History of

Who needs ‘em?

2 Costa Concordia, 2012 3 4 The main purpose of lighthouses is as an aid to navigation.

4 5 6

Light sources: an evolution of technologies.

7 Lighthouses started simply 8 Early Eddystone Light 9 Pan and Wick 10 11 Wick Lamps Incandescent Oil Vapor (IOV) Lamp 12 Auto-changers

13 DCB-224 Aero Beacon 14 Umpqua River 1895

15 Point Loma LED Installation: $4.60 a day to 0.48 per day to operate 16 History of Lighthouses

Ancient Roman Medieval Modern Era California History of Lighthouses

Ancient Times

Before lighthouses • Hard for us to appreciate the night time darkness of Ancient Times • Beacon fires on hilltops or beaches - guided mariners and warned of dangers • Earliest references made in 8th Century BC in Homer’s Illiad and Oddyssey Phoenicians

• Phoenicians traded around the Mediterranean and possibly as far as Great Britain • Routes marked with “lighthouses”- wood fires or torches • After 1st century: candles or oil lamps enclosed with glass or thin horn panes Colossus of Rhodes

Ancient wonders: Colossus of Rhodes (Greece)

• Bronze statue of Helios, Greek god of sun

• In 292 BC the statue was completed

• Took 12 years to build

• 100 feet high on island in harbor of Rhodes

• Reported to have fires inside the head visible through its eyes

• Destroyed by earthquake in 244 BC Pharos • On the island of Pharos in Alexandria, Greece • Completed in 280 BC • Estimated height 400 feet • Three levels • Square level 236’ high and 100’ square • Octagonal story 115’ high • Cylindrical tier 85’ high • Brazier with fire on top • Spiral ramp to the top • Fine quality stone cemented together with melted lead • Ptolomy II, Macedonian ruler of Egypt and architect, Sostratus of Cnidus • Damaged in 641 AD when Alexandria fell to Islamic troops • Destroyed by earthquake in 1346 • Ruble used in Islamic fortress in 1477

• ( in French is phare and faro in Spanish) History of Lighthouses

Roman Times Roman Empire

• Romans also used lighthouses as they expanded their empire. • From the Black Sea to the Atlantic Ocean, as far north as , • By 400 AD about 30 Roman lighthouses •Style was short and sturdy towers with fire on top Dover Lighthouse from Roman times • Built in 1st century AD • Octagonal • 29 feet tall Dover Boulogne Lighthouse, France

• Built 40 AD • By deranged Emperor Caligula to commemorate his victory over Neptune • 124 feet high • Reputedly restored by Charlemagne in 800 AD. • Finally fell into the sea in 1644 - Collapsed because of erosion La Coruña: This is the world's oldest working lighthouse, built about 100 AD. It was renovated and altered in 1682 and again in 1778. It is the only Roman lighthouse in working order. Coal fire replaced by Fresnel and olive oil lamp in 1847. History of Lighthouses

Medieval Times

•Monks tried to assist mariners by lighting fires in church towers. • Dark ages halted construction until 1100 AD • Italy and France were most advanced • Mentioned often in travel books after 1500 • By 1600, 30 or more major lights were in use • Most were similar to ancient ones • Burned wood, coal or open torches; sometimes candles or oil lamps Laterna of • 1st built in 1139 • About 200 feet high • Rebuilt 1544 after being damaged in fighting, still in use • Keeper in 1449 was Antonio Columbo, uncle of Christopher Columbus • 1544 version had square foundation, with 2 stone tiers stacked above

La Laterna, Genoa, Italy Cordouan, France Cordouan: This is the oldest lighthouse in France, and the first in the world to be built on the open ocean. It was extended in height and renovated 1786-1790. On the • New tower lit 1611 first floor, there is a chapel, and • Took 27 years to build because there is a room in the tower called it kept sinking into the island the "King's Bedroom," included in • When finished in 1611 island case there was a visit from King was totally submerged Louis XIV. This was the first • 135’ in diameter at the base, lighthouse in the world to use a 100’ high (1823). • A magnificent achievement for the day • Elaborate interior of vaulted rooms, decorated with gilt, carved statuary & arched doorways St. Catherine’s Oratory Isle of Wight 1348 Hanseatic League

• Commercial trading organization along and Germany • Established and maintained a trade monopoly over the Baltic Sea. Mutual protection against pirates. • And to a certain extent the North Sea, and most of Northern Europe • 16 lights established by 1600 • Best lighted area of the time • Extensive use of Church towers • Church towers also used Great Britain Riga church History of Lighthouses

Modern Era 1) Winstanley's Tower lit 1698 2) Rudyard's Tower lit 1709 Eddystone Lights, off Plymouth, England 3) Smeaton's Tower lit 1759 (lasted 123 years) 4) Douglass's Tower lit 1882 England's Eddystone Light • The current tower is the 4th built on this site. • The 3rd lighthouse was Smeaton's Tower • Perhaps the best known of the four. • Influenced modern lighthouse design. • Importance in the use of concrete [4] Douglass’s Lighthouse

Lit 1882

Still in service

Built with Robert Stevenson's upgrades of Smeaton’s technology (Stub)

Helipad, Automated

1698-1709-1759-1882

38 Eddystone Lights: England's Eddystone Light is probably the most famous lighthouse in the world. The first Eddystone Light was the first lighthouse anywhere to be built on an exposed rock in the open ocean. Its builder, Henry Winstanley, died at the lighthouse when it was destroyed by a storm in 1703. The 1759 tower was dismantled stone by stone and stands today at Plymouth Hoe as a monument to its builder, Winstanley's Tower - lit 1698

• 120 feet wooden tower • 12 iron stanchions grouted into hard red rock • Lasted until 1703 • Swept away in a severe storm • Its builder Henry Winstanley - died at the lighthouse in the 1703 storm Smeaton's Tower - lit 1759

•Used dovetailed and interlocking blocks • Smeaton was professional engineer. • Curved hyperbolic profile became classic lighthouse design – like an oak • Modified to solid cylindrical base to break the waves • Replaced in 1882 by Douglass tower • The tower was dismantled stone-by-stone and stands today at Plymouth Hoe as a monument to Smeaton •Note the chandelier Bell Rock: This lighthouse was designed by Lighthouse Engineer Robert Stevenson. Went into service in 1811.

Scotland Bell Rock, • Stevensons were a family of lighthouse engineers • Same family as Robert Louis Stevenson (RLS) • Built upon Smeaton’s design to put lighthouses on off shore reefs and other difficult places • Scotland’s coastline became one of the best lit in the world •Began as a charitable guild of good samaritans in 12th century. •First official record was a royal charter granted by Henry VIII in 1514 to a fraternity of mariners called the Guild of the Holy Trinity “so that they might regulate the pilotage of ships in the King’s streams.” “Trinity” is believed to refer to the Holy Trinity.

•James I in 1604 gave Trinity House rights regarding compulsory pilotage of shipping and exclusive right to license pilots in the Thames. Trinity House was the pilot authority for most major port until 1987. Gibraltar •TH is the general lighthouse authority for England, Wales, Channel Islands and Gibraltar. Did not have a monopoly until 1836. Before that, private lighthouses could be erected and charges, called “”, levied by customs officials on ships entering or leaving port were paid to the lighthouse owners. Trinity House bought all the private lighthouses by 1841, and lightkeepers were employed by Trinity House, and financed by the “light dues”

•It has also been a charitable organization for the relief of mariners and their dependents, financed by income from the “light dues” and bequests. Trinity House

Now available for weddings Trinity House

Operational headquarters, Harwich History of Lighthouses

United States Boston Harbor Light Little Brewster Island, MA

Boston Light was America's first light station (1716) and the last to be automated (1998). It is still staffed by the Coast Guard. The first lighthouse was destroyed by the British at the beginning of the American Revolution in 1776; the present lighthouse was built in 1783. was designated a National Historic Landmark in 1964. Little Brewster Island is now part of the Boston Harbor Islands National Recreation Area. Sandy Hook

Constructed 1764

The lighthouse, which is the oldest lighthouse tower in the U.S., reopened to the public on June 10, 2000 after a $600,000 restoration that took eight months to complete. Sandy Hook Light is within the Gateway National Recreation Area. The lighthouse is managed by the National Park Service. The active optic is still maintained by the Coast Guard, and the New Jersey Lighthouse Society conducts tours. Sandy Hook Light is a National Historic Landmark. Cape Hatteras

The present lighthouse was constructed in 1869-70 at a cost exceeding $150,000. Well over one million bricks were used to construct the 208-foot tower, which is the tallest in the United States. The lighthouse was set on a “floating foundation” (two layers of pine beams placed crossways below the water table), which remained perfectly preserved for well over a century. On June 17, 1999, the lighthouse was raised six feet off its base and carefully moved, in five-foot increments, along a roadway constructed for that purpose. It arrived safely at its new location on July 9, 1999, and was relit on November 13. Cape Hatteras, North Carolina

•The Civil War saw in the center of conflict. •The Confederate army wanted to destroy the lighthouse to prevent Union ships benefiting from it, and naturally the Union forces wanted to protect the lighthouse.

•After several battles in 1861, defeated Confederate troops retreated with the lighthouse’s Fresnel lens. •In 1862, the tower was relit with a second-order Fresnel lens, and then upgraded the following year with a first-order lens. •The tower was severely damaged in the war, and after peace was restored to the country, the Lighthouse Board determined it would be less costly to build a new lighthouse, 600 feet to the north, rather than repair and refit the existing one. • •The original Cape Hatteras Light was destroyed in a blast of dynamite, and the Fresnel lens it had most recently housed was shipped to California for use in the . •In 2002, it was discovered that this “new” lens was actually the same lens used in the original tower before the Confederates absconded with it. •The lens remained hidden throughout the Civil War, and when it was finally located, it was shipped to Paris for cleaning. Upon its return, it was placed in storage at the Lighthouse Depot on Staten Island until the new tower was ready to receive it. California

History of Lighthouses

Established as a result of the Gold Rush • 1850 Congress appropriated funds to build 8 lighthouses • 7 in California • 1 in Washington territory • The plan was to use a single design • 1 ½ story cottage, with a tower protruding through the center of the roof. • This is also called a Cape Cod design. • 1852 change-order to use Fresnel instead of lamp reflectors. • In some cases the buildings were done before the lens arrived from France Bay Area

Bay Area

Original 8 1) Alcatraz Island 1854 2) Point Pinos 1855 3) Fort Point 1855 4) Point Loma 1855 5) Farallon Islands 1855 6) Point Conception 1856 7) Cape Disappointment 1856 WA 8) Humboldt Harbor 1856 Locations

• The 1st Eight West Coast lighthouses? - it is a little confusing Some of the towers had to be rebuilt for Fresnel lenses One entire lighthouse was torn down before it got it’s lens Some were built too high and new tower had to be built in a lower location A couple of the 2nd set of eight were completed before the 1st set

• California got 3 lighthouses in the 2nd set of eight on the West Coast 1) Point Bonita, CA 2) Santa Barbara, CA 3) Crescent City – Battery Point, CA 4) Cape Flattery, WA 5) Umpqua River, OR 6) Smith Island, WA 7) New Dungeness, WA 8) Willapa, WA

• Many more added later Alcatraz Island 1854

•Around the time the lighthouse was completed, military fortifications were also placed on the island. • The Alcatraz Citadel, a multi-story fortified barracks was finished in 1859 on the island's uppermost plateau just north of the lighthouse. • In 1909, the Citadel was razed and in its place the present cellhouse was built. • With its 600 cells, the cellhouse was reportedly the largest reinforced concrete building in the world. • Realizing that the new structure would interfere with the operation of the lighthouse, a taller 84-foot, concrete tower was built just south of the original lighthouse. • Attached to the base of the tower was a commodious dwelling designed for three keepers and their families. • The original lighthouse, which had been damaged during the 1906 San Francisco earthquake, was eventually torn down. Point Pinos 1855 • Oldest active lighthouse on the west coast • In operation since February 1, 1855. • A second-order lens was ordered for the tower but proved to be too large • The third-order Fresnel lens intended for the Fort Point Lighthouse was used instead. • This third-order lens is still in use today. Fort Point 1855

•Construction of the original lighthouse and its twin on Alcatraz Island began in 1852. •The Fort Point Lighthouse was completed in 1853, shortly after the Alcatraz Light, but both sat empty and idle awaiting their lighting apparatus from France. •Just three months after it was completed and before its Fresnel lens ever arrived, the Fort Point Light was razed. •The Army had decided that the strategic point was needed for the construction of a fort. •The 2nd lighthouse at Fort Point, a squat wooden tower with four sides that sloped up to a square watch room. •Was built on the narrow ledge between the fort and the water. •Pictured is the 3rd lighthouse Old Point Loma 1855

• At a height of 462 feet, Point Loma's light was the highest in the nation • Reportedly spotted by a ship thirty-nine miles at sea. • This report must have been a reflection of the light from clouds as physics limits the distance at which a direct beam of light could be seen from Point Loma to under thirty miles. • The light's lofty perch meant it was often shrouded in fog, rendering it useless to mariners. • In 1891, after just 36 years of service, Point Loma's light was extinguished, and the light from the newly constructed metal tower at the foot of Point Loma was first exhibited. Farallon Islands 1855

• Like most of the early California lighthouses, this light was to be of the Cape Cod design • The tower protruding through the roof of the keeper's dwelling. • However, due to narrowness of the island's summit, only a tower was placed atop the peak, while the keeper's quarters was built on a large plateau on the eastern side of the island. • After the tower was complete, it proved too small for the first-order Fresnel lens. • The tower had to be torn down and rebuilt. • Hauling the building supplies up the crumbling slopes was an arduous task. Point Conception 1856

• The history of the Point Conception Lighthouse has some striking similarities to the history of the Old Point Loma Lighthouse. • The original Point Conception Lighthouse was also a one-story, cape cod dwelling with a tower rising through the center. • Likewise, it sat high on a promontory, 215 feet above the ocean. • Originally designed to house the old-fashioned and reflector system, the tower portion of the dwelling had to be torn down and reconstructed to accommodate the Lighthouse Board's decision to use a first-order Fresnel lens. • The light was first activated on February 1, 1856, making it the sixth lighthouse in California and on the west coast. • One of the first eight on the West Coast. In 1852, funds were appropriated to build it. • On September 18, 1853, the Oriole, which was bringing the building materials to the site, wrecked directly below the cape. • The crew narrowly escaped with their lives. The entire cargo was lost. Two years later construction finally got underway. • Delayed again when it was discovered that the lantern room was not large enough to accommodate the four-ton first-order Fresnel Lens. • The entire tower had to be dismantled brick by brick and rebuilt. • The lighthouse has continued to watch over the entrance of the Columbia River since it was first lit on October 15, 1856. It stands 53 feet tall with a focal plane 220 feet above sea. Its black horizontal stripe was added later to distinguish it from North Head Lighthouse located just two miles north.

Cape Disappointment 1856 Washington Territory Humboldt Harbor 1856

•The last of the original eight west coast lights to become operational.

• Due to problems with contractors and difficulty in transporting supplies to the site, a couple of the second set of eight lighthouses commissioned for the west coast were actually completed before the Humboldt Harbor Lighthouse.

• The low-lying site selected for the lighthouse proved problematic and plans to relocate the light were soon formulated as noted in the 1867 Annual Report of the Lighthouse Board

• Table Bluff replace this light in 1892

• Patterned after the one built in 1890 at San Luis Obispo and consisted of a square tower attached to an ornate Victorian dwelling

•Ballast Point Lighthouse also used the same Victorian design. Wrap Up Throughout history, lighthouses: • Were established to improve trade • Have a tradition of being ornate • Were setup in series on difficult building sites • Succumbed to the elements • Have been strategic targets of wars • Were rebuilt and improved

In California • Designs were recycled and used in multiple sites. • Lenses were sometimes moved from one lighthouse to another. • They learned from their mistakes.