HUB History - Our Favorite Stories from Boston History

In November 1718, a tragedy on Boston Harbor cut short the lives of six people, including the first keeper of Boston Light and four members of his household. To find out what happened that morning, we’re going to look at what Boston Harbor was like before the construction of Boston Light, why Boston Harbor needed a lighthouse, how it got built, and who was chosen as the first keeper. We’ll also look at the founding father who was moved to poetry by the tragedy, as well as the centuries long search for Ben Franklin’s lost verses and a 20th century hoax that got repeated as truth. Then we’ll close out the show with a quick look at the present and future of Boston Light on Little Brewster Island.

Please check out the transcript and full show notes at: http://HUBhistory.com/213/

And support the show on Patreon.

• Jasper Dankaerts’ 1680 visit to Boston Harbor
• Sections of the Acts and Resolves from 1712 to 1717 related to building the lighthouse
• Report of a 1713 legislative committee on the need for a lighthouse
• The 1715 Act For Building And Maintaining A Lighthouse Upon The Great Brewster (Called Beacon Island) At The Entrance Of The Harbour Of Boston
• The Boston News Letter notes that the lighthouse was first lit on September 14, 1716
• Benjamin Franklin’s autobiography contains comments on his Boston ballads
• Edward Everett Hale describes his successful search for the Blackbeard ballad and his disappointment in searching for the Lighthouse Tragedy
• 101 years later, Thomas C Leonard validates Hale’s finding that the Blackbeard ballad was authentic
• AP report on finding the hoax poem in 1940
• Edward Rowe Snow’s 1982 obituary
• The Flying Santa is featured in Smithsonian magazine in 2019
• The Flying Santa tradition continues
• The section of the 1989 Coast Guard Authorization Act requiring a keeper at Boston Light
• The uncertain future of Boston Light
• Listener David is the 8th great-grandson of Increase Mather, and he shared our episode about Christmas in Boston.
• Our header image is taken from this pre-Revolution Boston Harbor chart, showing Boston Light before it was burned by the Patriots, blown up by the British, and rebuilt after the war was over. This is closer to the appearance of the original Boston Light than the below, which I took from the Provincetown Fast Ferry on a very bad morning.

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