America’s last lighthouse keeper is retiring. She, and her light, are ready.
When Sally Snowman became the keeper of Boston Light in 2003, she expected the role to last only two years. When she retires on Dec. 31, it will mark 20 years.
Ms. Snowman is the last of the lighthouse keepers in the United States. Her retirement marks the end of 307 years of keepers of Boston Light, originally established in 1716.
When Ms. Snowman first stepped foot on Little Brewster Island at age 10, it was love at first sight. “I want to work as a keeper and get married here,” she recalls saying. She did both. Now, after 20 years as keeper and even longer as a volunteer, she’s ready to retire. Perhaps even more importantly, she says, “the light is ready.”
For centuries lighthouses played the crucial role of guiding sailors safely through hazardousretiring. The keeper herself has little patience for a nostalgia that would hamper the future of the icon she has tended for two decades. Ms. Snowman believes the transition will help lighthouses keep shining in the 21st century, rather than fade away.
