Whaleback Lighthouse

The March 2, 1827 appropriation of $1,500 was woefully inadequate. How could a lighthouse be constructed on Whale's Back Ledge, Portsmouth, NH, asked Fifth Auditor and Superintendent of Lighthouses Stephen Pleasonton, when others in the area of "the lowest grade," had cost no less than $5,000? Further he noted, "to the southward of New Jersey, from five to eight thousand may be estimated as the cost."