George Worthylake

When the first eight lighthouses for the west coast were authorized in1850, three were designated for the San Francisco Bay area: the Farallon Islands, Alcatraz and Fort Point. After some controversy, the contract was awarded to Baltimore, Maryland firm and a ship set sail for the west coast. By 1852, workhad started on the lighthouses. A single design of a Cape Cod-style building with a tower through the middle was selected.

On March 3, 1831 Congress appropriated $1,500 to construct a lighthouse at the mouth of Mispillion Creek. That same year the Superintendent of Lighthouses for the State of Delaware, Henry Whiteley, entered into a contract with Winslow Lewis, of Boston, to construct the lighthouse which was a dwelling (22-by-16 feet) surmounted by an octagonal tower and iron lantern equipped with six lamps and six 9-inch reflectors. The contractor was also to furnish a spare lamp, two tin oil canisters, one gallon measure, three wick formers, a stove, one pair ofscissors and one file.

In the mid 18th century Halifax, Nova Scotia was a major base for the British navy in North America. The port was large, deep and ice-free, a perfect location for a large fleet. The drawback was a number of shoals that extended out about two miles from the harbor entrance and the fact that the entrance was often shrouded by fog. Also quarding the entrance was Sambro Island. Although Halifax was founded in 1749, no lighthouse marked the vicinity until 1758.

In 1867, the United States acquired the territory of Alaska for $7,200,000 (about 2 cents an acre) - a huge bargain. Two years after the acquisition, the Senate called for a review of the safety of the Pacific Northwest coasts, requiring the President to, "... detail an office to select from public lands such prominent points on the coasts of Oregon, Washington Territory, and Alaska...in his judgment may be necessary for lighthouse purposes, in view of the future commercial necessity of the Pacific coasts and to reserve the same for the exclusive use of the United States."

Until well into the 18th century the seacoast of North America was a largely uncharted and dangerous prospect for mariners. From the rocky shores of eastern Canada and New England to the shoals of the Carolinas and reefs of the Florida Keys mariners were faced with constant danger. In 1716, the Massachusetts Bay Colony erected a lighthouse on Little Brewster Island in Boston Harbor, North America's first lighthouse. The second lighthouse to be established was at Louisbourg, on Nova Scotia's Cape Breton Island.

In 1863 President Abraham Lincoln authorized the establishment of a new lighthouse for the west coast on the Straits of Juan de Fuca in Washington. Ten acres were reserved at the end of a peninsula known as Ediz Hook. The following year Congress appropriated $5,000 to construct the station. Today's value would be over $100,000, which was a lot of money to spend during a costly war.

Certainly every citizen of Jamestown, on Rhode Island's Conanicut Island, is familiar with the Beavertail Lighthouse on the island's southern end. However, it is less certain that local citizens are familiar with Conanicut Lighthouse on the island's north end. It may be that many local people aren't aware of it at all. Yet for 48 years it served as a significant aid to navigation for shipping in Narragansett Bay.

In their 1892 Report to congress, the Lighthouse Board noted that: "There were 3,137 arrivals of vessels in this river during the year, not counting the steamers which ply daily. The steamers Kennebec, 1,652 tons, and Sagadahoc, 1,413 tons, made ninety-six round-trips each from Gardiner to Boston. Other passenger steamers ply on the river between Bath to Augusta, Boothbay and Popham Beach ... the number of passengers carried was 232,150 ... The vessels arriving will average 450 tons.

Bullock Point Lighthouse was one of twenty-six lighthouses constructed on Rhode Island's Narragansett Bay and on the Providence River. In the latter half of the 19th century and first two decades of the 20th century, these waterways were very busy. Several steamship lines had daily departures from Providence to New York, Boston and other east coast ports. Today, nine of those light stations no longer exist and others have been discontinued and are privately owned.

The 1909 Coast Pilot describes Humboldt Bay as, "...the first important harbor north of San Francisco... a large amount of redwood lumber is exported to foreign [ports] and shipped to domestic ports; there is also a considerable amount of farm and dairy produce, most of which is shipped to San Francisco. Since the improvements by the Government this harbor can be used as a harbor of refuge in impending bad weather provided it can be made [entered] before the bar [channel] becomes impassible." An early Coast Pilot stated that the entrance was "...dangerous to strangers... "