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Updated 4/15/00
Welcome Back to Ray Annino's Web Page and a Visit to Some Other New England Lighthouses
Few sights spark the imagination as does the Lighthouse. The artist is not immune to the romance attached to these structures and the thrilling tales that are woven into their history. Add to this a sailors love for these beacons that warn of danger and possible shipwreck, and you can understand Ray's fascination with them as subjects for his paintings.
Early in our history, before the government got into the lighthouse business, the only guide a shipmaster had when approaching a harbor at night were the privately established beacon fires up and down the coast. However, these beacon fires were not charted and were intended for local ships. The masters of passing vessels were frequently confused by them and often ran aground thus spawning a lucrative native American industry - Salvaging.
The cargo of grounded ships becomes the property of those who find it and unload it. Salvaging, as this practice is called, became a thriving business of those who lived along the coast. Putting up false lights on the darkest nights, when sailors had difficulty making out the shoreline, guided the ships on to reefs for the unscrupulous salvager. Thus, moonless nights were preferred by these pirates and they were named “mooncussers”. The mooncussers would normaly wait until morning to work the wreck as usually all hands were drowned by that time. The poor sailors who survived the night were killed off the next day so that there would be no witnesses to the deed. Despite local opposition, especially in places like Portsmouth, NH, Chatham, Cape Cod Mass, and Key West where the pickings were unusually good, the government decided to get into the lighthouse business and line the coast with proper coastline marks. By 1840 it was operating 256 lighthouses and 30 lightships.
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