HISTORICALLY FAMOUS
LIGHTHOUSES
CG-232
TABLE OF CONTENTS
Page [Foreword] v ALASKA [Cape Sarichef Lighthouse, Unimak Island] 1 [Cape Spencer Lighthouse] 2 [Scotch Cap Lighthouse, Unimak Island] 3 CALIFORNIA [Farallon Lighthouse] 4 [Mile Rocks Lighthouse] 5 [Pigeon Point Lighthouse] 6 [St. George Reef Lighthouse] 7 [Trinidad Head Lighthouse] 8 CONNECTICUT [New London Harbor Lighthouse] 9, 10 DELAWARE [Cape Henlopen Lighthouse] 11 [Fenwick Island Lighthouse] 13 FLORIDA [American Shoal Lighthouse] 15 [Cape Florida Lighthouse] 16 [Cape San Blas Lighthouse] 18 GEORGIA [Tybee Lighthouse, Tybee Island, Savannah River] 21 HAWAII [Kilauea Point Lighthouse] 24 [Makapuu Point Lighthouse] 25 LOUISIANA [Timbalier Lighthouse] 26 [Boon Island Lighthouse] 27 MAINE [Cape Elizabeth Lighthouse] 28 [Dice Head Lighthouse] 30 [Portland Head Lighthouse] 31 [Saddleback Ledge Lighthouse] 32 MASSACHUSETTS [Boston Lighthouse, Little Brewster Island] 33 [Brant Point Lighthouse] 35 [Buzzards Bay Lighthouse] 38 [Cape Ann Lighthouse, Thatcher’s Island] 40 [Dumpling Rock Lighthouse, New Bedford Harbor] 41 [Eastern Point Lighthouse] 43 [Minots Ledge Lighthouse] 43 [Nantucket (Great Point) Lighthouse] 47 [Newburyport Harbor Lighthouse, Plum Island] 49 [Plymouth (Gurnet) Lighthouse] 50 MICHIGAN [Little Sable Lighthouse] 53 [Spectacle Reef Lighthouse] 54 [Standard Rock Lighthouse, Lake Superior] 56 MINNESOTA [Split Rock Lighthouse] 57 NEW HAMPSHIRE [Isle of Shoals Lighthouse] 59 [Portsmouth Harbor Lighthouse] 61 NEW JERSEY [Navesink Lighthouse] 62 [Sandy Hook Lighthouse] 63 NEW YORK [Crown Point Memorial, Lake Champlain] 64 [Portland Harbor (Barcelona) Lighthouse, Lake Erie] 65 [Race Rock Lighthouse] 67 NORTH CAROLINA [Cape Fear Lighthouse “Bald Head Light”] 69 [Cape Hatteras Lighthouse] 71 [Cape Lookout Lighthouse] 73 [Ocracoke Lighthouse] 75 OREGON [Tillamook Rock Lighthouse] 77 RHODE ISLAND [Beavertail Lighthouse] 78 [Prudence Island Lighthouse] 78 SOUTH CAROLINA [Charleston Lighthouse, Morris Island] 80 TEXAS [Point Isabel Lighthouse] 82 VIRGINIA [Cape Charles Lighthouse] 83 [Cape Henry Lighthouse] 85 WASHINGTON [Cape Flattery Lighthouse] 87
Foreword
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.