Set of 5: 1990 Lighthouses Series

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25 AINGTON APR 26 1990 CAPE HATTERAS, NORTH CARONA 20066 DC 25 HINGTON APR 26 1990 20066 COAST GUARD AMERICAN SHOALS, FLORIDA DC 25 AINGTON APR 26 1990 ADMIRALTY HEAD, WASHINGTON 20066 DC W. 13830 AEM OYTS 7J0 WEST OD SN, APR WASHING 26 1990 20066 DC 23 25 HINGTON APR 26 1990 20066 SANDY HOOK, NEW JERSEY DC WAS

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CAPE HATTERAS, NORTH CAROLINA First Day of Issue: April 26, 1990 First Issue Location: Washington, D.C. The Cape Hatteras Lighthouse lies at the crook of a bending arm of barrier islands off the coast of North Carolina known as the Outer Banks. The turbulent waters and shifting sandbars of nearby Diamond Shoals have vexed mariners for centuries, and many a voyage has ended here in tragedy as storm and shoal conspired to defeat even the most experienced navigator. In an attempt to assist these hardy sailors, a lighthouse has been signal- ing from Cape Hatteras since 1803, but the lighthouse itself may soon become a victim of the sea. In its early days, more than a mile of beach protected the brick tower of the lighthouse from the threat of the sea. Today, at high tide in winter, the beach may only measure one hundred fifty feet. Over the years, attempts have been made to replenish the beach and halt the encroachment of the sea against this, the tallest brick lighthouse in America. These efforts will continue and in the future, such rescues may be funded at least in part by The Lighthouse Preservation Society and its friends. THOUSE No. 90-16 PRESER SOCIET OFFICIAL MAXIMUM CARD ©1990 The Maximum Card Collection A Division of Unicover Corporation . Cheyenne, WY 82008-0007 Original painting by Dennis Lyall AMERICAN SHOALS, FLORIDA First Day of Issue: April 26, 1990 First Issue Location: Washington, D.C. The American Shoals Lighthouse stands in solitude with its feet in the sea, oblivious to the onslaught of waves even after the passage of over one hundred years. The light- house blinks a staccato warning of dangerous reefs to give mariners their bearings in a seascape that can appear as foreign as the surface of a planet from another galaxy when blanketed in darkness. As early as 1851, plans were in the works for a series of great offshore lighthouses like American Shoals to mark the reefs which lurk perilously silent in Florida's waters. These towers, all of skeleton iron construction to help them withstand the hurricane's fury, were built over a period of almost thirty years. American Shoals, the last of the series, was completed in 1880. First lighted on July 15, 1880, it has significantly reduced the number of shipwrecks along this treacherous coastline. Today, this tower is just the sort of vintage lighthouse The Lighthouse Preservation Society seeks to save for the future. LIGH QHTHOUSE No. 90-18 PRESERVATION SOCIETY OFFICIAL MAXIMUM CARD ©1990 The Maximum Card Collection A Division of Unicover Corporation Cheyenne, WY 82008-0007 Original painting by Dennis Lyall ADMIRALTY HEAD, WASHINGTON First Day of Issue: April 26, 1990 First Issue Location: Washington, D.C. From man's earliest seafaring days, volcanoes like Etna, Stromboli and Vesuvius served as natural lighthouses, and as early as 280 B.C., man-made lighthouses marked harbors and headwaters. From these beginnings, the lighthouse developed into a priceless navigational tool such as the beacon at Admiralty Head, Washington, positioned at the east entrance to Admiralty Inlet and the Puget Sound. The life of this lighthouse was relatively brief. Built in 1903, the maritime traffic pattern had changed by the mid-1920's, and the lantern was removed from this tower in 1927. Though no light has gleamed from Admiralty Head in more than six decades, the structure has become one of the most popular tourist attractions of the area. The lighthouse was restored and opened to the public by the Washington State Parks and Island County Historical Society. Similar efforts by The Lighthouse Preservation Society and its friends will hope- fully keep America's early lighthouses from disappearing quietly into the annals of history. No. 90-15 PRESERVED SOCIETE OFFICIAL MAXIMUM CARD ©1990 The Maximum Card Collection A Division of Unicover Corporation Cheyenne, WY 82008-0007 Original painting by Dennis Lyall WEST QUODDY HEAD, MAINE First Day of Issue: April 26, 1990 First Issue Location: Washington, D.C. In the American Light-House Guide of 1850, author Robert Mills described the West Quoddy Lighthouse — located on Passamaquoddy Head, the easternmost point of the United States — as a “harbor light ... seen at a distance of seven leagues in clear weather ... Attached to this lighthouse is a bell weighing one thousand pounds, which in foggy weather will strike ten times in a minute, and may be heard at the distance of five miles in calm weather." The fog bell placed at West Quoddy Head was one of the first along the coast of Maine. The keeper at the lighthouse was paid sixty dollars extra a year to ring the bell in fog to warn ships away from the treacherous Sail Rocks. Even so, a particularly demanding sea captain by the name of Joseph Smith, upon surveying the lights of Maine in 1837, was displeased with the bell's tenor and did not hesitate to pose the grander idea: "a sharp-toned bell of four thousand pounds weight, struck by machinery properly constructed and proportioned to the bell." HOUSE No. 90-17 PRESER SOCIET OFFICIAL MAXIMUM CARD ©1990 The Maximum Card Collection A Division of Unicover Corporation • Cheyenne, WY 82008-0007 Original painting by Dennis Lyall SANDY HOOK, NEW JERSEY First Day of Issue: April 26, 1990 First Issue Location: Washington, D.C. The Sandy Hook Lighthouse is the oldest maritime light tower still standing and in use in the United States. Built by the British, the octagonal beacon was lighted for the first time on June 11, 1764. Though it was originally called the “New York Lighthouse," the tower stands on the New Jersey side of Lower New York Bay. After the revolutionary war, Sandy Hook Lighthouse was ceded to the infant United States by the state of New Jersey, and the new government agreed to maintain the beacon thereaf- ter. One of George Washington's first acts as President was to direct that a light be kept burning permanently at Sandy Hook. Over ten thousand dollars was raised for its maintenance between 1804 and 1817, and by 1832 there were two lighthouses lighting Sandy Hook, one to the north and one to the west. Today, one beacon remains, and will hopefully survive for many years through the efforts of the federal government and the lighthouse preservation movement. LIGHT No. 90-19 SOCIETE OFFICIAL MAXIMUM CARD ©1990 The Maximum Card Collection A Division of Unicover Corporation . Cheyenne, WY 82008-0007 Original painting by Dennis Lyall