Postal Service Previews 2009 Commemorative Stamp Program

The popular lighthouse stamps series continues to shine with the issuance of Gulf Coast Lighthouses next summer. Featuring paintings by artist Howard Koslow of Toms River, NJ, the five stamps depict the lighthouses of Matagorda Island, near Port O’Connor, TX; Sabine Pass, near Sabine Pass, LA; Biloxi, in Biloxi, MS; Sand Island, near the entrance to Mobile Bay in Mobile, AL; and, Fort Jefferson (also known as Garden Key Lighthouse), nearly 70 miles west of Key West, FL, in Dry Tortugas Park.

Known as “hurricane alley,” the Gulf Coast weathers many powerful storms each year, including Hurricane Katrina, which devastated the region in 2005. In addition, the land along the coast is swampy and marshy in many places and given to erosion, making it doubly difficult for lighthouses to withstand heavy rains and winds. The five lighthouses featured on the stamps are some of the few that remain standing.