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Lighthouses
The first navigational lights in the
The first light erected on the West Coast in the 1850's featured the same basic New England design: a
Notwithstanding differences in appearance and construction, most American lighthouses shared several features: a light, living quarters and sometimes a bell (or later, a foghorn).They also had something else in common: a keeper and, usually, the keeper's family. The keeper's essential task was trimming the lantern wick in order to maintain a steady, bright flame. The earliest keepers came from every walk of life - they were seamen, farmers, mechanics, and rough mill hands - and appointments were often handed out by local customs commissioners as political plums. After the administration of lighthouses was taken over in 1852 by the United States Lighthouse Board, an agency of the Treasury Department, the keeper corps gradually became highly professional.