Oregon's Heceta Head Lighthouse is a historic site that not only offers tours to visitors, but also features an onsite bed and breakfast with scenic views.
~ Photo Source: National Archives and Records Administration
The Department of Commerce took over this responsibility from the Treasury Department, which had overseen navigational aids since 1789. In 1939, the U.S. Coast Guard assumed responsibility for the nation’s lighthouses, updating and preserving these historic properties through the present day. Since the first U.S. lighthouse was built in 1716, these structures have represented feats of engineering and technology and a mastery of the nation’s sometimes treacherous seas and waterways. They have assisted Americans in wartime and helped sailors, fishermen, and travelers make a safe journey home.
1789-1910: The U.S. Lighthouse Establishment
The first U.S. Congress under President George Washington created the U.S. Lighthouse Establishment in 1789, bringing 12 colonial-era lighthouses under the jurisdiction of the Treasury Department. Treasury personnel, including Treasury Secretary Alexander Hamilton, became responsible for administering the nation’s lighthouses and navigational aids.
By 1820, the Lighthouse Establishment had built around 40 new lighthouses, and assigned the Establishment’s administration to Stephen Pleasonton, Fifth Auditor of the Treasury. Pleasonton’s 32-year tenure in this role was productive, but controversial. Under Pleasonton, the Establishment built over 200 lighthouses but faced an increasing number of complaints that the nation’s lighthouses were inadequate. This was largely due to Pleasonton’s resistance to technological updates. For example, in 1822, French engineer Augustin-Jean Fresnel invented a lens that significantly improved navigational beacons by producing a stronger beam of light. But Pleasonton refused to install these lenses in U.S. lighthouses until the 1840s, when Congress forced him to begin to do so. After Pleasonton’s tenure, in the1850s and 1860s, all the nation’s lighthouses were finally fitted with the Fresnel lenses.
A lighthouse keeper standing inside a giant Fresnel lens in 1939.
~ Photo Source: National Archives and Records Administration
Careful engineering and updated technology were vital for lighthouses, which were often built on exposed islands or rocks. The lives of sailors and lighthouse keepers depended on structures that could withstand all kinds of elements, as the notorious example of the Minots Ledge Light demonstrated.
This 1851 illustration depicts the Minots Ledge Light being washed away.
~ Photo Source: Library of Congress
The Minots Ledge Light, completed in January 1850, stood off the Massachusetts coast. It was constructed of iron piles sunken into rocks that were only exposed at low tide, with the keeper’s house and light stories above. Though the light took several years to build, it only lasted until April 1851, when a storm snapped the iron piles and washed away the light, and tragically, two keeper’s assistants inside. In 1860, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers completed a new structure for the site which withstands battering waves that reach as high as the light dome to this day.
The original Minots Ledge Light was one of several 19th century lighthouses worn or washed away by waves—underscoring the critical importance of using new engineering techniques and technologies that Pleasonton had resisted. In response to complaints about Pleasonton’s leadership, Congress set up a Lighthouse Board to administer the Establishment in 1852. This board relied on rigorous technical expertise and military engineering and organization to build, upgrade, and maintain lighthouses.
Over the next 58 years, the Lighthouse Board established a flag for the service, instituted uniforms for lighthouse keepers, introduced new types of light fuel and fog signals, published an annual list of lights for navigators, and kept important navigational aids lit through the Civil and Spanish-American wars. By the time the Lighthouse Service came under the direction of the Department of Commerce, the Lighthouse Board had developed a well-organized, up-to-date network of navigational aids across the nation’s states and territories.
This 1898 map shows districts the Lighthouse Establishment used to organize and oversee navigational aids. Congress originally established 8 districts in 1838, and carried out inspections in each district in response to complaints over Stephen Pleasonton's leadership.
~ Photo Source: National Archives and Records Administration
