![]() ![]() Examining it, we find a few interesting differences between the station in the 19 th century and today. ![]() This 1893 photo is the oldest photo we have of the Currituck Beach Lighthouse. We can only imagine that Lovey is trying to get boys down for a nap in the bedroom with the windows open above. Following this guesswork, we will assume that Fabius is the man standing next to the woman on the north side of the porch and William Riley Austin is the man to his right. So, since we can see the waist of the woman on the north porch, we will assume that that was Fabius’s wife – Frances Emma Simpson – and not an 8-month pregnant Lovey Austin. On the day of Herbert Bamber’s visit Austin’s wife Lovey was actually eight months pregnant with their first daughter. William Riley Austin already had three young sons. (We have been working diligently on bios for our keepers – more on that soon we hope!) By 1893 Fabius was married, although had no children yet. On the day of the photograph (June 12), 1 st assistant keeper Fabius Simpson had been at the Currituck Beach Lighthouse for eight years. ![]() Because the photo gets blurry when we magnify it, we had to do a little sleuthing to determine which keeper on the north side was which. Remember that our little keeper’s house was brought over on a barge in 1920 so before that point, three keepers shared the duplex – the principal keeper lived on the south side and the assistants together on the north. The two assistant keepers were living together with their families on the north side of the keepers’ duplex. He and his wife, Ida, had four children at this point. At the time of the photo, he was 31 and had lived at the Currituck Beach Lighthouse for five years. The keeper on the right in the photo is Principal Keeper Hinnant. Thanks to this man, Herbert Bamber, who had come from surveying Bodie Island and Hatteras Lighthouses in the days prior, we have photographs of our then-keepers and their families: Lazarus Hinnant, Fabius Simpson, and William Riley Austin. In June 1893, a “government surveyor,” as the lighthouse keeper called him in his journal notes that month, arrived to survey the Currituck Beach Light Station in his capacity as assistant engineer for the U.S. Prefer to learn about this with a video? Click here if so. Because of the lighthouse's status as a hotel, keepers are required to cook meals and do laundry for the guests, and must carry a boating license in order to make supply runs, all in addition to the endless maintenance required by a lighthouse.Above, the notable 1893 photograph, taken by Herbert Bamber on JWhat’s in a Photograph? A Second Look at the Oldest Image of the Currituck Beach Lighthouseīy: Meghan Agresto, Currituck Beach Lighthouse Site Manager & Historian The skill set is also a little different. The salary offered was $130,000 - a better deal than the Canadian civil service, although it was to be split between two keepers. A 2019 article in the Guardian reports that the East Brother Light Station in San Francisco Bay was made into a bed and breakfast, and that it advertised for a lighthouse keeper who would also act as a hotel manager. However, with many lighthouses being converted into hotels, there's a possibility that being a lighthouse keeper could be a little more lucrative. A 2018 Financial Post article says that salaries in Canada range from $38,979 to $52,304, which isn't exactly a king's ransom - though you're getting a place to stay and the basic necessities included, which can keep your cost of living down. Well, as former lighthouse keeper Caroline Woodward reports, lighthouse keepers in Canada are the lowest-paid federal civil servants in the government. ![]()
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