow
(26:17):
I keep saying katikow
That's like the one thing that we should know
I just can't I guess I can I've never really said that a lot
They also did rewiring restoring the decorative fence and also repainted so
I like that they kind of prioritized that after the hurricane because there was so much focus on it being like something
(26:39):
That survived. Yeah
so they painted two blue lines inside the lighthouse indicating how high the waters were
at the lighthouse during hurricane Katrina, which was
21.5 feet
and
Hurricane Camille, which was 17.5 feet and this was the hurricane that
(27:02):
Camille there's so many that's where the this one was keeper's house was gone. No
I think this was the hurricane while
Maria was keeper. So it was a long time ago
1969 okay, so no that was that was the one that took out the that was right. Yeah, good work
(27:22):
So how tall is the lighthouse overall?
65 feet
So the water was a third of the lighthouse in height. How creepy that had to have been like water
It was inside. Yeah. Well the door breaks in with that much pressure
Pretty crazy
I can't even imagine being there. I wonder I don't humans were there
(27:44):
That's what I was gonna say is there's gonna be there's probably no photo of it of looking down at the water inside of a lighthouse
I think your staircase submerged. Well, you just have to hope that it recedes before you need to come down
I'm sure there's like not a lot of places safer safer to be than in a lighthouse during a hurricane
I mean inland would be better. Well, well, yeah
(28:07):
Well when before weather was accurately no warning predicted. Yeah, it just
Where do you run very little warning?
Go to the lighthouse that's 30 feet away from
The water was it bolivar point lighthouse that bolivar that had uh filled with people
Yeah, didn't go well, right? Um, they all lived the ones on the inside. It was just a chaotic experience and then when they came out
(28:31):
There was lots of people
It's yeah, I think of that as more sad than happy even though the people on the inside survived. Oh, no because because it was
Traumatic devastating they can be thankful for the fact that they're alive and still be like that was the worst experience of my entire life
Like they definitely have PTSD from that
Oh gosh, I can't even imagine so and also this I mean
(28:52):
I mean, senior, I just I just trying to picture we took a photo
Which lighthouse was that that she pointed out we could take a picture through the the clockwork chain opening
Oh, um, not sit like was it not sit? Um, I took a
It's actually a really good photo, but let's see if I can find it
Um down through that slot looking at the staircase
(29:16):
And just imagine, you know, it was like this bright sunny day
The doors open the sunlight now imagine it's filled with water and it's black howling winds outside and it'd be dark too
Everything's rocking. Oh my gosh. It would be so scary
It's gonna be in a horror film in five years
But yeah nowadays you can visit the lighthouse for five dollars daily from nine to ten a.m
(29:40):
So you only get one hour to get in there. I'm sure it's a volunteer effort helping out
Yeah, for sure. That's great though to be open daily. That's pretty good
Most most lighthouses you really don't need an hour at no, but if there's a museum or there's grounds
Yeah, especially because there's no I mean, this is just you're gonna see the tower and then you're gonna leave
There's no there's no grounds. There's no keepers dwelling. There's nothing. There's a highway. Yeah
(30:03):
Just the sound of cars
And they do have a live feed on their website from
Um, uh from the lighthouse 24 7 so it's just kind of like showing the coastline and the cars and stuff you can watch it like a little uh
GoPro cam. Yeah, nice. Yeah, and that's that that's Biloxi lighthouse. Good job city of Biloxi
(30:24):
Yeah, I know restoring when it needs it and
It's pretty weird people interested. I'm sure every everyone who drives on the highway that's never been there before is like
It's a lighthouse in the middle of the highway in the median surprise. No one's hit it yet
Here's a nice picture. It's knocked on wood
of
Oh shoot, I never thought about that. That's a dangerous place for the lighthouse. I mean, it's kind of ironic because you know a lighthouse is like
(30:50):
Stay away, right? Yeah
Isn't this interesting it is there's just enough space they left they've got some cute
Like landscaping around it. It literally it's uh, it's a highway median
It looks like there might be a park or a beachfront on the left. Oh, yeah, it's all beachy. Nice
(31:11):
I would love to go to this area and from this picture. It's a highway. There's stop lights
So I'm sure you walk across one side of the street and then walk towards the lighthouse on the median
It's a beautiful uh photo. It's gorgeous and the doors
Are nice. They didn't look like that after Hurricane Katrina. Katina
Hurricane tortilla
(31:34):
Oh man, this is one I'd actually really like to see
Do we think we'll ever like to see all the lighthouses we've talked about?
I know I know but I feel like this one
is really unique
Kellier
bridesmaids
This is right outside of norlands
How far is this from norlands? I don't want to go to norlands again
(31:58):
Do you want to elaborate on that for our listeners?
um
No, no, it wasn't it was
Okay, I don't really know. I think it's just a feeling like I've been there once and now I don't need to go again
Done with it
Yeah, it's it's just not my type of vacation. I think I went with my family and
um, there was some crazy weather. There was like some
(32:22):
Wild storm that came through and
So anyway, we need to figure out what our next trip is going to be
I know it's going to be Pacific Northwest. Oh, I know but okay
You're right. There's no more fun
What?
Half of the fun is in the planning we like oh, what are we gonna?
What block of lighthouse we're gonna see part of the world and you're like we're doing it here?
(32:46):
I'm like, oh, that's right
We actually do need to plan and and decide what we're gonna do
But I think the timeline it will probably be next year. Yeah for sure. We're getting for those of you don't know
We're getting married this year
The pricing of things is
in
it's
(33:07):
Fathomable how much it costs to have a wedding
I say that already having expected prices to be crazy. They're more crazy. I thought it was going to be I thought like
Yeah, I won't get into numbers, but I thought for sure that like 20% less
Maybe 30% less of what we're looking at is what would have been considered crazy
(33:30):
And yet the number continues to climb
So for that reason I think we're gonna take a take a lighthouse trip probably
2026 yeah, if we if we can
You're gonna go to Sweden this year and I'm going to Sweden
You have to see a lighthouse as much as it hurts. We'll see. It's not my trip. I'm along for the ride
(33:52):
Well, that's true, but you can have some influence. You're like, hey mom
You wanted us to talk about a lighthouse?
You know at a convention?
See we need cameras Emily's posturing over here moving back and forth as if
Moving back and forth is convincing my mom to go to a lighthouse
(34:16):
Maybe that's the key movement like a snake
Like a bug or a bird dancing for another bird
Like what is like when praying mantises go like back and forth? Yes. Thank you. You know exactly what I'm saying
I'm not saying it clearly or birds of paradise where they're like, yes, they're little wings
(34:38):
I wish we had cameras. All right
What else what else we got? That's it. That's all I got
Biloxi lighthouse last original standing lighthouse on the coast of Mississippi our first covered
Mississippi lighthouse on the lighthouse lowdown podcast big moment episode 72
Thanks for sticking with us guys. Yeah, kind of a weird one. We haven't recorded in a while, but uh, I really liked it
(35:02):
Okay, really interesting. I had fun. Yeah. I think we're just not used to being recording
We're not used to being at the desk. Yeah, we're chatting and stuff
It's like we haven't seen each other in a really long time. It's just true. It's gone for work. So now I'm back
All right, well, thanks everyone for joining. Um, you can check out our instagram at the lighthouse lowdown
post some fun pictures from each episode and go to our website the lighthouse lowdown.com
(35:26):
Where you can leave us a review, which is really important to us
We love getting reviews and you can also leave us a message to cover any lighthouse
that you live near that you've seen that you have
A childhood surrounding or just saw off the road one time when you were driving down the highway in Mississippi
So you could just let us know and we'll cover it. We're excited to cover lighthouses from our listeners
(35:48):
So keep that in mind
And we'll catch you next time on
The lighthouse lowdown
Hi everyone, I'm Emily and I'm Vince and this is the lighthouse lowdown
(00:14):
Choking down your coffee. It's not coffee
So yeah, I'm not drinking caffeine right now or I'm minimizing caffeine and sugars and stuff
So this is I asked for a decaf black coffee
Hot and they're like we can't do that
But we could do a decaf americano
That doesn't make sense. Okay, so you have decaf espresso, but not I've never once heard of decaf espresso
(00:41):
This is a coffee shop. Yeah anyways, so I
Just added some honey to it because I couldn't drink the
Combination before and even now it's you're cooing. It's like coffee tea
Oh, I had some tea. Well, I mean it's watered-down coffee
If it's iced I usually like americano's, but if it's hot I feel like it would be really obvious
(01:04):
Right, that's watery. I'm sorry. I didn't say the number of the other just realized we forgot that
Vincent I were trying to get a good system for data storage
Yeah, and it included saying the number of the episode at the beginning and we didn't do that
So that's fine. I just was distracted by the fact that you this is episode number 72
(01:27):
I'm like holding up my arms
Like are you going to see this? This is why we need cameras
We need people to be able to see me hold up my arms. We really don't and see we really don't because every other part is going to be
My facial expressions. Yes, that would be great. Then I would have to dress nice
No, that's people don't want you to dress nice. They want you to be yourself. That's
(01:49):
irrelevant
This is the third best lighthouse podcast in the world at least
We're in the top three for sure. Yeah, probably second best in the United States for sure and
They don't have video so it's not like we're behind on the times
But if we had video maybe we'd be number one. Yeah, it would be all over tick-tock
(02:11):
Yeah, capture the kids. We get a whole new generation at that Jeremy was saying Jeremy Deftramont when we talked with him
Yeah, he interviewed us. Yes. Yeah, he was saying
How do we get the next generation involved? Just the thought of also?
prioritizing a bunch of the social media like I'd have to quit some of my other hobbies
(02:31):
Some of your other jobs that are unpaid and we can't because we're planning a wedding and I have a list of about 20 things to do
With my hands. Yeah, there's a lot of other things to do. These are just DIY things to do
Yeah, and that's why this episode is being recorded two days before it's released and
That's also why we went for a shorter episode and I don't have a history buoy rock chalk
(02:54):
Let's go trying to convince it down so that when I edit it today
It's uh what what?
I'm just like blank staring blank staring at my face and let's do a personal history buoy because we don't have a lighthouse history
Buoy, okay, but the whole point of the no history buoy is that it's a shorter episode
(03:15):
Well, then I'll stop talking well
But what was it gonna be anyway cuz now I'm curious the thing we talked about with restaurants and memories and like we have three restaurants
We could go to for our anniversary in the future. Oh, yeah, that's not
Worth mentioning. All right, we're going cut that out and cut here Emily
Oh no, okay, I'm gonna go into our episode so that
(03:43):
It's so it's good
we're gonna be talking about
Biloxi lighthouse and this is a direct result of
When we were driving in the car the other day and I was saying
We've never covered a lighthouse in Mississippi
Is there even any lighthouses in Mississippi because the coastline is so tiny and turns out there are down in the sip
(04:05):
Yeah, so we're pronounce it again Biloxi Biloxi bi
L O X I
Okay, Biloxi and I did listen to some videos to figure out the pronunciation and
There that did not happen for anything else in this episode. So I'm just gonna be like
There's two words in particular three words right now that I'm looking at that
(04:26):
I won't know how to pronounce par for the course. We're fine
It's kind of part of the spirit of our podcast. That's why we're the third best lighthouse podcast in the world
Jeremy says everything confidently and I just wallow Jeremy is a historian and a professional
(04:47):
We are amateur or amateurs tour lighthouse enthusiasts. Yeah, so we don't have to know it all
We're not getting paid for anything, but we got Biloxi. We're going to Mississippi
Biloxi lighthouse was one of three Mississippi sound lighthouses
Authorized in 1847 back in the day
So I pulled a picture of the coastline just to it
(05:09):
Accentuate how tiny it is the dotted lines are all that we have of Mississippi touching water
So twelve thousand dollars was set aside in March of that year with one acre bought from John
Faird for six hundred dollars to build the South's first cast iron lighthouse and keeper's dwelling
Which were completed a year later in 1848. Nice the lighthouse is 65 feet tall made of bolted plates of cast iron
(05:35):
Painted white and reinforced with a brick lining which we've talked about with other lighthouses. Yeah fairly standard for a lot of American lighthouses
Yeah, but at this time in the south it was the first one to have that sort of build
So it's kind of fun. It's skinny. Oh by the way, this picture that I just pulled up was taken in 1892
I'm like, why is it so clear? This looks like a 1900s photo
(05:58):
Like a night like a really good photo
70s photo. I mean it was big news though, right? It's the first lighthouse like this in the area
So it's probably a professional just surprised by that because it's so clear. I thought for sure it'd be like 19
But six five feet tall
I'm pretty good nowadays
So let me just keep I keep wanting to like
(06:21):
Talk about the interesting things that I know I'm gonna talk about and just say it right now
I'm like no, there's a structure made of cast iron. Although the first keeper was a man
Marsilis
Hey point of interest you said a brick lining. Yeah, so the inside yeah, I figured the outside be break. No the inside
It's yes. Interesting. The outside keeps more water out than brick. Yeah historically. Yeah welded and
(06:49):
Interesting. Okay. Thank you
The first keeper I tried to pronounce his name Marsilis J Howard. I'm gonna say so he was a man
But this lighthouse is known for having the most it's kept by women for the longest amount of years in the US
Thanks first female keeper and second keeper of the lighthouse was Maria Reynolds and she started working in 1854 and
(07:13):
Worked through 1866 so solid over a decade 12 years
Yeah, and she was a keeper
She was the keeper when the reflectors were replaced with fixed white fourth order lens in 1856
So that's pretty early to get a Fresnel lens
I think considering how far south we are and how like it took
This long to get a lighthouse down here that I don't know
(07:36):
I feel like it would have been a lot later that they would have supplied a light a Fresnel lens over here
Yeah, it's interesting in fourth order too is I forget the ranges, but it's
Smaller range. Yeah mid-level. So this is are we looking at this photo that's on screen
It looks like we're standing in the low tide. We're standing in the water. Yeah, potentially
(07:58):
So there's a bay right here. Anyways, the point is fourth order is right on the coast. Yeah, so fix white
Cool, and that's the Gulf, right?
Yeah, yeah, that's Gulf of Mexico
small pause
Due to the deaths of her relatives she was the guardian to several orphan children
(08:19):
So even during the Civil War she and the kids lived in the lighthouse
So like oh in a lot of instances during a war keepers were not in the lighthouse, you know, they
Shuttered the lighthouse until the end of the war
But in this case they let her stay there and continued to pay her because she had so many orphan children living in the lighthouse
So crazy, I guess I've never considered this before so during the Civil War, right?
(08:48):
I don't remember the time frame. I thought it was before this
The reason I asked wait, let me
1861 it started and I think it ended in 1866. Let's find it
1865 so
Okay, you say they paid her who paid her
LHS well when
(09:09):
US splits into I'm not sure that's what I was gonna say is it's probably a northern
governmental body
So I don't think they were paying any southern it had to well when the South separated they formed their own government
Yeah, so like I'm sure that they had every avenue of what they used to have
(09:29):
Interesting crazy that that happened in our history. I've never thought about it before but being a government sponsored
Activity and then the government splits. That's yeah, she's probably like oh, no
Have lots of kids in here
I
I
I
(09:50):
I
I
I
I
I
I
I
I
I
I
I
(10:12):
I don't know. I was like I'm watching this video. I was like, I don't know why it
You know, we watched the nun the nun too, and I'm like terrifying. Oh the horror movies. Yes
and then there's like all these stories of
You know abuse and stuff and I'm like that doesn't sound nice, but like modern nunneries seem to be
People elect to do this with their lives. Well, I think most nuns throughout history. I've had good lives
(10:36):
Yeah, I don't I think the story like for one the horror movie is you know
Oh, yeah, but the stories that stand out are atypical I think
from
What is it monasteries or monks nunneries or nuns and there are they?
None nuns are part of the Catholic Church. Yeah, right? Okay, sure
So for example, I saw you said I saw some video on nuns last week. I saw one too
(11:02):
said mine was a
basketball game. Oh my gosh nuns were in full full dress playing basketball and
Shooting three pointers and making them. Oh, it'd be so sweaty. I'm pretty sure it's a real video. You know, yeah
I mean, I'm sure
Okay, sorry I got so distracted the nuns don't even have anything to do with the story
(11:27):
speculation
okay
In the 1850s the lights stood less than 30 feet from the sand
So a 104 foot concrete seawall was built to protect the tower from the waves
And I'm pretty sure that's what's in this photo surrounding
Oh, yeah, the lighthouse. That's the seawall nice in 1860 part of the seawall collapsed from a storm
(11:48):
And this area gets lots of hurricanes like over history
Mm-hmm, and it washed away sand around the lighthouse
And so it formed a void under one part of the light and it developed a two-foot lean
And they said that if the lighthouse was not
Surrounded by the cast iron it absolutely there was no way it would have survived because just brick you think about two feet difference
(12:10):
Oh, yeah lean it would be over
But because it had cast iron it
Held together until they were able to fix it
But instead of filling the void underneath they took earth from the other side of the lighthouse and it slowly
settled
Back to normal. That's impressive. Yeah, I wonder if it settled lower in elevation
(12:31):
Oh, I bet so they just took it all well
This anything with sand is constantly changing. So I guess I don't really know I'm really tempted to talk about the cast iron
I think I'll save that for a future. Oh history buoy. Yeah, I have some cast iron news at work. Anyways, oh
I'm interested but just yeah for next time a
(12:52):
Fifth order for nolens was installed after the war and is still there today
So you can go and see it nice and I have a picture. I don't think it's very good quality, but
Yeah, it's bad quality
But still you can see what it looks like. It's pretty neat. It appears that it's got some pitting going on
I mean, how can you just be the image quality? Yeah, maybe it's just really sparkly. So so you said fifth order?
(13:16):
Yeah, so I don't know that we've talked about a fifth order lens other than when we first talked about for now lenses
And the size is available. Yeah, maybe
They're definitely not common because most lighthouse like if we talk about lighthouses on the Great Lakes or whatever fourth order is pretty much
What they always get so the third is rare
So cute
(13:37):
Still looks heavy. Oh, yeah, for sure
So it was it was downgraded from fourth to fifth hour order interesting and they did that while the tower and the dwelling were being restored
So the dwelling was painted white while the tower was given a coat of black coal tar to protect from rust
However, the timing of this was poor because many thought the tower was painted black in morning after Abraham Lincoln's death and
(14:01):
So like it caused some unrest and yeah, because it was in the south
Yeah, it to Bellum and on top of that
Sailors found it very hard to see a black lighthouse against all the dark like trees that they had going on
And so it took another two years, but they painted it white again
1868 well, it's hard to get
(14:25):
Tar off of any structure. That's one of the benefits of it's protecting it from being rusted
Yeah, so you see they just painted over the top of the
Campaign over tar paint over tar. I don't think you can I think they'd have to strip it. Oh, man with chemicals or straight. I mean
Sounds terrible
They're like fine. No wonder it took two years
(14:47):
Oh
Here's another keeper's name that I'm gonna have to pronounce Perry young ins young hands
Young ins of course
He was keeper following the war but passed away within the year like the first year of his service
So his wife Maria took over as keeper until 1918
(15:08):
that
From the 60s to the 20s almost
67 to
1918 okay, so over 50 years 40
50
70 90 10s
(15:31):
50 years oh my gosh
So crazy we don't see a lot of people serving for that long and especially not like women usually were
Placeholders well, yeah, I'm starting in the 1800s. It was like oh, you know my husband died until you find the next one
I'm gonna be keeper. Yeah, but this is crazy
(15:52):
It's hard to understand but things moved slower
Ten years ago. I can't imagine the 1800s how fast or rather slow things moved
So like a job listing goes out. Oh, there's no LinkedIn. Yeah, there's there. Maybe they'll post it locally
I don't know. I don't know. I don't know what the technology at the time was maybe that's the newspaper
(16:15):
The newspaper used to have job listings in it, but I don't know how you're gonna find a new
Person who wants to be a lighthouse keeper that often. Yeah, so yeah husband dies
maybe they the wife often takes over or family member takes over and then I don't know if they're active even actively seeking new
Yeah, they're just kind of like okay good
(16:36):
There's no school of lighthouse keeping at this time really it is interesting that I know of there's no like there's no where they're coming from being
Generated from right so they're just like people who it's not like a specific
Thing you learn how to do yeah, and that's another history
But I want to do is what qualifies you to be a lighthouse keeper like if you apply
(16:57):
What makes you more likely is it like having a mechanical like having an engineering background or you know like
Um, what's the word a mechanic, but yeah handy handy man
handy woman
Yeah, well, and then that's probably part of the US LHE and their establishment of like we wear uniforms
(17:17):
Yes, we do that like his military was the way that they organized. Yeah, we can't look like a bunch of civilian people like we got to make it
Look real interesting
Anyway, well it's 50 years of service the New Orleans Daily
Was that was that Emily
(17:38):
The what why don't they just call it New Orleans Daily
Newspaper, but it probably was a different one called that New Orleans Daily pick a you know
Pick a youn pick a youn. I don't know. What is that?
Anyone knows how to pronounce that please let us know this is what I get for copying and pasting this one thing
I was like, I don't feel like typing that out. Well now I forget to look up pronunciation
(18:01):
Anyway, October 21st
1893 they noted Maria's action during a hurricane that struck earlier that month quote at Biloxi Mrs.
young ins
The plucky woman who was in charge of the light kept the light going all through the storm notwithstanding the fact there were several
Feet of water in the room where she lived
I'm quote. Oh my gosh, and there was actually lots of mentions of Maria being a like hearty people saying a man
(18:30):
What would be a Paul that the stuff that she like marched out and just dealt with like especially during hurricanes
They always had mentioned of how she was just like a powerful lady. Well, she had seen some shit. Yeah
You know she there's there's two options and she chose to go through it. Yeah, I
Don't know those stories, but I could just tell
(18:52):
Lucky woman. So she actually lived in the tower. There was a keeper's well, okay
It sounded like the dwelling was in the tower for a moment. Oh, no. Yeah, it was separate
Hurricane that they mentioned heavily damaged the breakwater protect the lighthouse
But it was repaired the following year using timber and concrete
So nothing, I mean the light house has lived through this is still original
(19:14):
So it's lived through every single hurricane that's come its way to today. Mm-hmm. So there
1877 the board noticed the dwelling was in disrepair so much so that they decided to demo it and build a new one. So
Maria got a new house
$4,000 in
1880
During the end of Maria's stint at the lighthouse her daughter Miranda served as assistant keeper unofficially
(19:38):
It's not listed as like an official keeper, but she took over as headkeeper in 1919 until 1929 so another decade of young ins
in the system
The light was electrified in
1926 and given a new flash pattern of an occulting white light that was dark for two seconds and lit for three seconds
And it was automated in 1940. I think the flash pattern is still the same today. So
(20:02):
So how long is it the young ins is the name? Yeah, how long were they operating that lighthouse? That seems like a long time
the 50s until 1867 to
1929 okay, I thought that was earlier than the 60s, but still yeah, dang pretty cool
The lighthouse was declared surplus property in 1968 and the city of Biloxi has had ownership ever since
(20:29):
So they got the deed the lighthouse at that time and they take really good care of it. They've done restorations and
You know, they're ahead of their time great shape today. So that's smart of them
I mean as we've talked about there's there was a real dry spell
It appears in lighthouse care taking an interest in the 80s and 90s
You know windows and fresnel lenses are being shot at on several several different places
(20:52):
People would just use them as target practice. I know people broke in
Burned them down stole things. So it's good for Biloxi to take care of their tower through that time
Yeah, and I'm seeing uh, I follow Hillsborough inlet lighthouse Hillsborough. I think
And they're doing a restoration right now and it's just like just gonna be
(21:15):
So expensive. Oh, yeah
I just I'm happy that there's people that care enough about it to be like we have to we have to do this
So like even though it's so painfully expensive in order for it to survive we have to and that's what we're gonna do
Yeah, well we so we were in construction and design and there's some customers where
(21:36):
These project timelines are long like five years between so for example a project was designed
So the customer said hey, we need this thing. It's an industrial big commercial customer. Yeah, we need this process
So our company designs it on paper and we give them a price
to build it and they say okay
(21:58):
And then five years went by because the money's coming together because we're finding people to actually do the construction
You know, we're managing it
Getting permits the whole process and then over those five years the equipment that goes inside this building
Has escalated in cost so much that the customer says what the heck?
(22:18):
We can't afford to build this. It's not what the what we were quoted. It's like
well
It's like those a long time. It was a long time. It was five years ago. So you took too long to do paperwork
Yeah, and and so the point of this is our construction is just crazy crazy expensive
I wouldn't be surprised if specialty construction like lighthouses will set new records
(22:40):
Uh for sure this decade any restorations that happen. Yeah, and like materials and stuff are
Probably not especially if you're trying to do like a restoration based on
historical yes, like historical
materials and stuff for acerellings. Yeah, it's got to just be crazy
cast iron casings
(23:01):
Not common. I'm glad there's still people out there that are doing that kind of stuff even though the price tag is insane
A hurricane destroyed the keepers dwelling in 1969
But the lighthouse survived and its construction was tough enough to withstand all hurricanes since then
So we don't have a keepers dwelling anymore sad
lighthouse wiped out
(23:22):
In 1998 with the destruction of round island lighthouse in mississippi
Biloxi became the last of over 10 lighthouses to be built on the mississippi coastline to still be standing. Wow
It's the only one. There's some other little ones, but I don't think that they're they're not like originals
Yeah, that's crazy the last of 10 that were constructed. Mm-hmm on the coastline
(23:45):
In 2005 Biloxi lighthouse became the symbol of resilience still standing draped to the american flag after hurricane kurchina ripped through the south
I've got a picture of what?
Like this first picture is what the lighthouse looked like after the hurricane so
Where did it pick up an american flag?
Well, I assume someone took it up there
No, I mean with the way that it's draped it kind of looks like
(24:08):
Maybe it was hanging
Before hand and then it got all tangled up or something, but katerina was that was in our
Well in my lifetime when I was paying attention. It was awful. Yeah
I have a vague memory of that happening, but being in texas, you know, we were pretty close. Yeah
Yeah
(24:28):
But uh, but lexy gosh. Yeah, it is not far from
New Orleans, which is not at all. It like when I showed the
Maps screenshot you could see New Orleans off to the side cool photo. Yeah, glad it made it
Its imagery was printed on stamps and license plates in the state following that as the symbol of powering through
(24:49):
I want one of those license plates. Isn't that cool? It's awesome
The script on mississippi is really cool, too. I like that it um, bulloxi has a
Weather vane on top
Yeah, we haven't I think I've seen one or two of those I can say we haven't seen that before I have seen it once
Or maybe we haven't covered the lighthouse that has that
It's pretty cute and I love the tiny little windows
(25:12):
That's probably how it's survived all this time. It's right on the water, too. Yes, it's right there
And that was um, you know what I was saying earlier is it used to be
30 feet from the shoreline and so now nowadays it's not it's like 100 something and it's actually in the median of
A highway, so it's just like the lighthouse with a highway going on either side
(25:34):
I was gonna say there's a road in the Katrina photo. There's a road
What 10 feet from the base? Yeah, no on the other side is the other split. Yeah. Oh my gosh
It's so crazy how the world just builds around history
So if you want to go visit this lighthouse, is that something you can do? Yes
Yeah, and I looked at their website and there's no description of how you're supposed to get there
(25:57):
So it's gotta be obvious. There's gotta be some kind of crop tunnel or bridge or something. Yeah
Just run across the highway
That's so funny
But 2010 a restoration of the tower was completed following
extensive damage to the brick lining following Hurricane Katrina
katikatikachow
(26:17):
I keep saying katikow
That's like the one thing that we should know
I just can't I guess I can I've never really said that a lot
They also did rewiring restoring the decorative fence and also repainted so
I like that they kind of prioritized that after the hurricane because there was so much focus on it being like something
(26:39):
That survived. Yeah
so they painted two blue lines inside the lighthouse indicating how high the waters were
at the lighthouse during hurricane Katrina, which was
21.5 feet
and
Hurricane Camille, which was 17.5 feet and this was the hurricane that
(27:02):
Camille there's so many that's where the this one was keeper's house was gone. No
I think this was the hurricane while
Maria was keeper. So it was a long time ago
1969 okay, so no that was that was the one that took out the that was right. Yeah, good work
(27:22):
So how tall is the lighthouse overall?
65 feet
So the water was a third of the lighthouse in height. How creepy that had to have been like water
It was inside. Yeah. Well the door breaks in with that much pressure
Pretty crazy
I can't even imagine being there. I wonder I don't humans were there
(27:44):
That's what I was gonna say is there's gonna be there's probably no photo of it of looking down at the water inside of a lighthouse
I think your staircase submerged. Well, you just have to hope that it recedes before you need to come down
I'm sure there's like not a lot of places safer safer to be than in a lighthouse during a hurricane
I mean inland would be better. Well, well, yeah
(28:07):
Well when before weather was accurately no warning predicted. Yeah, it just
Where do you run very little warning?
Go to the lighthouse that's 30 feet away from
The water was it bolivar point lighthouse that bolivar that had uh filled with people
Yeah, didn't go well, right? Um, they all lived the ones on the inside. It was just a chaotic experience and then when they came out
(28:31):
There was lots of people
It's yeah, I think of that as more sad than happy even though the people on the inside survived. Oh, no because because it was
Traumatic devastating they can be thankful for the fact that they're alive and still be like that was the worst experience of my entire life
Like they definitely have PTSD from that
Oh gosh, I can't even imagine so and also this I mean
(28:52):
I mean, senior, I just I just trying to picture we took a photo
Which lighthouse was that that she pointed out we could take a picture through the the clockwork chain opening
Oh, um, not sit like was it not sit? Um, I took a
It's actually a really good photo, but let's see if I can find it
Um down through that slot looking at the staircase
(29:16):
And just imagine, you know, it was like this bright sunny day
The doors open the sunlight now imagine it's filled with water and it's black howling winds outside and it'd be dark too
Everything's rocking. Oh my gosh. It would be so scary
It's gonna be in a horror film in five years
But yeah nowadays you can visit the lighthouse for five dollars daily from nine to ten a.m
(29:40):
So you only get one hour to get in there. I'm sure it's a volunteer effort helping out
Yeah, for sure. That's great though to be open daily. That's pretty good
Most most lighthouses you really don't need an hour at no, but if there's a museum or there's grounds
Yeah, especially because there's no I mean, this is just you're gonna see the tower and then you're gonna leave
There's no there's no grounds. There's no keepers dwelling. There's nothing. There's a highway. Yeah
(30:03):
Just the sound of cars
And they do have a live feed on their website from
Um, uh from the lighthouse 24 7 so it's just kind of like showing the coastline and the cars and stuff you can watch it like a little uh
GoPro cam. Yeah, nice. Yeah, and that's that that's Biloxi lighthouse. Good job city of Biloxi
(30:24):
Yeah, I know restoring when it needs it and
It's pretty weird people interested. I'm sure every everyone who drives on the highway that's never been there before is like
It's a lighthouse in the middle of the highway in the median surprise. No one's hit it yet
Here's a nice picture. It's knocked on wood
of
Oh shoot, I never thought about that. That's a dangerous place for the lighthouse. I mean, it's kind of ironic because you know a lighthouse is like
(30:50):
Stay away, right? Yeah
Isn't this interesting it is there's just enough space they left they've got some cute
Like landscaping around it. It literally it's uh, it's a highway median
It looks like there might be a park or a beachfront on the left. Oh, yeah, it's all beachy. Nice
(31:11):
I would love to go to this area and from this picture. It's a highway. There's stop lights
So I'm sure you walk across one side of the street and then walk towards the lighthouse on the median
It's a beautiful uh photo. It's gorgeous and the doors
Are nice. They didn't look like that after Hurricane Katrina. Katina
Hurricane tortilla
(31:34):
Oh man, this is one I'd actually really like to see
Do we think we'll ever like to see all the lighthouses we've talked about?
I know I know but I feel like this one
is really unique
Kellier
bridesmaids
This is right outside of norlands
How far is this from norlands? I don't want to go to norlands again
(31:58):
Do you want to elaborate on that for our listeners?
um
No, no, it wasn't it was
Okay, I don't really know. I think it's just a feeling like I've been there once and now I don't need to go again
Done with it
Yeah, it's it's just not my type of vacation. I think I went with my family and
um, there was some crazy weather. There was like some
(32:22):
Wild storm that came through and
So anyway, we need to figure out what our next trip is going to be
I know it's going to be Pacific Northwest. Oh, I know but okay
You're right. There's no more fun
What?
Half of the fun is in the planning we like oh, what are we gonna?
What block of lighthouse we're gonna see part of the world and you're like we're doing it here?
(32:46):
I'm like, oh, that's right
We actually do need to plan and and decide what we're gonna do
But I think the timeline it will probably be next year. Yeah for sure. We're getting for those of you don't know
We're getting married this year
The pricing of things is
in
it's
(33:07):
Fathomable how much it costs to have a wedding
I say that already having expected prices to be crazy. They're more crazy. I thought it was going to be I thought like
Yeah, I won't get into numbers, but I thought for sure that like 20% less
Maybe 30% less of what we're looking at is what would have been considered crazy
(33:30):
And yet the number continues to climb
So for that reason I think we're gonna take a take a lighthouse trip probably
2026 yeah, if we if we can
You're gonna go to Sweden this year and I'm going to Sweden
You have to see a lighthouse as much as it hurts. We'll see. It's not my trip. I'm along for the ride
(33:52):
Well, that's true, but you can have some influence. You're like, hey mom
You wanted us to talk about a lighthouse?
You know at a convention?
See we need cameras Emily's posturing over here moving back and forth as if
Moving back and forth is convincing my mom to go to a lighthouse
(34:16):
Maybe that's the key movement like a snake
Like a bug or a bird dancing for another bird
Like what is like when praying mantises go like back and forth? Yes. Thank you. You know exactly what I'm saying
I'm not saying it clearly or birds of paradise where they're like, yes, they're little wings
(34:38):
I wish we had cameras. All right
What else what else we got? That's it. That's all I got
Biloxi lighthouse last original standing lighthouse on the coast of Mississippi our first covered
Mississippi lighthouse on the lighthouse lowdown podcast big moment episode 72
Thanks for sticking with us guys. Yeah, kind of a weird one. We haven't recorded in a while, but uh, I really liked it
(35:02):
Okay, really interesting. I had fun. Yeah. I think we're just not used to being recording
We're not used to being at the desk. Yeah, we're chatting and stuff
It's like we haven't seen each other in a really long time. It's just true. It's gone for work. So now I'm back
All right, well, thanks everyone for joining. Um, you can check out our instagram at the lighthouse lowdown
post some fun pictures from each episode and go to our website the lighthouse lowdown.com
(35:26):
Where you can leave us a review, which is really important to us
We love getting reviews and you can also leave us a message to cover any lighthouse
that you live near that you've seen that you have
A childhood surrounding or just saw off the road one time when you were driving down the highway in Mississippi
So you could just let us know and we'll cover it. We're excited to cover lighthouses from our listeners
(35:48):
So keep that in mind
And we'll catch you next time on
The lighthouse lowdown
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