A Shore Thing

Aside from the obviously recognizable structure, lighthouses have always occupied a unique place in the collective imagination because they seem tempting to romanticize. Guarding human lives from treacherous coastline, they stand on the margin between firm ground and stormy wilderness. And as time has passed, and lifeguarding methods have evolved to encompass more automated procedures, the preservation of these towers has been an equally precarious challenge.

This week, the annual Garden Railway Display held at the Morris Arboretum will include a central exhibit of models of the nation's most distinctive lighthouses. Each has distinguishing marks and a story to tell. The Cape Hatteras Light, found in North Carolina and represented in the show, is the country's tallest, clocking in at 208 feet, its exterior painted in black and white spiral stripes, earning it the nickname "The Barber's Pole." Yet, in 1999, the whole tower had to be moved, piece by piece, back from the edge of the shore. San Francisco's East Brother Island Lighthouse is a more recent example, built in a square shape instead of cylindrical, and now open to bed-and-breakfast visitors. Models of these and 14 other famous lighthouses will be placed within the miniature setting, where outdoor landscape is recreated using mosses, seeds and stones. The display will be surrounded by models of other famous, well-preserved beacons — such as Independence Hall.

Great American Lighthouses, June 19 -Oct. 11, 10 a.m.-4 p.m. daily (Thursdays until 8 p.m.), $3-$8, Morris Arboretum of the University of Pennsylvania, 100 Northwestern Ave., 215-247-5777.

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