The United States is giving away and selling lighthouses across the country in an effort to preserve them. This year, in what the government refers to as ”lighthouse season,” ten lighthouse properties are on the market.
According to the US General Services Administration (GSA), six of these lighthouses will be provided free of charge to federal agencies, state and local governments, NGOs, educational institutions, and community development organizations. The GSA also stated that if the six lighthouses cannot be transferred to owners, they will be auctioned off online. Four will be auctioned off so that anyone can realize their lighthouse fantasies.
The transfer’s purpose is to conserve old structures even as technology renders them obsolete. Because of advances in technology, including GPS, lighthouses have become less essential to navigation and many have been either demolished or have fallen into neglect.
”Lighthouses have long served as beacons for those at sea or on inland waters, marking dangerous coastlines and underwater hazards such as rocks and reefs as well as marking safe entries to harbors. As technology advanced, and they became less essential to navigation, lighthouses often fell into neglect or were demolished,” GSA wrote.
”People really appreciate the heroic role of the solitary lighthouse keeper. They were really the instruments to provide safe passage into some of these perilous harbors which afforded communities great opportunities for commerce, and they’re often located in prominent locations that offer breathtaking views,” John Kelly of the GSA’s office of real property disposition told The Guardian.
Lighthouses transformed into unique private residences
Some of the lighthouses purchased in the past have been turned into private residences by people seeking a one-of-a-kind living environment. ”They all have their own interesting history,” Mr Kelly added.
The GSA has been transferring ownership of lighthouses ”no longer important to the U.S. Coast Guard’s mission demands” to nonprofits wanting to preserve them since the enactment of the National Historic Lighthouse Preservation Act in 2000, according to a statement from the agency.
So far, 150 lighthouses have been transferred, 80 have been given away, and the remaining 70 have been auctioned, raising more than $10 million.