Under the supervision of the United States Coast Guard, there are today
some 158 manned lighthouses in the nation. Another 60 are cared for by
other Coast Guard units in the general area. There are hundreds of other
lights of varied description that are operated automatically. And, as
technology improves, more and more lighthouses are being operated
without a full time crew. Indeed, many of the isolated lighthouses
described in this booklet are scheduled for automation.
In the course of our history as a nation, and before that as British
colonies, we have built hundreds of lighthouses, some of which still
stand though now inactive, having been sold for private residential or
other use. Many have been rebuilt and not a few have succumbed to the
ravages of time. The history of our lighthouses thus parallels the
history of our nation.
Since 1716, when the Province of Massachusetts built Boston Light,
scarcely a year has passed that has not seen a new light structure
erected somewhere along our sea coasts, on our navigable rivers, or
along our lake shores. To tell the story of these lighthouses would be a
major undertaking. These stories of some of them, however, have been
selected chiefly for their historical interest. Others have been
included because their unique locations or types of construction are of
more than usual interest.
The lighthouse typifies maritime safety. As part of our early coastal
defense system, they played a major role in important Coast Guard duties
related to military readiness. Additionally, the light’s strategic
locations along our coasts aided another early Coast Guard function, law
enforcement, by making it possible for cutters to judge their distances
from the coast and so prevent smuggling operations within the three-mile
limit.
The stories of 56 lighthouses have been told here. The stories of
hundreds of others, of equal interest, could have been included had
space permitted.
The oldest lighthouse described is the Boston Light built in 1716. The
newest in this booklet is Buzzards Bay Light which is located some five
miles off the Massachusetts coast, replacing a lightship that had been
there for many years.
The distance these lights are visible has been given in the geographical
range. The theoretical visibility of a light in clear weather depends
upon two factors, the height of the light above water, and its
intensity. The height controls what is known as the geographic range,
while the intensity controls what is known as the luminous range. As a
rule, for the principal lights the luminous range is greater than the
geographic, and the distance from which such lights are visible is
limited by the earth’s curvature only. Under some atmospheric conditions
the glare or loom of these lights, and occasionally the light itself,
may be visible far beyond the computed geographic range. On the other
hand, and unfortunately more frequently, these distances may be lessened
by fog, rain, snow, haze, or smoke.
Some of the terms in this booklet may be new to readers. A short
glossary of terms follows:
_Candlepower_—The luminous intensity of a light expressed in candles.
_Lantern_—The glassed-in enclosure on the top of an attended lighthouse
which surrounds and protects the lens. Sometimes the entire piece of
illuminating apparatus is referred to as the lantern.
_Prism_—A device for refracting light.
_Radiobeacon_—Electronic apparatus which transmits a radio signal for
use in locating a mariner’s position.
_Reflector_—An optic which by reflection changes the direction of a beam
of light.
_Classification of lenses_—Lenses are classified as to size by “order”,
the first order being the largest and the sixth order the smallest. The
actual size of a lens is expressed by its inside diameter. The following
is a list of the standard lenses:
Size Inside diameter MM Height
Approx. inches Approx.
1st 72-7/16″ 1840 7′10″
2nd 55⅛″ 1400 6′1″
3rd 39⅜″ 1000 4′8″
3½ 29½″ 750 3′8″
4th 19-11/16″ 500 2′4″
5th 14¾″ 375 1′8″
6th 11¾″ 300 1′5″
The numbers in parentheses in the text refer to source of information as
indicated in the bibliography on page 88.
Lighthouses are arranged alphabetically by states and by the name of the
light within the state.
_THE COAST GUARD_
The United States Coast Guard is a unique service. It is one of the five
branches of the armed forces of the U. S. During time of peace it
operates under the Department of Transportation. During time of war, or
at the direction of the President, it operates under the Secretary of
the Navy. The Coast Guard is responsible for a number of missions,
including search and rescue, oceanographic research, maintenance of aids
to navigation, icebreaking, merchant marine safety, port safety, law
enforcement and military readiness.
_ALASKA_
CAPE SARICHEF LIGHTHOUSE, UNIMAK ISLAND
[Illustration]
Two primary lighthouses mark Unimak Pass, the principal passage through
the Aleutian Islands into the Bering Sea. One of these, Cape Sarichef,
originally built in 1904, is the only manned lighthouse on the shores of
the Bering Sea. It is located on the west end of Unimak Island and with
Scotch Cap Light Station, 17 miles away, is conceded to be one of the
most isolated light stations in the Service. The only neighbor to the
keepers, for many years was a trapper, 10 miles away.
The original light was on a wood tower on an octagonal wood building 45
feet high. The light was 126 feet above the sea. Although quarters were
originally provided for them, families were not permitted to live at
this and Scotch Cap Light, because of their isolation. The civilian
keepers were granted 1 year’s leave each 4 years. Coast Guard personnel
now serving at the light serve a year at a time at this isolated
location. At the end of his year’s tour each man is transferred to a new
duty station.
The reservation on which Cape Sarichef Light is built is 1,845 acres of
primeval wilderness. The first lighthouse cost $80,000 to build. The
tower has now been rebuilt and incorporated with a loran station.
The 700,000 candlepower, 375-millimeter electric white light is lit for
25 seconds and eclipsed for 5 seconds. There is also a fog horn and a
radiobeacon. (1) (2)
_ALASKA_
CAPE SPENCER LIGHTHOUSE
At the entrance to Cross Sound.
[Illustration]
Cape Spencer Lighthouse, Alaska, is a primary light, fog signal, and
radiobeacon station, marking the northerly entrance from the Pacific
Ocean into the inside passages of southeastern Alaska. It is on a route
much frequented by vessels seeking to avoid the often stormy outside
passage. Cape Spencer is one of the most isolated of Alaskan
lighthouses, where the keepers must go 20 miles for their mail, and
where the nearest town of any size is 150 miles away. The station was
commissioned in 1925, and is fitted with the most modern types of
signalling equipment. From the top of the tower is shown a light of
500,000 candlepower, and in time of fog a diaphone fog signal is sounded
at regular intervals. The radiobeacon, established in 1926, and the
first radiobeacon in Alaska, is of high power, with a range of 200 miles
and more at sea. The station buildings are of reinforced concrete
construction. (1) (2)
_ALASKA_
SCOTCH CAP LIGHTHOUSE, UNIMAK ISLAND
Scotch Cap Light was built in 1903. It consisted of a wood tower on an
octagonal wood building 45 feet high and was 90 feet above the sea. It
was located on the southwest end of Unimak Island and on the east side
of the Unimak Pass into the Bering Sea. It was the first station
established on the outside coast of Alaska. Prior to the introduction of
the helicopter, access to the stations was so difficult that it was
impractical to arrange for leave of absence in the ordinary way. Instead
each keeper got one full year off in each 4 years of service. Coast
Guard enlisted personnel now man this isolated unit on a rotating one
year tour of duty.
During an earthquake and tidal wave of April 1, 1946, Scotch Cap
Lighthouse slid into the sea and all five persons on the station were
lost.
[Illustration]
A temporary unwatched light was established in 1946, consisting of a
small white house exhibiting a light of 300 candlepower maintaining the
former station characteristic of flashing white every 15 seconds, flash
3 seconds, eclipse 12 seconds. A radiobeacon was temporarily
reestablished at the radio direction finder station.
The new permanent structure was completed in the early part of 1950 and
the temporary light and radiobeacon discontinued. The new station
consists of a 800,000 candlepower light exhibited from a white
rectangular building with flat roof, a diaphone fog signal, and a
radiobeacon. (1) (2)
_CALIFORNIA_
FARALLON LIGHTHOUSE
Offshore, 25 miles off the Golden Gate.
This lighthouse, on the highest peak of the southeast Farallon, was
built in 1855 in the busy days which followed the gold rush, when
clipper ships and other sailing vessels were sailing in to San Francisco
in large numbers. That there was need for a light on these dangerous
rocks is evident when clippers like the _Golden City_ which sailed from
New York in 1852 reported that she was detained 5 days off the Farallons
in fog. Stone for the construction of the lighthouse was quarried on the
island and inside this masonry was a lining of brick. The extremely
sharp slopes of the island and the jagged nature of the rock were
serious obstacles to construction work. The bricks used in the tower
were carried up the rock in bundles of four and five on the backs of
men. After the completion of the tower a mule was kept on the island for
years to carry supplies between the various parts of the station. At one
time this mule was the oldest inhabitant. A number of years ago the
gathering of birds’ eggs, which were sold on the San Francisco market,
was carried on here extensively and seals were also hunted commercially.
These practices were finally terminated by the Federal Government.
[Illustration]
The Farallon Light Station is now equipped with a radiobeacon as well as
with a powerful light and fog signal. (1) (2)
_CALIFORNIA_
MILE ROCKS LIGHTHOUSE
One-half mile off Landsend, in the Golden Gate.
[Illustration]
This lighthouse was completed in 1906, after considerable difficulty
caused by the heavy seas and strong currents occurring at this point.
The rock upon which the lighthouse is built measured only 40 by 30 feet
at high water. The base of the tower is a large block of concrete
protected by steel plating. Steel and concrete in the foundation alone
weighed 1,500 tons. The superstructure is of steel, and houses the fog
signal apparatus and the quarters for the keepers, with the lantern
above. It was on this rock that the _Rio Janeiro_ was wrecked shortly
before the building of the lighthouse. One hundred and twenty-eight
persons out of a total of 209, lost their lives when the _Rio Janeiro_
went down on February 2, 1901. The wreck has never been found. In 1966,
the tower was removed, and the light automated. (1) (2)
_CALIFORNIA_
PIGEON POINT LIGHTHOUSE
On Coastal Highway, 5 miles south of Pescadero.
Pigeon Point Lighthouse is one of the most picturesque lighthouses on
the Pacific coast, the 115-foot white masonry tower standing on a rocky
promontory long a landmark for ships approaching San Francisco Bay from
the southward.
[Illustration]
This lighthouse was built in 1872, and is equipped with a lens of the
first order producing a light of 500,000 candlepower. The station also
has an electrically operated fog signal. This headland, and hence the
lighthouse, took its name from the ship _Carrier Pigeon_ wrecked here
many years ago. (1) (2)
_CALIFORNIA_
ST. GEORGE REEF LIGHTHOUSE
Off shore, 6 miles off Point St. George, near Crescent City.
[Illustration]
This lighthouse, built on a small rock only 300 feet in diameter, is one
of the most exposed lighthouses on the Pacific coast. Extreme
difficulties were encountered in constructing this tower, and 10 years
were required before the work was completed. The total cost was $702,000
making it one of the most costly lighthouses ever constructed. The light
was first displayed in 1892. The base of the tower is a solid block of
concrete and granite, and the tower above is also built of granite
blocks. The stone was quarried from granite boulders found on Mad River
near Humboldt Bay. Probably the most violent storm experienced at this
lighthouse was that of 1923, when huge seas from a northwesterly
direction broke on the platform of the tower, 70 feet above water, with
such violence as to tear the donkey-engine house from its foundation.
Several men have been injured, and several men killed in transferring to
this light by small boat. (1) (2)
_CALIFORNIA_
TRINIDAD HEAD LIGHTHOUSE
On headland near town of Trinidad.
[Illustration]
This low, square, brick tower, painted white, was built in 1871. The
light is only 20 feet above ground, but the headland on which it stands
gives it an elevation of 196 feet above the sea. The location is one of
the most picturesque on the California coast. Despite the great height
of the tower above the sea, heavy seas have been known to reach it. In
1913, the keeper made the following report: “At 4:40 p. m. I observed a
sea of unusual height. When it struck the bluff the jar was very heavy.
The lens immediately stopped revolving. The sea shot up the face of the
bluff and over it, until the solid sea seemed to me to be on a level
with where I stood in the lantern. The sea itself fell over onto the top
of the bluff and struck the tower about on a level with the balcony. The
whole point between the tower and the bluff was buried in water.” (1)
(2)
_CONNECTICUT_
NEW LONDON HARBOR LIGHTHOUSE
The original New London Harbor Lighthouse was built on the west side of
the entrance to New London Harbor in 1760. The original lighthouse was
probably of masonry. It apparently was completely removed when the stone
tower which stands today was built in 1801. Following the act of August
7, 1789, the lighthouse, built in 1760, was ceded to the United States,
according to the following “Memoranda of Cessions” by Connecticut:
“1790, May. Lighthouse at New London and certain rocks and ledges off
against the harbor of New London, called Race Rock, Black Ledge, and
Goshen Reef, together with buoys.”
On May 7, 1800, Congress appropriated $15,700 “for rebuilding, altering,
and improving the lighthouse at New London, Conn.,” of which $15,547.90
was spent for the purpose in 1801, the balance being carried to the
surplus fund.
[Illustration]
On November 22, 1838, Lt. George M. Bache, U. S. N., made a report on
the light which he described as a stationary light, situated on a rocky
point to the westward of the entrance to the River Thames, and 2 miles
from the town of New London. “It is of great importance as a leading
light for vessels going in and out of the harbor of New London, which,
on account of its position and security, is much resorted to during the
heavy gales of winter.”
“The light is shown from an elevation of 111 feet, which, in clear
weather, should render it visible 16½ miles. * * * The tower is a
substantial building of freestone, smooth hammered, and laid in courses;
it is 80 feet in height, and is ascended by an interior stairway of
wood, having landings at convenient distances. * * *”
“The lighting apparatus consists of 11 lamps, with parabolic reflectors,
disposed around 2 horizontal tables so as to throw the lights from WSW
south about to N by E. The reflectors are 13 inches in diameter. This
apparatus was furnished in 1834.”
In 1855 a fourth-order lens to illuminate 315° was recommended. In 1863
new dwellings for keepers were provided. In 1868 a road was opened by
the city of New London across the lighthouse grounds, the road being
fenced on both sides.
In 1874 a second-class fog signal with two 18-inch engines and a Daboll
trumpet was installed. It was in operation 553 hours during 1875. In
1883 a first-class fog trumpet was substituted. On December 21, 1896, an
improved fog signal consisting of two 3½-horsepower Hornsby-Akroyd oil
engines, air compressors etc., was installed operating the first-class
Daboll trumpet.
A fog-signal house was built in 1903 and 13-horsepower oil engines, with
trumpet, siren etc., were installed in the following year. The fog
signal was discontinued on September 5, 1911. On July 20, 1912, the
light was changed to acetylene, unattended.
The lighthouse is a white, octagonal pyramidal tower, 90 feet above
ground and 89 feet above water, the light being visible for 15 miles,
and located on the west side of the entrance to New London Harbor. The
light is a 6,000-candlepower fourth-order electric light flashing white
every 4 seconds, with a red 1,300-candlepower sector from 0° to 41°,
covering Sarah Ledge and the shoals to the westward. (1) (2)
_DELAWARE_
CAPE HENLOPEN LIGHTHOUSE
Cape Henlopen Lighthouse was completed in 1767, part of the funds to
erect it being raised by a £3,000 lottery. Even though the structure was
within the limits of Delaware, the 200 acres on which it was erected was
granted by the “late proprietors of Pennsylvania to the Board of Wardens
for the purpose of erecting a lighthouse on Cape Henlopen.” The
estimated cost of the original lighthouse was £7,674/3/2.
In 1777 the lighthouse was practically completely burned down by the
British. On the return of peace in 1783, the wardens proceeded to repair
the damage and it was relighted in 1784.
On September 28, 1789, the lighthouse together with all beacons, buoys,
and public piers, lands, tenements and jurisdiction was ceded to the
Federal Government by the State of Delaware in accordance with the act
of Congress of August 7, 1789.
[Illustration]
As early as 1788 evidence of wind erosion in the sandy area in which the
tower was constructed, had been noted and steps taken, by planting
“under-wood and weeds of every kind,” to prevent the sand from blowing
away. There seemed to be no encroachment from the sea at that time.
Abraham Hargis was the keeper from 1797 to 1813 and his successor John
Ware served until 1827. Following him Kendall Baston served until 1838,
with a Mr. McCracken serving for a short period, until December 1839,
when Asa Clifton, of Lewes, Del., took charge. William Elligood took
over as keeper in 1849.
In 1851 sand was reported advancing toward the tower and the keeper’s
house. A first-order lens was installed in 1856 due to the “numerous
accidents that have occurred in consequence of the inferiority of the
lighting apparatus from confounding a light which, from position, should
be one of the principal seacoast lights, for the lightship off Five
Fathom bank * * *”
In 1863 a new keeper’s dwelling was built, “the old one being threatened
with destruction by the speedy progress in that direction of a
remarkable sand hill, which has been moving inflexibly in a certain
course at a constant rate of speed for many years, presenting in its
existence and movement a most singular natural phenomenon.”
In 1868 “the big sand hill” situated at the north of the tower, formed
of drifting sand, was found to have moved southward at the rate of 11
feet a year. The application of brushwood to exposed places was thought
to have stopped the movement by 1872.
In 1883, the sea, in a storm, encroached upon the ocean side of the
station, until the high water line came under the lighthouse and the
question of the protection of the structure was taken under
consideration. In that year the bark _Minnie Hunter_ came ashore 550
feet north of the lighthouse and acted as a jetty so that the level of
the sand under the lighthouse structure was raised some 20 inches.
Erosion continued, however, and by 1885 the beacon, which had become
unsafe from undermining, had to be removed to Delaware Breakwater.
In 1897 the sand dune surrounding the tower was reported to be steadily
blowing away and by 1905 “several tons of brush were placed about the
tower and oil house to prevent the foundations and brick walls from
being undermined by the drifting away of the sand.”
All measures to protect the tower failed, however, and on April 13,
1926, a northeast storm undermined the tower and caused it to fall
seaward. Its value to shipping, however, had already been superseded by
the light and fog signal station on the Delaware Breakwater and by the
lightships and lighted buoys marking the entrance to Delaware Bay. (1)
(2) (7)
_DELAWARE_
FENWICK ISLAND LIGHTHOUSE
Congress authorized the erection of a lighthouse on Fenwick Island,
Del., in 1856. The site for the light adjoined the south boundary of
Delaware on the Delaware-Maryland boundary line in the vicinity of
Fishing Harbor. Immediately behind the storehouse of the light station
is a stone monument or marker, apparently of granite, having the arms of
William Penn carved on the north side and the arms of Lord Baltimore on
the south side. This stone is the first stone erected in connection with
the Mason and Dixon’s line survey. It is the only and original first
stone set up in 1751.
[Illustration]
When King Charles of England granted Penn his 29,000,000 acres in 1681
which now form the State of Pennsylvania, a controversy immediately
began with Lord Baltimore, who owned the Maryland territory, as to the
boundary line. As Penn acquired, also, what is now Delaware, it affected
the line of that territory as well. This controversy raged through three
or four generations and was not finally settled until 1768. By 1750,
however, the only line the disputants were not quarreling over was the
lower east-west line, so they appointed two surveyors to go the spot,
determine the compass variation, and start the survey of the line, which
was and is the present lower line of Delaware State. The surveyors
arrived at Fenwick Island in December 1750. They drove a stake at a
point 139 perches west of the “Main Ocean” at a group of four mulberry
trees where the lighthouse now stands. Then they measured east to the
“Verge of the Ocean” and began the line there. They could put no
permanent mark at the water’s edge, but they measured some 6 miles west
and then quit for the weather was bad, their cabin had burned up, and
the exposure was great.
In April 1751, all hands again met at Fenwick Island. The commissioners
were shown the work of the previous December and approved it and on
April 26, 1751, a stone was set where the stake had been, having the
arms of Lord Baltimore on the south side and of Penn on the north. This
is the stone that stands there today.
Other stones were erected at 5-mile intervals and the west line of the
State of Delaware was set up. Soon after this Lord Baltimore died and
his death delayed things. Nothing was done for about 10 years, when
under a new agreement in 1760, between the then generations of Penns and
Baltimores, surveys were started again on this north line, the object
being to lay it out so as to hit the 12-mile circle, 81 miles above,
determined upon as the northern boundary of Delaware, with New Castle as
its center. The surveyors made such a poor job of it, despite several
efforts, after 3 years, that Penn and Baltimore in England hired Mason
and Dixon, two engineers of note, to go over to America, take charge and
do the job. They arrived in 1763, accepted the lower or east and west
line across the peninsula as correct, reran the north line and ran the
line from the northeast corner of Maryland west, for about 223 miles.
This is the generally understood Mason and Dixon’s line. They also ran
the north and south line which is the western boundary of Delaware. Five
years were occupied in this and not until 1768 was the last stone set,
which ended the controversy of nearly a century.
By 1857 the site for the lighthouse had been selected and marked and the
tower was completed early in 1859, being first lit on August 1, 1859.
The total cost was $23,748.96.
In 1932 a strip of land 60 feet wide, extending east and west across the
site, was deeded to the State of Delaware for roadway purposes and in
1940 about three-fourths of the site was sold including the entire
northern wooded half and 2.71 acres of the southern half.
The white lighthouse tower now stands 0.3 mile inshore on the coast, the
tower being 83 feet above water and the top of the lantern 87 feet above
ground. A 25,000-candlepower light flashes white every 3 seconds and is
visible 15 miles at sea. (1) (2)
_FLORIDA_
AMERICAN SHOAL LIGHTHOUSE
Off shore, visible from Overseas Highway at Saddlebunch Keys.
[Illustration]
As early as 1851 plans were made for the erection of a series of great
offshore lighthouses to mark the dangerous Florida Reefs. These towers,
all of skeleton iron construction, to resist hurricanes, were eventually
built one at a time over a period of years, that on American Shoal
completed in 1880, being the most recently constructed. The ironwork for
this light was fabricated in the North, and along with other necessary
supplies and materials, was shipped to Key West, which was made the base
of operations. The site of the lighthouse was 15 miles to the eastward,
on the outermost reefs, and was covered with 4 feet of water.
Construction continued for about 2 years, and the tower when completed
cost about $94,000. The lighthouse was first lighted on the night of
July 15, 1880, and has since helped to bring about a substantial
reduction in the number of shipwrecks occurring along this dangerous
coast. The light is 109 feet above the water, and is visible on a clear
night for 16 miles. American Shoal Lighthouse is almost exactly like the
Fowey Rocks Lighthouse situated near Miami. (1) (2)
_FLORIDA_
CAPE FLORIDA LIGHTHOUSE
The Cape Florida Lighthouse was completed in 1825. It was 65 feet high,
of solid brick, 5 feet thick at the base. For years it guided the
mariner as he passed the dangerous Florida Reef and led him into Cape
Florida Channel to a safe anchorage from violent gales in the lee of Key
Biscayne.
[Illustration]
During the Seminole War, on July 23, 1836, John W. B. Thompson was the
assistant keeper. It was on that day that the lighthouse was attacked by
Indians. “About 4 p. m.” Thompson writes “as I was going from the
kitchen to the dwelling house, I discovered a large body of Indians
within 20 yards of me, back of the kitchen. I ran for the lighthouse,
and called out to the old Negro man that was with me to run, for the
Indians were near. At that moment they discharged a volley of rifle
balls, which cut my clothes and hat and perforated the door in many
places. We got in, and as I was turning the key the savages had hold of
the door.” Thompson stationed the Negro at the door and then began
firing his three muskets loaded with ball and buckshot, at them from a
window. They answered with war cries and musket balls.
Thompson fired at them from some of the other windows and from the top
of the lighthouse. “I kept them from the house until dark,” he related.
“They then poured in a heavy fire at all the windows and lantern; that
was the time they set fire to the door and to the window even with the
ground. The window was boarded up with planks and filled with stone
inside; but the flames spread fast, being fed with yellow pine wood.
Their balls had perforated the tin tanks of oil, consisting of 225
gallons. My bedding, clothing, and in fact everything I had was soaked
in oil.”
Thompson took one musket with powder keg and balls to the top of the
lighthouse, then went below and began to cut away the stairs about half
way up from the bottom. “I had difficulty in getting the old Negro up
the space I had already cut, but the flames now drove me from my labor,
and I retreated to the top of the house.”
The keeper covered over the scuttle that led to the lantern, which kept
the fire from him for some time. “At last the awful moment arrived,” he
went on, “the crackling flames burst around me. The savages at the same
time began their hellish yells. My poor Negro looked at me with tears in
his eyes, but he could not speak. We went out of the lantern and down on
the edge of the platform, 2 feet wide. The lantern was now full of
flame, the lamps and glasses bursting and flying in all directions, my
clothes on fire, and to move from the place where I was, would be
instant death from their rifles. My flesh was roasting, and to put an
end to my horrible suffering I got up and threw the keg of gunpowder
down the scuttle. Instantly it exploded and shook the tower from top to
bottom.”
“It had not the desired effect of blowing me into eternity, but it threw
down the stairs and all the woodenwork near the top of the house; it
damped the fire for a moment, but it soon blazed as fierce as ever.”
The Negro man called out, “I’m wounded.” Then spoke no more. Those were
his last words. By this time, Thompson had also received many wounds and
was literally roasting alive. He decided to jump off the tower.
“I got up, went inside the iron railing, recommending my soul to God,
and was on the point of going head foremost on the rock below when
something dictated to me to return and lie down again. I did so, and in
2 minutes the fire fell to the bottom of the house.”
A few minutes later a stiff breeze sprung up from the southward which
was a great relief to the heat-tortured keeper. The Indians, thinking
him dead, left the lighthouse and set fire to the dwelling and began
carrying their plunder to the beach, where they made off with it in the
keeper’s sloop about 2 a. m.
“I was now almost as bad off as before,” the keeper continued, “a
burning fever on me, my feet shot to pieces, no clothes to cover me,
nothing to eat or drink, a hot sun overhead, a dead man by my side, no
friend near or any to expect, and placed between 70 and 80 feet from the
earth with no chance of getting down.”
The old Negro’s body had literally been roasted but there was a piece of
his trousers that had escaped the flames by being wet with his blood.
With this Thompson made a signal. Some time in the afternoon he saw two
boats, with his sloop in tow, coming to the landing. They were the boats
of the U. S. schooner _Motto_, Captain Armstrong, with a detachment of
seamen and marines, under the command of Lieutenant Lloyd, of the
sloop-of-war _Concord_. They had retaken Thompson’s sloop, after the
Indians had stripped her of sails and rigging. They had heard the
explosion, 12 miles off, and had come to his assistance, scarcely
expecting to find him alive.
The problem now arose of how to get the keeper down. During the night
they made a kite thinking to fly a line to him but to no effect. Then
they fired twine from their muskets, made fast to a ramrod, which the
keeper received and with it hauled up a tail block, making it fast
around an iron stanchion, enabling two men to be hoisted up from below.
The keeper was then lowered and was soon on terra firma. He was taken to
the military hospital.
Rebuilding of the Cape Florida Light, authorized in 1837, was not
completed until 1846 because hostile Indians remained nearby in the
Everglades. In 1855 the tower was raised to 95 feet.
The lighting apparatus was destroyed in 1861, during the Civil War, and
was not restored until 1867.
Cape Florida Light was discontinued in 1878 when Fowey Rock Light was
established, and the tower and property sold to Mr. James Deering of
Chicago, Ill. (8)
_FLORIDA_
CAPE SAN BLAS LIGHTHOUSE
The Cape San Blas Lighthouse was completed in 1849 with an appropriation
of $8,000 made 2 years earlier. The shoals running out from the cape
extended 4 or 5 miles and made it dangerous for all vessels nearing the
coast. If the light had been high enough it could have been seen for 20
miles and afforded protection to vessels going to and from Tortugas to
New Orleans, but the light from the 85- or 90-foot tower was visible
only half that distance. The site was “deemed to be entirely secure from
overflow or inundation” by the collector of customs at Apalachicola,
Fla., who selected it, with the assistance of “two of our most
experienced pilots.”
The lighthouse erected in 1849 “fell down during a gale in the autumn of
1851” and on August 31, 1852, Congress appropriated $12,000 for
rebuilding it. The new structure was completed in 1856.
It had been completed only a few months when during the severe storm of
August 30, 1856, it too was totally destroyed. “The sea rose so high,”
the Lighthouse Board reported, “that the waves struck the floor of the
keeper’s dwelling, elevated 8 feet above the ground, and about 14 feet
above the ordinary tides. A lagoon now occupies the site of the
lighthouse.”
On March 3, 1857, Congress, for the third time, appropriated money for a
lighthouse at Cape San Blas. This appropriation was for $20,000 and the
new lighthouse was first lighted with a third-order lens on May 1, 1858.
The light station sustained serious damage at the hands of Southern
troops during the Civil War. The keeper’s dwelling was completely
destroyed and the door frames and sashes of the tower were torn or burnt
out. Repairs were made, a new illuminating apparatus was provided, and
the light was reexhibited on July 23, 1865.
In 1869 the beach in front of the lighthouse was reported to be washing
away and would need protection against encroachments of the sea during
heavy storms. In 1877 Congress appropriated $2,000 for protecting the
site after the Lighthouse Board had reported 2 years earlier “The base
of the tower is very nearly at the same level as the sea, which is but
little more than 150 feet distant, the shore being of shifting sand. In
a violent hurricane, it is feared, the tower may be undermined.” The
Board had asked for $5,000 to protect the site and reported in 1879
that, as it was found “impracticable to build a jetty for $2,000 that
can protect the site from the encroachment of the sea, no further action
has been taken in the matter.”
[Illustration]
Finally in 1881 the Board reported “The sea has been encroaching on this
tower until its base is in the water. Brush mattresses were made, pinned
down to the sand with small iron screw piles, covered with sand and
occasionally blocks of concrete, to further check such encroachment, but
the almost constant surf, beating against the mattresses, tore them to
pieces. * * * An appropriation for a new tower, further inland is badly
needed. It is recommended that a skeleton iron tower be erected; then if
the sea again encroaches, it could be taken down and reerected. The new
tower will cost $25,000.” The following year the Board noted “No
appropriation was made; the site remained unprotected and on July 3,
1882, the tower was overthrown and completely destroyed.” The Board
strongly recommended that the tower be replaced on a safe site at an
early date, there being no intervening light between San Blas and
Pensacola, 120 miles distant.
An appropriation for a fourth tower was made available in 1883. The
remains of the third tower were then 400 feet distant from the shore,
and the sea continued to erode the beach. By 1885 a fourth tower, a
skeleton tower of iron, and two dwellings for keepers had been erected
and the light was first displayed on June 30, 1885. The light had a
third-order lens, showing alternate red and white flashes with 30
seconds intervals. The focal plane, 98 feet above sea level, lit the
entire horizon.
In 1887 the sea was reported again gradually cutting away the shore and
during the year had washed away about one-third the distance to where
the new tower had been built (300 feet). Two years later only 200 feet
of beach remained and the Board reported “It is more than probable that
this will be mostly washed away in the next 4 months.” It was,
therefore, recommended “that the tower and dwellings be taken down and
removed to a point on the inside of the peninsula a little less than 1½
miles, about northwest from its present position where there is a good
site and 8½ feet of water, in St. Joseph’s Bay, within 400 or 500 yards
of it. This location is such that the bearing of the San Blas Shoals
will be the same as now, and the increase of 1½ miles in the distance
from the shore will be of little importance so far as its value as a
coast light is concerned. It is estimated that to make the change will
cost $20,000. The present site cannot be saved except at great cost.”
Nothing had been done, however, by Congress and by early 1890 the tower
was only 144 feet from the sea at high water mark. Later that year,
however, an appropriation of $20,000 was made to remove the tower and
dwellings to the point inside the peninsula. Condemnation proceedings to
obtain title to the new site, however, dragged on until 1894 when on
October 8 and 9 a gale badly damaged the lighthouse extinguishing the
light and wrecking the keeper’s dwelling. So much of the cape was washed
away that the tower now stood in the water.
Before the tower could be removed to the new site, it was decided in
1895 to remove the station to Black’s Island, in St. Joseph’s Bay, which
the President ordered reserved for lighthouse purposes. The work of
dismantling the skeleton iron tower was begun in February 1896 and
carried on until April 30 of that year when it was stopped because the
appropriation was exhausted. The two keeper’s houses had been relocated
on Black’s Island, the foundation for the tower was in place and
three-fourths of the concrete work had been done, when it was estimated
that $4,500 more would be required to finish the work. This was
appropriated in June 1897.
Four months later, however, the light had been reestablished in the old
tower, now in the water at the south point of Cape San Blas. In 1899 the
Board reported “after careful consideration of all the conditions
affecting the choice of a proper site, the Board has concluded that the
light should be reconstructed on the shell ridge about 1⅜ miles N. by W.
from its present location. It is estimated that this can be done at a
cost not exceeding $15,000.” This sum was appropriated on June 6, 1900,
at which time the Board reported: “that the property and material stored
at Black’s Island was being cared for by a watchman appointed for the
purpose.”
By 1901 nothing had been done about moving the tower and the Board
reported “the advisability of removing the station to a new site is
being considered, or of building a permanent keeper’s dwelling in place
of the present temporary buildings, repairing the present light tower
and permitting it to remain in the old location. The point of land on
which the tower stands has made out until the beach at the nearest point
is 100 or more feet distant from the tower. As this movement is
increasing, it may become necessary to move the structure of the station
to a new site.” In 1903 the Board sought and obtained authority from
Congress to use $7,000 of the $15,000 appropriated for moving the tower,
to erect two keeper’s dwellings at the old site. These were completed in
1905.
The light remained in the old tower until 1919. In 1916 it was reported
“The sea is again making inroads on the station and a project for its
removal has been tentatively approved.” The new site was one-fourth mile
north of the old tower on the peninsula and on land heretofore reserved
for military purposes, which the President forthwith reserved for
lighthouse purposes. The tower was moved to this site in 1919.
In 1923 the Black’s Island reservation was sold. There were no buildings
on the island at the time.
The light is now in a white, square skeleton tower, enclosing a stair
cylinder, with the lantern 96 feet above ground and 101 feet above
water. The 800,000 candlepower 3½-order electric light flashes white
every 20 seconds and is visible 16 miles. A radiobeacon was established
at the station in 1939. (1) (2)
_GEORGIA_
TYBEE LIGHTHOUSE, TYBEE ISLAND, SAVANNAH RIVER
Tybee Light was under construction by the State of Georgia when that
State became part of the Federal Union in 1788.
The lighthouse was believed to have been ceded to the Federal Government
in December 1791, although no records to substantiate this are
available.
In 1791 it appears that the tower was in commission under a keeper named
Higgins and that spermaceti candles were being used in the lantern.
In 1838 the lighthouse was described as being “a fixed light, 15 lamps,
15-inch reflectors. Height of lantern above the sea, 100 feet. Height of
tower from base to lantern, 95 feet.” The light was refitted with
16-inch reflectors in 1841.
In 1857 the light was renovated and fitted with a second-order lens. In
1862, during the Civil War, the interior of the tower and the lantern
were destroyed by fire and the lens was removed. By 1865, the beacon had
been relighted but not the main light.
In 1866, $20,000 and, in 1867, $34,443 more, was appropriated for
rebuilding the tower and keeper’s dwelling. “The work was progressing
satisfactorily” the Lighthouse Board reports “until the 18th of July
1866, when all labor was interrupted by panic among the workmen, caused
by the arrival of a detachment of U. S. troops on the island, with
cholera prevailing among them. The foreman in charge of the work, and
four of the mechanics died of the epidemic and the work was suspended.
The troops, while on the island, did much damage to the lighthouse
establishment; an additional appropriation for this work is therefore
desired.”
[Illustration]
Tybee Light had formerly been a second-class station but in
reestablishing it, it was made into a first-order light, having a focal
plane 150 feet above the sea. “When the rebels extinguished the light”
the Lighthouse Board reported in 1867, “they attempted to destroy the
old tower by fire, but without complete success, and it was found that a
considerable part of it could be used. It was consequently torn down to
the proper point, and the new masonry carried up from there to the
requisite height.” The new light was first exhibited October 1, 1867.
The old tower had been finished in wood. The new one consisted of
masonry and metal only and was completely fireproof.
In 1869 Tybee beacon was moved back 165 feet as the site was threatened
“by washings of every gale.”
In 1871 gales, which had caused great damage along the southern coast,
had so greatly damaged the lighthouse tower as to render it unsafe “and
require the speedy erection of a new tower.” The tower was reported
cracked and liable to fall at any time. “Its great age (78 years), the
frequent necessary repairs to it during the time it has been standing,
and its total neglect during the war of the rebellion, render it
impossible to properly repair the present tower.”
The encroachment of the sea upon the southerly point of Tybee Island
made it necessary to remove the front beacon, a skeleton frame
structure, and set it back 400 feet on a new foundation in 1873. It had
to be moved still farther back in 1879.
Between 1871 and 1879 the recommendations for a new structure were
repeated annually by the Lighthouse Board. In 1879 the Board reported
“During the September 1878 gale, the tower vibrated to an alarming
extent and the cracks, which had been pointed up, opened and extended.”
Nothing, however, was ever done to replace the structure and it stands
today as it was rebuilt in 1867.
In 1884 the illuminating apparatus was changed to burn mineral instead
of lard oil.
The earthquake of August 1886 extended the cracks in the tower but not
to any dangerous extent. The quake displaced the lens and broke the
attachments to its upper ring.
The octagonal brick tower now rises 145 feet above ground and 144 feet
above water, exhibiting a fixed white electric light of 70,000
candlepower from a first-order lens visible for 18 miles. (1) (2) (7)
_HAWAII_
KILAUEA POINT LIGHTHOUSE
On the northernmost point of Kauai Island.
This important landfall light, providing a leading mark for ships bound
to Honolulu from the Orient, was built in 1913. The tower is of
reinforced concrete, and is but 52 feet high, but it stands on a cliff
which elevates the light to 216 feet above the water. The moving parts
of the lens weigh 4 tons, and this mass turns on a mercury float, making
a complete revolution every 20 seconds and giving each 10 seconds a
double flash of 1,000,000 candlepower. The lens was built in France and
cost about $12,000. Kilauea Lighthouse is also a radio-beacon station
providing radio signals for the guidance of ships.
[Illustration]
This light was the first landfall made in the first flight by aeroplane
from the Pacific coast of the United States to the Hawaiian Islands, in
1927, it being picked up from the air at a distance of 90 miles. (1) (2)
_HAWAII_
MAKAPUU POINT LIGHTHOUSE
On the eastern extremity of Oahu Island.
[Illustration]
All the commerce from the west coast of North America bound to Honolulu
passes Makapuu Lighthouse. The largest lens in a lighthouse of the
United States known as a hyper-radiant lens, is in use at this
lighthouse. The inside diameter is 8½ feet, sufficient for several men
to stand within. Although the tower is only 46 feet high the light is
420 feet above the sea. The 115,000 candlepower light can be seen for 28
miles. The effectiveness of this lighthouse has been greatly increased
in recent years through the establishment of a radiobeacon at the
station. The radio signals may be heard two hundred and more miles at
sea. (1) (2)
_LOUISIANA_
TIMBALIER LIGHTHOUSE
On August 3, 1854, Congress appropriated $15,000 “for a light station to
mark the entrance to Timbalier Bay and for coast purposes.” The
lighthouse was reported completed in 1857.
[Illustration]
During the Civil War the light was discontinued. Upon the occupation of
the southern portion of Texas by Union forces in 1864, application was
made by the military authorities for the reestablishment of the
Timbalier light. Measures were promptly inaugurated to ascertain the
condition and necessities of the station and suitable illuminating
apparatus was sent to be put in position when requisite repairs had been
completed.
The tower was described in 1867 as built upon a low sand beach near the
point of Timbalier Island which, by that year, had been encroached upon
by the sea until it was entirely surrounded by water. By February 1867
the tower was in danger of falling and workmen were sent to take down
the lens and establish a beacon on top of the dwelling. On the 29th and
30th of March 1867, during a hurricane, the dwelling, together with the
tower, and everything about the station was leveled to the ground and
covered with 3 to 6 feet of water. The keepers barely escaped with their
lives and lived for some days in an iron can buoy.
Congress appropriated $50,000 for a new lighthouse on March 3, 1869,
followed by two similar amounts in 1871 and 1873. A final appropriation
of $15,000 was made in 1874. With $120,000 of these appropriations a new
iron screw-pile lighthouse, with focal plane 125 feet above sea level,
was completed by January 1875. The new lighthouse was placed in the
water inside the island, which acted as an effective breakwater. The
design was a skeleton frame work with a spiral stairway, enclosed by
sheet iron, giving access to the lantern and provided with a keeper’s
dwelling in the lower part of the tower. The lens was a second-order,
showing a fixed white light varied by red flashes.
In 1894 the light tower was undermined by the scouring of the channel
and on the morning of January 23, 1894, it canted over. The illuminating
apparatus was saved but was in damaged condition. An attempt was made to
take the dismantled tower to pieces and save it, but owing to the
inability of the lighthouse tender to approach near enough to the wreck,
the work was discontinued and the lighthouse was abandoned. The
lighthouse Board decided that requirements of navigation were not such
as to justify the rebuilding of the tower, but decided to use instead a
lens-lantern light.
The present structure was rebuilt in 1917. It is a white square tower on
a wooden dwelling built on piles and stands in 6 feet of water off the
north side of the east end of the island. The light was changed to
unwatched operation in 1939 and consisted of an 850-candlepower light
which was 56 feet above the water and could be seen 13 miles, flashing
white every 4 seconds. The building is now used as a daybeacon. (1) (2)
_MAINE_
BOON ISLAND LIGHTHOUSE
President James Madison authorized the building of Boon Island
Lighthouse during the War of 1812. A new lighthouse tower was erected
near the old tower in 1855, consisting of a gray granite conical tower,
133 feet above the water, 6½ miles off the coast of Maine.
As Boon Island is a very flat piece of land, well surrounded by ledges,
the tower appears at times to be springing up from the sea from a
submerged ledge, especially when low clouds are flying. One of the most
isolated stations off the Maine coast, it is also one of the most
dangerous.
One story is told of how the keepers were once marooned on the island
for several weeks because of storms and rough weather. Their food
supplies were low and starvation seemed to be staring them in the face.
Just at the point of desperation a boat appeared and they signaled for
help. The keeper’s message in a bottle was picked up by the passing
schooner which hove to and anchored until the sea went down. Then the
crew packed some food in a mackerel barrel and set it afloat. It drifted
right into a little cove on the island and then the sea caught it and
bounced it well up on the bank, out of the way of the surf. The hunger
of the keepers was appeased until they were able to go ashore and get
supplies at the village of York.
[Illustration]
Today the fixed white electric light on Boon Island shows its 120,000
candlepower from a second-order lens for a distance of 18 miles. (6)
_MAINE_
CAPE ELIZABETH LIGHTHOUSE
Two rubblestone towers were first erected on Cape Elizabeth in 1828 at a
cost of $4,250. President John Quincy Adams appointed Elisha Jordan as
the first keeper in October 1828 at a salary of $450 per year. In 1855
Fresnel lenses were installed and in 1869 a giant steam whistle was set
up for use in foggy weather. In 1873 the rubble towers were taken down
and two cast-iron edifices erected, 300 yards apart. One was a fixed and
one a flashing light. A fog siren replaced the locomotive whistle.
[Illustration]
One of the most thrilling episodes in the history of the lighthouse
occurred on January 28, 1885, when Keeper Marcus A. Hanna saved two crew
members of the schooner _Australia_ which had grounded on the ledge near
the fog signal station. The two men had taken to the rigging and were
coated with ice, unable to move. The captain was drowned as a huge
comber washed the deck. Keeper Hanna, securing a heavy iron weight to
the end of a stout line, attempted time and again to reach the men with
it. Suddenly a towering wave struck the schooner and smashed her against
the rocks, putting her on her beam ends. Keeper Hanna again threw his
line and watched it land on the schooner. One of the seamen managed to
reach it and bent it around his waist. Then he jumped into the sea and
the keeper, with great effort, pulled him up over the rocky ledge. The
keeper now heaved the line a second time and finally it reached the
second seaman who wound it around his icy body. Then he too jumped into
the ocean. Just as the keeper’s strength was exhausted in trying to haul
ashore the second man, help came in the shape of the keeper’s assistant
and two neighbors, who helped haul the man to safety.
In the 1920’s the west tower of Cape Elizabeth Light was dismantled.
The light, at the south entrance to Portland Harbor, is equipped with a
1,800,000 candlepower light visible for 17 miles. The white conical
tower is 67 feet above ground and 129 feet above water. (5)
_MAINE_
DICE HEAD LIGHTHOUSE
On the tip end of the peninsula that forms the mouth of the Penobscot
River stands the now unwatched Dice Head Lighthouse. Built in 1829 and
remodeled in 1858, the lighthouse is now just one more monument to the
historic “Pentagoet” region. Here the first white settlers of 1614,
French traders under La Tour, gave way to the British from the Plymouth
colony led by Isaac Allerton in 1629. The French retook Castine in 1635
only to be again driven out by the British in 1654. Sixteen years later
Hubert d’Andigny once more occupied this strategic key town to the
Penobscot River for the French. In 1674, a Flemish corsair captured the
garrison. Two years later the wealthy and adventurous Baron de St.
Castine took over the town, which still bears his name. Married to the
daughter of the Indian Chief, Madoca-wando, he became a powerful
influence among the Indians and the town became a thriving shipping
port.
[Illustration]
Six years after the original light was built in 1829 Capt. Henry D.
Hunter of the United States revenue cutter _Jackson_ inspected it. “This
light,” he reported, “should be located on the northern head of Holbrook
Island, at the eastern entrance to Castine Harbor. It would then answer
as a guide up the Penobscot River and a harbor light.” The lighthouse
was rebuilt in 1937 and is now a white skeleton tower on the north side
of the entrance to Castine Harbor, 27 feet above water. Its
8,000-candlepower acetelyne light flashes white every 4 seconds and is
visible for 10 miles. (6)
_MAINE_
PORTLAND HEAD LIGHTHOUSE
George Washington engaged two masons from the town of Portland in 1787,
while Maine was still part of the colony of Massachusetts, and
instructed them to take charge of the construction of a lighthouse on
Portland Head. They were Jonathan Bryant and John Nichols. George
Washington reminded them that the colonial Government was poor and that
the materials used to build the lighthouse should be taken from the
fields and shores. They could be handled nicely when hauled by oxen on a
drag, he said.
The old tower, built of rubblestone, still stands as one of the four
colonial lighthouses that have never been rebuilt. Washington gave the
masons 4 years to build the tower. While it was under construction the
Federal Government was formed in 1789 and it looked for a while, as
though the lighthouse would not be finished. But the first Congress made
an appropriation and authorized Alexander Hamilton, Secretary of the
Treasury, to inform the mechanics that they could go on with the
completion of the tower. The tower was completed during the year 1790
and first lighted January 10, 1791.
During the Civil War, raids on shipping in and out of Portland Harbor
became commonplace, and because of the necessity for ships at sea to
sight Portland Head Light as soon as possible, the tower was raised 8
feet.
Today Portland Head Light stands 80 feet above ground and 101 feet above
water, its white conical tower being connected with a dwelling. The
200,000 candlepower, second-order electric light, is visible 16 miles.
An air-chime diaphragm horn blasts every 20 seconds, for 4 seconds
during fog. (6)
[Illustration]
_MAINE_
SADDLEBACK LEDGE LIGHTHOUSE
[Illustration]
Built in 1839, Saddleback Ledge Lighthouse is one of the most lonely
outposts on the Maine coast. I. W. P. Lewis, who inspected the
lighthouse in the early fifties characterized it as “the only
establishment on the coast of Maine that possesses any claim whatever to
superiority. * * * The sea breaks quite over the lantern in a southwest
gale * * * it is the most economical and durable structure that came
under my observation * * * the only one ever erected in New England by
an architect and engineer.”
“The weirdest experience I have had since being in the service,”
reported Keeper W. W. Wells in 1935 “was the bombardment we got on a
February night way back in 1927, when to my surprise I picked up 124 sea
birds around the tower. They were ducks and drakes. Some were alive but
the most were dead. * * * Darkness had come on and with it came all the
evidence that we were going to get a sou’easter. As the storm struck so
did the cannonading * * * Crash ... and a bird came sailing through a
pane of glass, dropping at my feet. He began fluttering around the floor
with one wing broken and his bill telescoped almost through his head. He
did not live long. In came another and away went another windowpane. The
phenomenon was repeated again and again until the birds began to pile up
like a mound.”
“Just when I thought the cannonading had ceased, one big sea drake
struck the plate glass in the tower lantern and came through without
asking for a transfer. When he struck he broke up the works. Before he
stopped he put out the light and broke prisms out of the lens. The bird
weighed 10 pounds.”
After he had made repairs and got the light burning again, a strange
sight greeted the keeper. At the base of the tower was a tremendous heap
of sea birds, some dead others alive. “Those that were just dazed” he
recounted “and needed to recuperate, we placed in the boathouse and next
day they went on their way.”
The conical gray tower, with a white base stands 42 feet above ground
and 54 feet above water. The 2,000 candlepower, fourth-order
incandescent oil vapor fixed white light is visible for 13 miles. (6)
_MASSACHUSETTS_
BOSTON LIGHTHOUSE, LITTLE BREWSTER ISLAND
The first lighthouse established in America was on Little Brewster
Island in Boston Harbor and was first lit September 14, 1716. A tonnage
tax of 1 penny per ton on all vessels, except coasters, moving in or out
of Boston Harbor, paid for maintaining the light.
The first keeper, George Worthylake, with a salary of £50 a year, also
acted as pilot for vessels entering the harbor. In 1718 he and his wife
and daughter, with two men, were drowned when the lighthouse boat
capsized as they were returning to the island from Boston. Young
Benjamin Franklin, then a printer in Boston, wrote a ballad about the
incident entitled “Lighthouse Tragedy” and sold it on the streets of
Boston.
The pay of Keeper John Hayes was raised to £70 in 1718 so that he would
not be obliged to entertain mariners on the island for extra money which
he found “prejudicial to himself as well as to the town of Boston.” In
1719 he asked “That a great Gun may be placed on Said Island to answer
Ships in a Fogg” and one was supplied that year on which the date 1700
was engraved. The gun is shown on a mezzo-tint engraving of Boston Light
made by Burgess in 1729.
Hayes’ successor in 1734 was Robert Ball who petitioned the general
court for preference in piloting vessels into the harbor. The court
designated him as “established pilot” of the harbor for the next 3
years. In 1751 the lighthouse was badly damaged by fire so that only the
walls remained.
In 1774 the British took over the island and in 1775 the harbor was
blocked and the lighthouse became useless. On July 20, 1775, a small
detachment of American troops under Major Voss visited the island and
burned the wooden parts of the lighthouse. The British began to repair
it under a marine guard, when General Washington dispatched Major Tupper
with 300 men in whale-boats on July 31, 1775, who defeated the guard and
destroyed the repair work done. They were intercepted on leaving by
British small boats and attacked. A direct hit on one of the English
boats by an American field piece on Nantasket Head, caused the British
to retire to their boats with comparatively heavy losses. Only one
American was killed. Major Tupper and his men were commended by General
Washington.
When the British left Boston, March 17, 1776, a number of their ships
remained in the harbor. On June 13, 1776, American soldiers landed on
Long Island, Boston Harbor, and at Nantasket Hill and opened fire on
this fleet who were soon at their mercy. Before sailing away, the
British sent a boat ashore at Boston Light and left a time charge which
blew up the lighthouse. The top of the old lighthouse was used to supply
ladles for American cannon.
In 1783 the Massachusetts Legislature supplied £1,450 to erect a new
lighthouse on the site of the old. This new lighthouse, which still
stands, was 75 feet high with walls 7½ feet thick at the base, tapering
to 2 feet 6 inches at the top. The octagonal lantern was 15 feet high
and 8 feet in diameter. Thomas Knox was appointed keeper.
[Illustration]
On June 10, 1790, the Boston Light was ceded to the new Federal
Government. In 1811, Jonathan Bruce became keeper. He and his wife
witnessed the thrilling encounter between the American ship _Chesapeake_
and the British ship _Shannon_ on June 1, 1813, when Captain Lawrence,
of the _Chesapeake_ muttered the immortal words “Don’t give up the
ship,” as he was being lowered, mortally wounded, through the
companionway. Nine minutes later, however, his crew was forced to
surrender.
While Captain Tobias Cook of Cohasset was keeper in 1844 a “Spanish”
cigar factory was set up on the island, with young girls brought from
Boston to work in it, in an effort to deceive Boston smokers that the
cigars manufactured there were imported. This business was soon broken
up, however, as a fraud.
In 1856, the height of the tower was raised to 98 feet and it was listed
as a second-order station. On November 2, 1861, the square rigger
_Maritana_, 991 tons, which had sailed from Liverpool 38 days earlier,
with Captain Williams, ran into heavy seas in Massachusetts Bay and
approached Boston in a blinding snow, driven by a howling southeaster.
At 1 o’clock in the morning of November 3, she sighted Boston Light and
headed for it, but crashed on Shag Rocks soon after, with passengers and
crew ordered into the weather chains after the crew had cut the masts
away. The ship broke in two and Captain Williams was crushed to death,
but seven persons floated to Shag Rocks atop the pilot house, while five
others swam to the ledge, as fragments of the wreckage started coming
ashore on both sides of Little Brewster Island. A dory from the pilot
boat rescued the survivors from the rocks.
When the _Fanny Pike_ went ashore on Shag Rocks in 1882, Keeper Thomas
Bates rowed out and took the crew safely off the ledge.
In 1893 the Massachusetts Institute of Technology sent 20 or 30 students
to live on the island, while experiments were made with various types of
foghorns in an endeavor to find one that would penetrate the area known
as the “Ghost Walk” 6 or 7 miles to the east.
On Christmas Day 1909 the five-masted schooner _Davis Palmer_, heavily
loaded with coal, hit Finn’s ledge and went down with all hands.
When the U. S. S. _Alacrity_ was wrecked on the ice-covered ledges off
the island on February 3, 1918, Keeper Jennings and his assistants made
four attempts to shoot a rope to the doomed ship but each time the rope
parted. Jennings brought the lighthouse dory to the shore, and, assisted
by two naval reservists, pushed it over the ice and into the surf.
Twenty-four men were clinging to the wreck in perilous positions when he
reached it after a dangerous trip. Flinging a line aboard, they began
the rescue of the half-frozen sailors, four times running the gantlet of
ice, rocks, and surf until all 24 men were saved. For this Jennings
received a letter of commendation from Secretary Redfield.
During World War II the light was extinguished as a security measure,
but was again placed in operation July 2, 1945. The station is equipped
with a 1,800,000 candlepower light visible for 16 miles. (5)
_MASSACHUSETTS_
BRANT POINT LIGHTHOUSE
According to all available records, the lighthouse at Brant Point,
located on the south side of Nantucket Harbor, Mass., has been rebuilt
seven times in addition to three beacons, since it was originally
established in 1746. At a town meeting at Nantucket on January 24, 1746,
the sea captains of the island spoke out for a lighthouse and 200
English pounds were voted for the purpose “in supposition that the
owners of, or others concerned in, shipping will maintain a light
therein.” However, the expenses of maintaining the light were actually
defrayed by the town. This earliest lighthouse was destroyed by fire in
1758.
At another town meeting held shortly afterward, the rebuilding of the
light was agreed to and another light was built in 1759. This stood
until 1774. In the March 12, 1774, issue of The Massachusetts Gazette
and the Boston Post-Boy and Advertiser appears this item: “We hear from
Nantucket that on Wednesday the 9th of March Instant (1774) at about 8
o’clock in the Morning, they had a most violent Gust of Wind that
perhaps was ever known there, but it lasted only about a Minute. It
seemed to come in a narrow Vein, and in its progress blew down and
totally destroyed the Light-House on that Island, besides several Shops,
Barns, etc. Had the Gust continued fifteen Minutes it is thought it
would not have left more than half the Buildings standing, in the Course
that it passed. But we don’t hear of any Persons receiving much hurt,
nor much Damage done, except the loss of the Light-House which in every
respect is considerable.”
[Illustration]
Two weeks later the citizens met and agreed to rebuild the lighthouse
for the third time “as High as the former one that blew down lately * *
* at the Town’s Expense.” As many of the captains from other ports
objected to the system of lighthouse dues, the townsmen petitioned the
General Court of Massachusetts for permission to levy tonnage dues, and,
beginning August 1, 1774, that court ordered that any vessel over 15
tons was subject to a charge of 6 shillings the first time each year it
entered or left Nantucket Harbor. In 1783, the lighthouse was burned to
the ground in a third disaster.
The first three lighthouses had been cheaply constructed, but the fourth
light, for economy’s sake, was practically nothing but a beacon built
even more cheaply. A wooden lantern, with glass windows was hoisted, in
1783, between two spars, with grooves to protect and steady the lantern.
This lamp gave a very dim light often compared by mariners to a
lightning bug; hence it received the name “bug light.” This “bug light”
did not prove satisfactory.
A fifth beaconlike light was substituted for this in 1786. It was merely
a frame, fitted at the top for lamps. This outfit was wrecked in a heavy
storm in 1788.
In August 1789 Congress passed the act transferring the colonial lights
to the Federal Government. Some time between 1788 and 1795 another
lighthouse was erected on Brant Point. According to a “Memoranda of
Cessions by Massachusetts,” dated 1795, “The lighthouse on Brant Point
with the tenements and land thereto belonging, owned by the State, was
ceded to the United States in 1795.”
This building, the sixth to be erected on this site, grew old with the
years and was condemned in 1825.
A small tower framework, the seventh light, was built on top of the
keeper’s dwelling in 1825. This had eight lamps arranged in a double
row, six in the lower series and two in the upper tier. Behind each of
these lamps were 12½-inch reflectors.
On November 9, 1853, C. A. Ogden, Major, Topographical Engineers,
recommended to the Lighthouse Board the erection, as the eighth light, a
sixth tower for a second-class lens light at Brant Point, Nantucket, at
a cost of $15,000. “The frame of the light tower at Brant Point is so
completely rotted as to require reconstruction with the least possible
delay,” the letter continued, “and believing it to be the wise policy of
the Board to make all its future construction permanent, I have asked
the above amount for the tower. The dwelling house is much decayed, but
has a nearly new roof and weather boarding on it, and may last for some
years yet.” A similar recommendation to the Board dated October 22,
1853, from Even W. Allen, collector and superintendent, district of
Nantucket, reads in part “The whole establishment at Brant Point is very
much out of repair, and from the age, material, and construction of the
building, I should not consider it good economy to repair it; the
interests of the Government and all concerned, seem to demand a more
permanent and commodious structure.” Accordingly, on August 3, 1854,
Congress appropriated $15,000 “for rebuilding the lighthouse at Brandt’s
Point, Nantucket, State of Massachusetts.” This appropriation was spent,
$6,383.85 in 1856 and $8,616.15 in 1857, for the erection of the new
tower. The following is a description of this tower. “The foundation of
the tower is of concrete cement 2 feet thick, and 18 feet in diameter.
The base is of hammered granite, laid in courses 2 feet thick to the
height of 12 feet. The interior of the base forms a cistern, where water
may be caught for household purposes. The column forming the tower is of
brick laid in cement, with an airspace within the walls for ventilation.
The lamp is of cast iron, with 12 lights of plate glass. A circular iron
stairway winds its spiral way up to a floor of iron, where rests the
lantern, 58 feet above the foundation and 47 feet above the ground.”
The lamp was a catadioptric apparatus of the fourth order, commonly
called the Fresnel light. The light was first exhibited December 10,
1856.
In 1900 a fixed red lens-lantern beacon light was installed at the
extremity of Brant Point, 600 feet from the tower, it having been found
necessary to move the light outward, owing to changes in the channel
leading into the harbor of Nantucket. This was the ninth light to be
located on the Brant Point site.
In 1901 a new tower, the tenth light and seventh tower, was built at the
extremity of the point, and the light exhibited there for the first time
on January 31, 1901. This is still in use as a white cylindrical
(wooden) tower, with foot bridge to shore on which is a 1300
candlepower, fourth-order electric light, fixed red, 26 feet above the
water, visible 10 miles. This is the lowest lighthouse in New England.
It is located on the west side of the entrance to Nantucket Harbor. A
fog bell completes the equipment at this station.
A long-standing dispute begun in 1887, over the boundaries of the land
constituting the lighthouse site, which belonged to the United States,
was finally settled in 1901 when five lots, embracing 5.9 acres, on
which three summer dwellings and part of a hotel were located, were
sold, as no longer needed for lighthouse purposes and the proceeds paid
into the Treasury. (5)
_MASSACHUSETTS_
BUZZARDS BAY LIGHTHOUSE
In 1960 the Coast Guard announced that it was replacing certain
lightships with fixed offshore structures. The structures they noted,
would provide more efficient optics and would provide greater luminous
range than was possible with lightships.
The first lightship to be replaced was the Buzzards Bay Lightship
located in Buzzards Bay approximately five miles south of Gooseberry
Neck, Mass., in 61 feet of water. The station was commissioned on
November 1, 1961.
The underwater portion of the structure is a framework consisting of
four 33 inch steel pipe members cross braced with 16 inch and 18 inch
diameter steel pipe horizontally and diagonally. Through each of the 33
inch main pipe members, 30 inch cylindrical steel piles were driven and
seated to bed rock at a depth of 268 feet below mean low water. A
portion of the piles is filled with concrete.
The platform above water rises 66 feet above mean low water. The
platform is two decks high, the lower deck housing fuel and water tanks
and the upper deck consisting of quarters for the five Coast Guardsmen
who man the station. The structure is equipped with a helicopter landing
deck.
The light at the station is 101 feet above water. A light of 5,000,000
candlepower is shown during periods of low visibility while a 400,000
candlepower light is normally in operation. The light can be seen for 16
miles. The station is also equipped with a radiobeacon and a fog horn.
The piles are floodlighted from sunset to sunrise.
Since this first offshore structure, the Coast Guard has placed five
more lights of this type in operation.
[Illustration]
_MASSACHUSETTS_
CAPE ANN LIGHTHOUSE, THATCHER’S ISLAND
[Illustration]
Thatcher’s Island was named for the Rev. Anthony Thatcher who, on the
night of August 14, 1635, was shipwrecked there. Of the 21 persons on
board, including his 4 children, only the minister and his wife were
saved.
On April 22, 1771, the Province of Massachusetts Bay Council authorized
the erection of twin lighthouses on Thatcher’s Island. Captain Kirkwood
was appointed keeper on December 21, 1771, but, being a Tory, was
removed from the island by the Minute Men during the early days of the
Revolution. The lights remained dark all during that war.
The lighthouses were among those turned over to the Federal Government
under the act of August 7, 1789. From 1792 to 1814 Capt. Joseph Sayward
was keeper and he was succeeded by Aaron Wheeler, who served 20 years.
One of Wheeler’s tasks was to clear the 300 yards between the towers of
large boulders and surface down the smaller ones. A bonus of $100 was
paid him for this work. Charles Wheeler, who succeeded him served until
1845. A fog bell was installed in 1853.
In 1859 Congress authorized the rebuilding of the two lighthouse towers
and two new towers, of cut granite, were built in 1860-61. Each was 124
feet high and fitted with a Fresnel lens of the first order.
A Civil War veteran named Bray was appointed keeper in 1865 and on the
day before Christmas, that year, took his assistant, who was running a
fever, ashore. While he was away a heavy snow storm came up and he could
not return. His wife, with two babies, alone on the island, fought her
way between snow drifts, to keep the lights in the two towers burning.
When her husband returned Christmas morning, it was only because she
had, by almost superhuman effort, kept the lights burning that he was
able to find his way and not miss the island altogether in the blinding
storm.
In 1891, Mr. John Farley, assistant keeper, was killed while landing at
the station in a heavy sea. In 1919, when President Wilson was returning
to the United States on the S. S. _America_, the great vessel narrowly
escaped the rocks on the island in a fog. Only the fog horn, heard at
the last minute, enabled the captain to change his course in time.
In 1932 the light on the northern tower was discontinued and that in the
southeast tower was electrified by means of a 6,000-foot submarine cable
to the mainland.
A gray stone tower, 124 feet above land and 166 feet above water, now
houses the 70,000-candlepower first-order electric light, which is
visible 19 miles. An air-diaphone fog signal is also located at the
station. (5) (7)
_MASSACHUSETTS_
DUMPLING ROCK LIGHTHOUSE, NEW BEDFORD HARBOR
The appropriation act of May 23, 1828, provided “That the Secretary of
the Treasury be empowered to provide by contract, for building a
lighthouse on Dumpling Rock, south of the mouth of Aponegansett River,
in the State of Massachusetts—$4,000.” Of this amount $3,832.47 was
spent in 1829 in the construction of a light on a keeper’s dwelling 43
feet above sea level. Ten years after it was built, Lt. Edward W.
Carpender, USN, reported: “It is a useful light in guiding vessels into
Dartmouth Harbor.” “The keeper and his family,” the report says, “were
in danger of being drowned out, until the Government built a wall around
the dwelling. Since then they have lived in safety. Located, as this
light is, on a small barren rock, with fewer advantages to the keeper
than perhaps any other light in the district, it would seem proper that
I should notice the fact of the salary being smaller by $50 than that of
many others.”
During the early days of the light the keeper had arranged a signal to
his friends whenever a homeward-bound vessel was sighted approaching New
Bedford Harbor. An arm on a post near the lighthouse tower was raised
and lowered so that the merchants could send their representatives out
to the incoming boat to sell their wares.
In 1890 the old stone dwelling, built in 1828, was torn down and
replaced upon the same foundation by a frame dwelling surmounted by a
wooden tower with a modern fourth-order lens. For its protection against
the sea, a bulkhead 90 feet long was built of hard pine timber heavily
bolted to the rock and reinforced by dry masonry from the stones of the
old dwelling. A Daboll trumpet, operated by an oil steam engine, was
established on October 12, 1897. The following year a telephone line was
run through a cable from the mainland at Nonquitt, Mass. In 1905 a short
breakwater was built to protect the landings. Keeper Fred Bohm
participated in many thrilling rescues during his term as keeper.
[Illustration]
The New England hurricane of 1938 damaged the lighthouse seriously. In
1940 the frame house was replaced with a skeleton tower and the light
changed to unwatched. The 400 candlepower light can be seen for 8 miles.
The light is located on a rock off Round Hill Point. (5)
_MASSACHUSETTS_
EASTERN POINT LIGHTHOUSE
[Illustration]
On east side of entrance to Gloucester Harbor.
For over 100 years the fishermen of Gloucester have been guided back to
their home port by a lighthouse on Eastern Point. The present brick
tower, painted a gleaming white, and standing on the long rocky point
forming the eastern side of the harbor, was built in 1890, replacing, on
the same foundation the original tower built in 1832. Before 1832 a
still older lighthouse, on Ten-Pound Island well inside of the harbor,
had served as an entrance light, but this light was never visible until
ships had actually found the entrance, hence the building of a
lighthouse on the Eastern Point where it could be seen from far
offshore.
Eastern Point Lighthouse is equipped with a power light and a fog
signal. Coast Guardsmen also control the radiobeacon, located on the end
of the breakwater. (1) (2)
_MASSACHUSETTS_
MINOTS LEDGE LIGHTHOUSE
Minots Ledge is one of the “Cohasset Rocks” which had been the scene of
countless wrecks since earliest times. Between 1832 and 1841 there were
40 wrecks on this and neighboring reefs. Between 1817 and 1847, it was
estimated that 40 lives and $364,000 in property had been lost in
shipwrecks in the vicinity of Minots Ledge, off Cohasset, Mass.
In 1843, Inspector I. W. P. Lewis, of the Lighthouse Service, emphasized
the great need for a lighthouse on Minots Ledge and his judgment was
sustained by Capt. William H. Swift, of the United States Topographical
Bureau, who recommended an iron-pile lighthouse as offering less
resistance to the waves than a stone tower.