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Cape Forchu's Lightkeepers
The job of a lightkeeper required maintaining
the property, ensuring that the light and fog alarm was running at all time,
recording in journals, and included rescue operations. The existing duplex,
which stands next to the light tower, is where the lightkeeper, the
assistant lightkeeper and their families lived while they held their
positions. Due to the extreme weather conditions, the lightkeeper and his
assistant had to constantly upkeep and repair the site.
Lieutenant James Fox, a naval officer, was the first lighkeeper at the Cape
Forchu Lightstation. After retiring from the British Navy, he began his
duties at the Light on January 15, 1840.Though James Fox would be the first
one to see the light in operation, he would not see it run for a full year.
Lieutenant James Fox died on March 27, 1840, three months after the light
was first lit. His son John Fox took over the operation after his death.
Herbert Cunningham
Mr.
Herb Cunningham was the last old lamp lighter, a job he held for 30 years,
until his retirement and the dismantling of the old lighthouse in 1961. Mr.
Cunningham, his wife, and six children kept a small farm with pigs, chickens
and a cow which provided them with most of their food. The lightkeeper often
supplemented his income by fishing for herring and lobster.
The last three lightkeepers did not carry out traditional keeper’s duties,
but mainly stayed on duty to monitor the Coast Guard equipment. Cape Forchu
was the main monitoring point for about 20 stations. With the advent of
electricity, incandescent electric bulbs replaced oil lamps and revolving
prisms, while electronic technology replaced nearly all resident keepers.
Modern computerized equipment was able to activate lights and fog horns,
analyze the weather, and transmit meteorological data to ships from a
central control station, and thus a person at each station was no longer
required.
The last keeper was decommissioned on September 25, 1994.
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Herbert Cunningham
Herbert Cunningham's journal,
on display in the museum
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