Lighthouse Collectibles

One of my favorite things about visiting lighthouses is stopping by the gift shop and buying a few lighthouse collectibles. Our favorites are the "Little Lights of Mine" by Harbor Lights because they take up such a small amount of room. I can put about 20 Little Lights on a single shelf of our bookshelf. We have a single regular size Harbor Lights of the Presque Isle Lighthouse in Erie, PA for obvious reasons. We also collect some Lefton and Scaasis. We have two main criteria for the lighthouses we collect. First is realism and quality (okay, so maybe that's two). This is why we stick to the Harbor Lights, Lefton and Scaasis. Other knockoffs just down look as real and often have been poorly painted. The second is that we have to have visited the lighthouse. Occasionally we will receive a lighthouse collectible as a gift that we have not visited. It then becomes our priority to visit that particular lighthouse.

Here is a list of our favorite lighthouse collectible shops.

1. The Lighthouse Depot - The world's largest lighthouse collectible store located in Wells, Maine. Although you can order through their catalog or online, you haven't seen a lighthouse collectible store until you have actually visited their physical location.

2. Lighthouse Gallery and Gifts - Located in Gallery Row between the main highway and the beach road of Nags Head, North Carolina, this collectible shop packs a lot of punch in its small space. The building looks like a Great Lakes or River Lighthouse, but without the light. The store occupies the first floor, while the owners live upstairs. Although it is small, you can find almost anything you could want in this neat little hideaway.

3. Top of the Lighthouse Shop - The shop is very small and very cramped because as the name implies, it is at the top of a lighthouse. The Top of the Lighthouse Shop is in the Harbour Town /Sea Pines Lighthouse on Hilton Head Island in South Carolina. Like the previous shop, this store packs a lot of merchandise in a very tiny space. You may decide not to buy anything here, but at least you can say you have climbed to the top of a lighthouse.

4. Bodie Island Lighthouse Gift Shop - Another Outer Banks favorite. This shop is located in the old Lighouse keeper's quarters and is more inline with the National Park gift shops than lighthouse collectible stores. The gift shop does include a small museum type exhibit on one half allowing visitors a self-guided learning experience.

5. Portland Head Lighthouse Gift Shop - Located in Cape Elizabeth (Portland), Maine this gift shop was rather small considering how famous the Portland Head Lighthouse is. The shop is located to the left of the lighthouse and may be housed in an old supply building where wicks and oil were stored.

If you have a favorite Lighthouse gift and collectible shop, please let us know. We'll be sure to check it out when we are in the area.