How we verify
BeaconByway is built to be source-led. Every fact on a lighthouse page links to where it came from, and every page shows the date we last checked.
Sources we use
- U.S. Coast Guard Light List, Volume I (weekly edition dated 11/11/2026, from the USCG Navigation Center). This is the official list of aids to navigation from the St. Croix River, Maine, to the Shrewsbury River, New Jersey, including Lake Champlain. We use it for light characteristic, focal height, nominal range, structure description and whether a light is currently listed. 141 of our 163 pages match a Light List entry by both name and position.
- National Register of Historic Places records on the National Park Service’s NPGallery, for listing name, reference number, date, county and significance. 135 pages have an NRHP record.
- Official and operator pages (National Park Service, state and town parks, and the nonprofit groups that operate lighthouses) for visitor access, tours, parking, fees and hours.
- Wikidata, only as a lead for coordinates, identifiers and candidate dates. We don’t present Wikidata dates as fact; they appear in an “awaiting verification” box. Wikipedia is linked for background reading only.
- Wikimedia Commons photos, used only when the file has a free license (public domain, CC0, CC BY or CC BY-SA) and a named author. Each photo carries its credit and license. 156 pages have a photo; the rest show an illustration.
- OpenStreetMap for maps.
Access verification model
| Grounds access | Public / restricted / private / not publicly accessible / unknown, with source and check date |
|---|---|
| Tower access | Tours offered / occasional openings / exterior only / closed / unknown |
| Offshore access | Boat-only view / land viewpoint / not publicly accessible / unknown |
| Parking & fees | Verified details or “Check official source.” We never make these up. |
| Freshness | High-traffic pages are reviewed quarterly, and seasonal visitor fields before each season |
A National Register listing or a Light List entry doesn’t mean the public can visit. Unless an official source says otherwise, we treat access as unknown, and we never show “open now”.
Distances
“Nearby lights” are ranked by straight-line distance between lighthouse positions. They aren’t driving times or routes.