"This is a summer of ... projects and restoration, and showing it off," Huntington Lighthouse Preservation Society president Pamela Setchell said as the group kicked off its summer season with a tour of the century-old structure.

Sunday, 14 people toured the lighthouse, which is on the National Register for Historic Places, amid clear blue skies and blistering heat.

Setchell, president of the Preservation Society, said in an interview that the nonprofit had added some extra tours this season, in part to show off the fruits of money donated over the past five years. Setchell said 12 of the lighthouse's windows have been replaced, and soon work will begin on the roof.

"Now we've got a lot more to talk about," she said.

The lighthouse was built in 1912 and served as a home to several keepers and their families through 1942. The lighthouse was set to be torn down in the mid-1980s until the preservation society took over the property from the U.S. Coast Guard.

“The Coast Guard thought we were out of our minds and said it couldn’t be saved,” Setchell said, standing on the dock beside the lighthouse. “And here she is today.”

Martha Smith, 69, of Lloyd Harbor, took her first tour Sunday. She has been to several other lighthouses, including in Maine and Connecticut. Smith said she was drawn to the “mystery of raising a family in a lighthouse.”

“I used to read kids' books about the lighthouse keepers and the families,” Smith said. “I think that it’s really cool that you would find a place that you could only get to by boat.”

John Joyce, 51, of Huntington, said his 16-year-old son would be jealous of him getting to take the tour. During the pandemic, he said, they would park at nearby Gold Star Battalion Beach and try to spot the light from the lighthouse.

Joyce said he is grateful there is an organization dedicated to preserving the lighthouse. He noted the Huntington School District’s logo is a lighthouse.

“How many towns have their own lighthouse?” Joyce said. “The thought that this was going to get torn down and now we’re touring it, and I bought a T-shirt and a hat for it. ... It's fundamental."

Setchell used to live in England, where she would frequently visit castle ruins, she said.

"These are our castles," Setchell said of lighthouses in the area. "We would be out of our minds to let them go, because it's important they tell a story. And there's a lot of stories attached to them. Every lighthouse tells a story."

Tours of the lighthouse will also be held July 13, July 27, Aug. 10, Aug. 24, Sept. 14 and Sept. 28. All those dates are Sundays.