The Last Lighthouse Keeper in America
In a technological age, impassioned devotees renew an ancient maritime tradition.
For the greater part of two decades, Sally Snowman has lived and worked contentedly on Little Brewster Island, a craggy patch of bare rock, crabgrass, concrete, and dilapidated buildings in Boston’s outer harbor.
Under the auspices of the Coast Guard, she serves as the keeper, and the historian, of Boston Light.
The lighthouse, opened in September, 1716, was the first in the American colonies, and Snowman is the last official keeper in the United States.