Light Lists

Enjoy our free resource of a vast amount of information extracted from historical light lists. Light Lists are an important tool for anyone researching lighthouses and their history, as well as anyone curious about the changes to our coastlines since lighthouses were first established. Normally you would have to scour though multiple years of books looking for different entries for the lighthouse your are researching, but not any more. This resource allows you to view information extracted from many historical light lists which consolidates all entries over multiple years by lighthouse. For anyone who has used actual Light Lists for research, you know how tedious it can be, and how much work has gone into creating this valuable research tool. The recently updated version encompasses the East Coast, West Coast and Gulf Coast of the United States. It allows you to, among many things: Display Individual Light Lists Display Single Lighthouse and Lightship Station Information Display Static Light Characteristic Maps Display Dynamic Light Characteristic Maps Display Radiobeacon Maps Display Special Radio Direction Finders View Specific Glossary Terms for this Section

Researched Light Lists

The researched light lists are those published light lists which have been fully researched and whose information is presented within these web pages. You may display information by a light list volume. In the early years of light lists, all of the lights could be listed in one volume. As more and more lights were added, additional volumes per year were required. For example, in 1960, all of the lights were contained in three volumes (Atlantic and Gulf Coasts, Pacific Coast, and Great Lakes). As another example, in 1974, all of the lights were contained in four volumes (North Atlantic, South Atlantic and Gulf Coasts, Pacific Coast, and Great Lakes). Today there are seven Coast Guard regions in the United States, and there is a light list for each region.

Full Coverage Light Lists

The following table shows the light lists that have been researched that contain all of the lights in the United States, except possibly the Great Lakes:

NOTE: Many of these light lists contained Great Lakes lights, but some did not. However, since the Great Lakes lights have not been fully researched yet, they will not appear when displayed on this website.

NOTE: Multiple lighthouses were found in the 1839 and 1849 light lists, which contain very basic information, that did not have a characteristic specified for them. In these cases, those lighthouses will be not included as researched lighthouses during those two years may or may not have been included; if included, a fixed characteristic was assumed.

¹ The 1870 List of the Lights on the Atlantic, Gulf, and Pacific Coasts of the United States was not available in 2007 when the Pacific coast research is being done and, thus, the lights for the Pacific coast are not displayed for that area.

² The 1888 List of Light-Houses, Lighted Beacons, and Floating Lights on the Atlantic, Gulf, and Pacific Coasts of the United States that was researched had a few missing pages specific to Oregon and, thus, the lighthouse information for the Oregon lighthouses is not included for that year.

³ The 1888 List of Light-Houses, Lighted Beacons, and Floating Lights on the Atlantic, Gulf, and Pacific Coasts of the United States that was researched had a missing page that contained the structure description, tower height, and fog signal information for the following lighthouses in northern California: Point Reyes, Point Arena, Cape Mendocino, Humboldt Harbor, Trinidad Head, and Battery Point. The tower heights and structures descriptions (not as informative) for these lighthouses was extracted from the 1888 List of Beacons, Buoys, Stakes, and Other Day-Marks in the Twelfth Light-House District, Embracing the Sea-Coast and Bays of California; since this light list does not contain fog signal information, that information will not be provided for these lighthouses.

Full Atlantic and Gulf Coasts Light Lists

The following table shows the light lists that have been researched that only contain the lights of the Atlantic and Gulf Coasts in the United States, including Puerto Rico (starting with the 1905 light list) and the U. S. Virgin Islands (starting with the 1920 light list):

¹ The 1943-1952 light lists, for some unknown reason, did not contain the following lights: Amite River, Bluff Shoal, Croatan Shoal, Gull Shoal, Laurel Point, Long Shoal, New Canal, Pamlico Point, Pass Manchac, West Rigolets, Southwest Point Royal Shoal, Tchefuncte River Range Rear, and Wade Point; these lights reappeared in the 1953 light list. Additionally, the following lights were not contained in these light lists: Bayou St. John, Harbor Island, Neuse River, and Roanoke River; these lights were deactivated during that time period.

Northern Atlantic Coast (Maine through Delaware)

NOTE: During the research of the North Atlantic lights in 2011, the 1940 Light List - Atlantic Coast of the United States, the lights in Maine through Delaware were extracted. This light list supposedly contained all of the lights on the Atlantic and Gulf Coasts, but that information was not extracted at that time. However, during the Mid-Atlantic, South Atlantic, and Gulf Coast research that was done in 2014, this light list could not be relocated for research and, thus, the lights in those area cannot be shown.

The following table shows the light lists that have been researched that only contain the lights in the state of Maine south through the state of Delaware on the Atlantic coast:

Northern Atlantic Coast (St. Croix River, Maine to Little River, South Carolina)

The following table shows the light lists that have been researched that only contain the lights of the Atlantic coast in the United States from St. Croix River, Maine to Little River, South Carolina:

¹ These light lists were not available for research in 2014 during the Mid-Atlantic and Gulf Coasts research. Therefore, states south of Delaware through North Carolina are not listed in these light lists.

² The 1978 Light List - Volume I - Atlantic Coast of the United States - First, Third, and Fifth Coast Guard Districts that was used for the research had some blank pages near the end of the book. Thus, certain lights that were being researched were missing in this light list but then were listed in the 1979 light list. These lights are Bluff Shoal, Croatan Shoal, Northwest Point Royal Shoal, Oliver Reef, Pamlico Point, and Roanoke Marshes.

Northern Atlantic Coast (St. Croix River, to Ocean City Inlet, Maryland)

The following table shows the light lists that have been researched that only contain the lights of the Atlantic coast in the United States from St. Croix River, Maine to Ocean City Inlet, Maryland:

Northern Atlantic Coast (St. Croix River, to Toms River, New Jersey)

The following table shows the light lists that have been researched that only contain the lights of the Atlantic coast in the United States from St. Croix River, Maine to Toms River, New Jersey:

¹ The Light List - Volume I - Atlantic Coast - St. Croix River, Maine to Shrewsbury River, New Jersey ends in Shrewsbury River, N.J. instead of Toms River, N.J., but these two locations are pretty close to each other.

Southern Atlantic Coast (Little River, South Carolina to to Rio Grande, Texas Including Puerto Rico and the U. S. Virgin Islands)

The following table shows the light lists that have been researched that only contain the lights of the Southern Atlantic, coast, starting at Little River, South Carolina, and the Gulf Coast, including Puerto Rico and the U. S. Virgin Islands:

Mid-Atlantic Coast (Ocean City Inlet, Maryland to Little River, South Carolina)

The following table shows the light lists that have been researched that only contain the lights of the Mid-Atlantic coast in the United States from Ocean City Inlet, Maryland to Little River, South Carolina:

Mid-Atlantic Coast (Toms River, New Jersey to Little River, South Carolina)

The following table shows the light lists that have been researched that only contain the lights of the Mid-Atlantic coast in the United States from Toms River, New Jersey to Little River, South Carolina:

¹ The Light List - Volume II - Atlantic Coast - Shrewsbury River, New Jersey to Little River, South Carolina starts in Shrewsbury River, N.J. instead of Toms River, N.J., but these two locations are pretty close to each other.

Atlantic Coast and Gulf Coast (Little River, South Carolina to Econfina River, Florida Including Puerto Rico and the U. S. Virgin Islands)

The following table shows the light lists that have been researched that only contain the lights of the Atlantic and Gulf Coasts in the United States from Little River, South Carolina to Econfina River, Florida, and also including Puerto Rico and the U. S. Virgin Islands:

Gulf Coast (Econfina River, Florida to Rio Grande, Texas)

The following table shows the light lists that have been researched that only contain the lights of the Gulf Coast in the United States from Econfina River, Florida, to Rio Grande, Texas.

Pacific Coast and Hawaiian Islands

The following table shows the light lists that have been researched that only contain the lights of the Pacific coast, including Hawaii and Alaska when the years are applicable, in the United States:

¹ Although the researched 1857 light list contained lights for all of the United States, this light list was only available for research in 2007 when only the Pacific coast was being researched.

² These light lists do not contain reference numbers, focal planes, or fog signal information. Furthermore, the structures descriptions tend to be less informative.

³ The 1913 Pacific Coast of the United States - Buoy List Alaska - Sixteenth Lighthouse District does not contain reference numbers or tower heights. Furthermore, the structures descriptions tend to be less informative.

Great Lakes

The following table shows the light lists that have been researched for Indiana, Illinois, Michigan, Minnesota, Pennsylvania (Lake Ontario), New York (Lake Erie, Lake Ontario, St. Lawrence River), Ohio, and Wisconsin: