Winslow Lewis: A Nineteenth Century Lighthouse Scalawag

Prior to the absorption of the U.S. Lighthouse Service by the Coast Guard in 1939, four individuals - more than any others - shaped the establishment and operation of lighthouses in the United States. For better or worse, these men are Winslow Lewis, Stephen Pleasonton, RADM William Bradford Shubrick and George Putnam. Lewis came on the scene in 1812 as contractor for the government and ultimately helped hold back our system of aids to navigation with his numerous antics. Pleasonton was appointed 5th Auditor of the Treasury in 1820, a political appointee with little understanding of aids to navigation and a person taken in by Lewis. He was in charge of our system from 1820 to 1852. RADM Shubrick was the first Chairman of the Lighthouse Board, estabished in 1852 (replacing Pleasonton). He instituted numerous changes to our system which brought us up to the state of the art and beyond. Putnam was the first Superintendent of the Bureau of Lighthouses established in 1910. He changed the control of our system from a military board to a civilian board.