Are lighthouses as important today as they once were

No, they are not.  In fact most lighthouses are either being torn down or becoming museums.  With the dawn of GPS and advance RADAR/LIDAR and other technologies, the lighthouse is for the most part a thing of the past. 

The correct answer is connotation.

Americans often speak of their country as one of several large regions.  these regions are cultural units rather than governmental units --  formed by history and geography and shaped by the economics, literature and folkways that all the parts of a region share. what makes one region different from another? a region's multicultural heritage as well as distinct demographic characteristics like age and occupation make regions different and special. within several regions, language is used differently and there are strong dialects. there are also differences in outlook and attitude based on geography.