Screwpiles: The Forgotten Lighthouses

Forbes was 10 years old when he began spending time on the lighthouse with Mercer. Mercer allowed him to roam almost anywhere, but did not allow him to open any doors. When the boy asked why, Mercer pointed to a plaque that read “Best Kept Lighthouse in the 5th District.”

“And I intend to keep that,” Mercer told the boy.

“He almost wore a hole in his pants opening the doors with his hand in his pockets so he wouldn’t smudge the brass doorknobs,” Forbes said later.

He remembered the interior of the light station as resembling a beach house—two stories with four rooms downstairs and two

Image by Sheally

Willard Forbes

Circular staircase leading to light tower

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