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Up in the tower
The work of Lightkeepering, and the changing technology
Light the Lamps
By 1811, a former sea captain named Winslow Lewis had designed a style of Argand lamp (oil & wick burning lamp) that could be used with parabolic reflectors (mirror bowls) and a glass lens. He installed this system at the critical Boston Light lighthouse on Little Brewster Island.
His lamp’s light could be seen from much farther out, and they burned much less whale oil per week than the previous lamps. Each day, keepers needed to ensure there was enough oil and wicks for the lamps to burn. Chimneys for the smoke/soot needed to be changed to stay clean and efficient. Much of this system was also made of brass or other metal that needed to be polished and cleaned.
Lewis’s system became one of the leading lamp styles for Lighthouses in the United States. Most had anywhere from 6 to 20 reflectors and lamps facing out to sea.
Between 1910 and 1935, technological advancements in automation and remote control led to fewer and fewer keepers and assistants and fewer residences at lighthouses. These advancements included automatic alarm bells and radio beacons, battery-powered buoys, remote control fog bells, devices to automatically replace burnt-out lamps, automatic time clocks in range lights, and more. Nearly 800 employees were no longer needed after these advancements.
By the 1930s, most light stations had reliable electricity. Many no longer needed keepers. Boston Light on Little Brewster Island was the last lighthouse in the United States to have a professional keeper. She retired in 2023.
Today’s lighthouses utilize automated aerobeacons, LED beacons, and some use solar power. Fog signals are controlled by radio.
Lighthouses on Cape and Islands which had reflectors and lamps: Cuttyhunk Light, Mayo Beach Light, Highland, Three Sisters, Race Point Light, Point Gammon Light, Brant Point, Edgartown Harbor, Gay Head Light
Automated right out of the job
“Fre-nel”
Augustin Fresnel was a member of the French Commission for Lighthouses (La Commission des phares). They investigated new and improved types of lights and lenses to enhance French lighthouses and other aids to navigation. During the 1820s, Fresnel designed several forms of the lens which now takes his name.
These are the two forms of Fresnel lenses, a flashing and a constant beam. It was possible to have a light with a solid beam interrupted by flashes, or to include color flashes with colored glass. It was all in how the glass lenses were designed.
Beginning in the 1850s, after the Lighthouse Establishment was replaced by the lighthouse Board, these heavy glass lenses quickly replaced the old system of reflectors.
The most common lens order for the Cape and Islands lights was the Fourth Order lens. Fourth Orders are between 2 and 3 feet tall and can be made as either flashing or solid-beam lenses. West Chop Light’s Fourth Order lens is still in use.
The Cape Cod Maritime Museum's Lighthouse Artifact collection dates to the Lighthouse Establishment period. It was generously donated to us by Richard Boonisar.
Despite this, Pleasanton resisted technological change. He refused to change to the new Fresnel lens even after being forced to test them in the 1840s.
Pleasanton (and Congress) fielded complaint after complaint about the poor quality of lighthouse lights from mariners and navigators, and lighthouse inspections revealed poor construction and poor choices of location.
In 1852, Congress abolished the Lighthouse Establishment and created the U.S. Lighthouse Board. This came after a year-long investigation by distinguished military officers and non-military scientists into the problems and complaints against the Establishment. Many of these same investigators were hired to oversee the construction and maintenance of aids to navigation under the new Lighthouse Board.
The Board implemented new types of towers, lights, and lenses, and one of their first major technological advancements was the purchase and installation of Fresnel lenses in nearly all lighthouses across the US. They also updated the instructions published for keepers and mandated that all keepers be able to read and write in order to read their instructions and file reports.
In the 1850s, the Board declared specific color schemes for buoys, range lights, and day markers. Through the 1850s and 60s, manual fog bells were replaced by whistles, automated bells, and siren or reed trumpets. In 1900, the Board began to convert lighthouses to electric service, beginning with the Statue of Liberty.
By 1910 there were 11,713 aids to navigation, 850 of which were lighthouses. This includes more than 25 lighthouses on the Cape and Islands alone. The Lighthouse Board was more military than civilian in its oversight and management. Congress wanted this to change, and in 1910, the Board was abolished, and the new Bureau of Lighthouses under the Department of Commerce and Labor was created.
While officially a ‘bureau,’ it is known more commonly as the Lighthouse Service, as this was the name given on the legislation creating it. President Taft appointed George Putnam as the Commissioner of Lighthouses, a position he held for 25 years. By the end of Putnam’s oversight of the Lighthouse Service, the United States’ shipping safety record was second only to the Netherlands.
In 1915, the US Lifesaving Service and the Revenue-Cutter Service were merged by an Act of Congress, and the United States Coast guard was formed. In 1939, the Coast Guard took over maintaining the nation’s lighthouses
By the 1930s, most light stations had reliable electricity. Today, it's more cost-effective to construct and maintain steel structures or buoys rather than traditional lighthouse towers, so many lighthouses (the physical towers) and their respective houses and outbuildings have been transferred to non-profit or private ownership.
Through the Pages of History
The Establishment, the Board, The Service, and now the Guard
In 1789, George Washington signed the ninth act of Congress, making lighthouses and other formal Aids to Navigation the responsibility of the Treasury Department. Until this point, lighthouse costs, construction, and keeping were the responsibility of each individual state.
The first person to oversee the Treasury’s Lighthouse Establishment was Alexander Hamilton. Two others succeeded him, and in 1820, it was passed to Stephen Pleasonton, Fifth Auditor of the Treasury.
In 1796, Congress approved $8,000 (about $175,000 today) for a lighthouse on Cape Cod. Highland Light was first lit in November of 1797, and Isaac Small, who owned the land it sat on, was its first keeper. It was only the 20th lighthouse in the new United States.
Under Pleasonton, the number of lighthouses and other navigation aids grew. In 1822, there were 70 lighthouses across the entire country, and only about 4 Lightships. By 1852, there were 331 Lighthouses and 42 Lightships.
dAILY TASKS
The Establishment, the Board, The Service, and now the Guard
Driven by curiosity and built on purpose, this is where bold thinking meets thoughtful execution. Let’s create something meaningful together.
iNTO THE MIST AND FOG
The Establishment, the Board, The Service, and now the Guard
Driven by curiosity and built on purpose, this is where bold thinking meets thoughtful execution. Let’s create something meaningful together.