Join Rick Koehler, member of the Friends of the Wood Island Lighthouse, and learn about the history of lighthouses from the Pharos at Alexandria (c 280 B.C.) to Roman and modern lighthouses including the world's oldest lighthouse still in use. Discussion will include how Daymarks on lighthouses individuality aided sea captains in plotting location and measuring progress when sailing in fair weather along coastal America. The invention of how Fresnel lens revolutionized the efficacy of lighthouse beacons will also be discussed, and multiple types of lenses and their uses will be reviewed. Finally, specific lighthouses of Northern New Jersey and New England will be "visited" because of their historical importance, uniqueness, and/or accessibility. The final lighthouse to be presented will be The Wood Island Light Station in Biddeford Pool, ME. Included in the Wood Island segment will be a brief discussion of Ocean Park, ME, a small, unique, chautauqua style community in southern Maine located on Saco Bay, that overlooks Wood Island 3.5 miles away