William Kidd, also known as Captain Kidd, was a Scottish sea captain who was commissioned as a privateer and was also a pirate. Following a trial that heavily involved politics, he was executed in London in 1701 for murder and piracy. Stories swirl that Captain Kidd buried treasure in two ponds that are near the foot of where the Montauk Point Lighthouse now stands. This supposedly took place around 1699, and the two ponds are called “Money Ponds” today.
Lighthouse Service
FreightWaves Classics: America’s first lighthouse went “on line” 305 years ago
A lighthouse on what is now named Little Brewster Island at the entrance to Boston Harbor began to operate on this day in 1716. The lighthouse was called the Boston Light.
An earlier FreightWaves Classics article outlined the history of lighthouses in the United States. As noted in that article, ships today have navigational and communications aids that were almost unthinkable even 50 years ago, much less in the 1700s. Back then (and ever since) lighthouses signaled mariners as they approached...