This table is a compilation of information culled from the Inspection Reports contained within the National Archives Database. It is intended to accompany the article “Weights and Weightways at American Lighthouses” by John T. Graham which appears in volume 32, number 1 of The Keeper’s Log. The reports included the following categories of information: Lighthouse name; Date of report; Order of the lens; Pounds of weight in use; Lens rotation time; Length of Drop Tube (if any); Time between windings; and whether the lens turned on ball bearings, chariot wheels, or a mercury float system. In one example, the following information was on a 1922 inspection report for the Gay Head, Massachusetts, lighthouse: First Order Lens; 150 pounds of weight in use; Lens rotated once every 4 minutes; Drop Tube was 20-feet long; Weights were wound every 4 hours; a Chariot Wheel system was in use. In many of the reports, data was simply not included for all of the categories, but they nonetheless give a heretofore underappreciated glimpse into this aspect of lighthouse operation.
LIGHTHOUSE | YEAR | ORDER | POUNDS | ROT. TIME | DROP TUBE FT. | WIND TIME HR. | BB CW MF |
Makapuu HI | 1916 ,27 | 0 | 121 | no tube | 3.5 | BB | |
Barnegat NJ | 1910 | 1 | 4 M | only part used | 2 | CW | |
Cape Cod MA | 1927 | 1 | 200 | 20 s | 2.25 | MF | |
Cape Fear NC | 1918 | 1 | 500 | 4 m | 2 | CW | |
Cape Hatteras NC | 1927 | 1 | 150 | 2' 24" | 130 | 15 | CW |
Cape May NJ | 1907 | 1 | 8 M | 8 | CW | ||
Cape Meares OR | 1910 | 1 | 4 M | 10 | 2.5 | CW | |
Cape Mendocino CA | 1907 | 1 | 8 M | 3 | CW | ||
Carysfort Reef FL | 1912 | 1 | 5.33 M | 11 | 3.5 | BB | |
Destruction Island WA | 1910 | 1 | 4 M | no tube 64' drop | 5 | CW | |
Gay Head MA | 1922 | 1 | 150 | 4 M | 20 | 4 | CW |
Graves MA | 1927 | 1 | 250 | 18 S | 45 | 1.2 | MF |
Jupiter Inlet FL | 1911 | 1 | 130 | 6 M | no tube | 6 | CW |
Pensacola FL | 1928 | 1 | 80 | 8 M | 2.75 | CW | |
Point Arena CA | 1908 | 1 | 18 S | 54 | 2 | MF | |
Point Conception CA | 1907 | 1 | 8 M | 8 | 4 | CW | |
Point Reyes CA | 1907 | 1 | 2 M | 22 | 2.2 | CW | |
Point Sur CA | 1907 | 1 | 4 M | 26 | 5.5 | CW | |
St. Augustine FL | 1911 | 1 | 270 | 9 M | 1st landing to pit | 2.75 | CW |
Hillsboro Inlet FL | 1911 | 2 | 100 | 20 S | none, cntr of strs | 2 | MF |
Isle of Shoals NH | 1935 | 2 | 160 | 5 M | 40 | 5 | CW |
Kilauea Point HI | 1913, 16, 27 | 2 | 503 | 20 S | 34 | 3.75 | MF |
Minots Ledge MA | 1922 | 2 | 100 | 30 S | no tube | 3 | MF |
Molokai HI | 1910 | 2 | 272 | 40 S | 33 | 3 | MF |
Molokai HI | 1927 | 2 | 166 | 20 S | 45 | 2.75 | MF |
Moose Peak ME | 1935 | 2 | 100 | 6 M | 40 | 7 | CW |
Petit Manan ME | 1935 | 2 | 250 | 6 M | 22 | 5.5 | CW |
Rock of Ages MI | 1912 | 2 | 235 | 20 S | 94 | 5 | MF |
Sankaty Head MA | 1927 | 2 | 110 | 8 M | 5.5 | CW | |
White Shoal MI | 1911 | 2 | 225 | 16 S | 44 | 2.25 | MF |
Amelia Island FL | 1921 | 3 | 30 | 27 | 4 | ||
Bolivar Point TX | 1927 | 3 | 40 | 2 m | 12 | ||
Cape Hinchenbrook AK | 1935 | 3 | 185 | 20 S | 27 | 3 | MF |
Cape San Blas FL | 1927 | 3 | 75 | 40 S | 80 | 14 | BB |
Cape San Juan PR | 1912 | 3 | 254 | 9 M | 27 | 4 | CW |
Cape Spencer AK | 1927 | 3 | 270 | 15 S | 28 | MF | |
Cape St. Elias | 1916 | 3 | 270 | 20 S | 30 | 6 | MF |
Chicago Harbor IL | 1927 | 3 | 125 | 80 S | 54 | 3.25 | BB |
Devils Island WI | 1910 | 3 | 80 S | full len. Of tower | 2.75 | BB | |
Galveston Jetty TX | 1927 | 3 | 138 | 2 M | no tube | 8 | MF |
Little Sable MI | 1911 | 3 | 90 | 78 | 11 | CW | |
Marblehead OH | 1909 | 3 | 20 S | 57 | 4 | ||
Matagorda TX | 1927 | 3 | 121 | open tower | 4 | BB | |
Outer Island WI | 1910 | 3 | 9 M | whole height | 8 | CW | |
Point Loma CA | 1915 | 3 | 130 | 3 M | 47 | 6.5 | CW |
Sabine Pass LA | 1927 | 3 | 150 | 1.5 M | 50 | 4 | BB |
Sanibel FL | 1912 | 3 | 115 | 6 M | 65 | 12 | BB |
Thirty Mile Point NY | 1909 | 3 | 4.5 M | 34 | 4 | CW | |
Brazos River TX | 1911 | 3.5 | 165 | 10 s | 9.5 | MF | |
Chandeleur LA | 1928 | 3.5 | 60 | 20 S | 60 | 4.5 | MF |
Alcatraz CA | 1915 | 4 | 80 | 30 s | 20 | 4 | |
Alki Point AK | 1913 | 4 | 110 | 10 s | 26 | 5 | |
Baker Island ME | 1935 | 4 | 70 | 3 m | 27 | 6 | |
Barbers Point HI | 1927 | 4 | 110 | 5 s | 23 | 5 | |
Barbers Point HI | 1916 | 4 | 278 | 5 s | 23 | 5.75 | |
Barbers Point HI | 1912 | 4 | 182 | 5 s | 23 | 3.5 | |
Burnt Island ME | 1935 | 4 | 20 s | 16 | 6 | ||
Cape Poge MA | 1929 | 4 | 200 | 30 S | 35 | 5 | BB |
Chatham MA | 1927 | 4 | 325 | 30 S | "none" | 8 | |
Cove Point MD | 1927 | 4 | 50 | 1 M | 40 | 6.5 | BB |
Crooked River FL | 1927 | 4 | 150 | 12.5 S | 80 | 12 | |
Cuckolds ME | 1935 | 4 | 150 | 12 S | 25 | 4 | BB |
East Chop MA | 1927 | 4 | 100 | 60 S | 23 | 8 | BB |
Eldred Rock AK | 1913 | 4 | 135 | 20 S | 31 | 5 | BB |
Great Duck Island ME | 1935 | 4 | 130 | 40 S | 25 | 7 | BB |
Gurnet MA | 1927 | 4 | 150 | 20 S | "none" | 8 | BB |
Hendricks Head ME | 1911 | 4 | 40 | 3 M | no tube | 7 | |
Honolulu Harbor HI | 1916 | 4 | 270 | 24 S | no tube | 12 | BB |
Kauhola Point HI | 1917 | 4 | 246 | 12 S | 23 | 7 | BB |
Kauhola Point HI | 1927 | 4 | 45 | 12 S | 23 | 7 | BB |
Lime Kiln WA | 1919 | 4 | 100 | 24 | 4.75 | MF | |
Mount Desert ME | 1937 | 4 | 30 | 90 S | 30 | 4.5 | BB |
Nauset MA | 1927 | 4 | 200 | 10 S | center of tower | 8 | MF |
New London Ledge CT | 1913 | 4 | 240 | 30 S | 50 | 9 | BB |
North Manitou MI | 1910 | 4 | 60 S | 42 | 5 | BB | |
Pecks Ledge CT | 1928 | 4 | 100 | 30 S | 45 | 6.5 | MF |
Race Point MA | 1927 | 4 | 100 | 3 M | 12 | 4.25 | CW |
Smith Point VA | 1927 | 4 | 50 | 1 M | 6 | BB | |
Squaw Island MI | 1911 | 4 | 50 | 15 S | 28 | 3.75 | BB |
Thimble Shoal VA | 1915 | 4 | 200 | 6 S | Stairwell | 10 | BB |
Two Bush Island ME | 1935 | 4 | 450 | 20 S | 28 | 7 | BB |
Two Harbors MN | 1910 | 4 | 20 S | wood tube 14" | 4.5 | BB | |
Whaleback ME | 1935 | 4 | 350 | 20 S | 6 | 2 | BB |
Wolf Trap VA | 1927 | 4 | 50 | 45 S | 30 | 7 | BB |
Wood End MA | 1931 | 4 | 175 | 1 M | "none" | 7.5 | BB |
Wood Island ME | 1935 | 4 | 60 | 1 M | 6.5 | BB | |
Butler Flats MA | 1931 | 5 | 100 | 30 s | 37 | 6 | BB |
Hudson City NY | 1930 | 5 | 180 | 12 S | 29 | 5 | BB |
Port Ferro PR | 1912 | 5 | 200 | 5 S | 27 | 4.5 | MF |