1716 - First lighthouse built in the United States was Boston Lighthouse built on Little Brewster Island.
1719 - First Fog Signal was a cannon placed near Boston Lighthouse.
1789 - 7 August. An Act of Congress, the first to make any provisions for public works, created the Lighthouse Establishment.
1791 - The first lighthouse completed under the ownership of the federal government was completed at Portland Head Light in Maine.
1792 - Cape Henry Lighthouse, Virginia, became the first lighthouse built and completed by the Federal Government.
1793 - First Lightship approved by President George Washington; it would be used on the Delaware River.
1794 - 5 June. The Third Congress authorized an additional ten revenue cutters and gave the Treasury Department responsibility for lighthouses, beacons, buoys, and piers.
1804 - The United States Congress authorizes the construction of a lighthouse "… on or near the pitch of Cape Lookout."
1812 - The first Cape Lookout Lighthouse is completed at a cost of $20,678.54. It is a wood frame octagonal tower with a brick stairwell.
1818 - First lighthouses on the Great Lakes were established at Buffalo, NY on Lake Erie and Presque Isle, PA, also on Lake Erie.
1820 - First use of bells as a fog signal device was at West Quoddy Head Light in Maine.
1822 - The French physicist, Augustin Fresnel, invented the Fresnel lens that revolutionized lighthouses throughout the world. Its simple design allowed light to travel much farther from a lighthouse beam than with a conventional lens.
1831 - First lighthouse in the United States to operate using natural gas was the lighthouse at Barcelona (Portland Harbor), NY on the south shore of Lake Erie.
1837 - The first lightship on the Great Lakes began operation. It was stationed at the junction of Lakes Huron and Michigan.
1840 - The first Lighthouse Tender of the U.S. Lighthouse Service started service. It was the former U.S. Revenue Service Cutter RUSH.
1841 - The first Fresnel lens used in a United States lighthouse was imported from France and installed in Navesink Lighthouse in New Jersey.
1844 - Long Island Head Lighthouse in Boston Harbor, Massachusetts became the first cast iron lighthouse to be built in the United States.
1850 - First screw-pile lighthouse was constructed in the United States at Brandywine Shoal.
1850 - First iron lighthouse in the United States was built in a position directly exposed to the sweep of the ocean was completed at Minot's Ledge, MA.
1852 - The Lighthouse Board was created to oversee all of the lighthouses in the United States.
1854 - First lighthouse on the Pacific coast was completed on Alcatraz Island in San Francisco Bay.
1860 - The first stone lighthouse built in the ocean in the United States is completed at Minot's Ledge, MA.
1869 - First steam-powered fog signals in the United States were installed at Maine lighthouses at West Quoddy Head and Cape Elizabeth. 1869 - First Flag - The first use of the U.S. Lighthouse Service flag was a red, white and blue pennant with a lighthouse.
1871 - Duxbury Pier Light became the first caisson lighthouse built in the United States.
1877 - Kerosene became the primary fuel used to power the lighthouses. Prior to that various illuminants were used such as sperm oil, colza or rapeseed oil, and lard oil. 1884 - First uniforms were introduced for male lighthouse keepers as well as for masters, mates and engineers of lightships and tenders.
1884 - The first use of electricity for lighthouse purposes was at the Hell Gate Lighthouse at the Hell Gate Passage, East River, Long Island Sound, New York.
1886 - The Statue of Liberty was second lighthouse to utilize electricity to become the first "permanently" electrified lighthouse in the United States.
1898 - All seacoast lighthouses were turned off for the first time in history as a precaution during the Spanish-American War.
1898 - The first use of electricity to light a Fresnel lens at a lighthouse in the United States took place on June 30, 1898 at the Navesink Light Station in Highlands, New Jersey.
1903 - On July 1, 1903 the United States Light-House Board under the Department of the Treasury was terminated and transferred to the newly created United States Bureau of Lighthouses to be operated under the Department of Commerce.
1910 - Name Change. An act of Congress abolished the Lighthouse Board and created the Bureau of Lighthouses to be in charge of all lighthouses, thus changing its operating name from the United States Lighthouse Establishment (USLHE) to the United States Lighthouse Service (USHLS).
1916 - First powerboats for lighthouses were designed, built and tested at Great Lakes lighthouses.
1917 - World War I saw the transfer of most lighthouse tenders, lightships and primary lighthouses to War Department and U.S. Navy until the end of the war.
1917 - An Act of Congress appropriated $300,000 to install telephones and telephone lines to all Coast Guard Stations and the most important lighthouses.
1926 - The Lighthouse Airways Division was established by U.S. Lighthouse Service; its work covering the examination of airways and landing fields and the erection of aids to air navigation.
1928 - First radio beacon in the United States, automatic in operation, was completed and put into commission at Cape Henry Lighthouse, Virginia.
1933 - The U.S. Lighthouse Service Airways Division was transferred to Department of Commerce and put under the control of the Assistant Secretary for Aeronautics.
1936 - A report which indicated that less than one percent of the approximate 5000 total employees of the U.S. Lighthouse Service were located away from the seat of government in Washington D.C.
1937 - Trucks replacing tenders - With the ever-improving road system in the United States, the Lighthouse Service started using motor trucks to supply some lighthouses and other easy to reach shoreline aids to navigation.
1939 - (July, 1) The United States Lighthouse Service is abolished and merged into the United States Coast Guard.
1950 - The Cape Lookout Lighthouse becomes automated--making it able to turn the light on and off as needed. Electrical power is still provided by diesel powered generators, requiring someone to maintain and repair the generators.

Back to Top