Lighthouses.

You've probably driven by one or seen one on a postcard.

Or maybe you've even used a lighthouse as the perfect backdrop for a family photo on a rocky shore.

But lighthouses aren't just for the perfect selfie, you know.

I'm at Highland Lighthouse in Truro, Massachusetts, out near the very outer tip of Cape Cod.

The first lighthouse on this site was built in 1797, commissioned by the first U.S.

president, George Washington.

This lighthouse was built in 1857, and it's just one of many, many hundreds of lighthouses dotting the U.S.

coastline.

A lighthouse isn't just a pretty house by the water.

It's a beacon that guides boats and ships safely in and out of harbors and along rocky coastlines.

Lighthouses beam bright lights at night to provide visibility.

And they make sounds with foghorns to warn seafarers of dangerous conditions.

In the olden days, a keeper lived in a house attached to the lighthouse.

It was the keeper's job to make sure the light always operated properly and to make sure they could coordinate rescue operations in the case of an emergency at sea.

Today, most lighthouse are automated, as is this one.

But I still like to imagine what it would have been like to be a lighthouse keeper.

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