Lighthouse Keeper's Residence & Bermuda Kitchen
The Grand Turk Lighthouse had two keepers, the Principal and the Assistant. It is believed that before 1890 the keepers may have lived on location at the site of the present-day Pavilion. Meals were prepared in the seperate Bermuda Kitchen, typical of Turks Island architecture.
After 1890 the keepers and their families lived in town. The keepers shared a horse, on which they rode to and from the Lighthouse daily for their shifts.
The daily routine of a lighthouse keeper was demanding during times of bad weather, and tedious and boring during good weather, due to the fact that much of the work was routine and repetitive. The oil lamps had to be maintained and kept burning from sunset to sunrise. The tower stairs had to be swept, as did the landing doors, windows, recesses and passageways from the lantern to the kerosene room.
Lighthouse keepers, unlike mariners they served who might take shelter in a calm harbor when storms rushed in from the ocean, were expected to man their stations regardless of climate or weather conditions.
Marker is on Lighthouse Road, on the right.
Courtesy hmdb.org
