The end of an era for America’s lighthouse keepers

Throughout its history, the lighthouse in Massachusetts Bay has been through numerous transitions from being blown up by the British in 1776, to being rebuilt in 1783, and electrified in 1948

It’s the end of an era for both one woman and a whole way of life.

After more than two decades on the job, America’s last lighthouse keeper retired at the end of 2023.

In 2002, Sally Snowman, 72, began serving as the lighthouse keeper of Boston Light, a lighthouse on Little Brewster Island in the Massachusetts Bay.

She was the 70th keeper of the historic lighthouse, which was built in 1716, and its first female keeper.

Ms Snowman had been introduced to the island by her father, a Coast Guard Auxiliarist, in 1961 and felt an immediate connection to it.

“We anchored the boat, I stepped out, looked up at the lighthouse and said to my father; ‘Daddy when I grow up, I want to get married out here,’” she told 9news.

Throughout its history, the lighthouse has been through numerous transitions.

It was blown up by the British in 1776, rebuilt in 1783, and electrified in 1948.

The Coast Guard oversaw the facility from 1939 until after 9/11, when the US decided to station its first civilian keepers at Boston Light.

By then, the lighthouse was already something of an anachronism.

In 1989, as the Coast Guard was considering automating all of its lighthouses, US Senator Ted Kennedy sponsored a law that would require Boston Light to be permanently manned, though the facility was automated in 1998 anyway, according to the National Parks Service.

Still, Ms Snowman spent years spending six months at a time on the remote island, checking equipment, cleaning, and otherwise maintaining Boston Light, where she often greeted guests in historical garb.

Sally Snowman retired at the end of 2023 (CBS Boston screengrab)

“In my heart of hearts, Boston Light is my home,” she told CBS Boston. “I took to it like a fish to water.”

In 2018, the lighthouse failed a safety inspection, restricting Ms Snowman to daytime maintenance, according to USA Today.

Boston Light is now being sold to a private owner, who will agree to preserve the historical lighthouse.

At the end of 2023, Ms Snowman retired from her role.

But she’ll always have fond, unique memories of her time there.

“Seeing the far expanse of the universe, the sunrises, the sunsets – they are phenomenal,” she told The Guardian.

“To me, they were never the same twice. The sea was never the same twice. The cloud cover was never the same. It was like dying and go[ing] to heaven.”