Happy National Lighthouse Day! To celebrate, I’d like to share an exhibit I put together for the Park View Gallery at Glen Echo Park, Maryland. If you live in the D.C. metro area, the show will be up until August 26, 2017. The contemporary images are mine; most of the historic images are from the National Archives. Submitted by Candace Clifford, U.S. Lighthouse Society Historian, August 7, 2017
Category: Architectural drawing
U.S. Lighthouse Society Digitizes Lighthouse Plans
Some of you may be familiar with the finding aid of lighthouse plans in the Cartographic Branch of the National Archives, in College Park, Maryland. More than 20 years ago, the National Archives photographed the main collection of lighthouse plans in Record Group 26 and provided them as letter-sized prints arranged in 3-ring binders. This year, these prints have been scanned by the U.S. Lighthouse Society for their growing digital archives. “Plan of Tiling” for Morris Island. Many first-order lighthouses constructed in the 1870s had this type of diamond tiling on the floor of the tower’s ground level. Below we …
Los Angeles Lighthouses
I recently attended the Council of American Maritime Museums conference hosted by the Los Angeles Maritime Museum. Upon arrival in Los Angeles I went directly from the airport to the Point Fermin Lighthouse, where historic site manager Kristen Heather gave me a delightful tour. The visit was especially meaningful because the first keepers of Point Fermin Light, when it was established in 1874, were sisters Ella and Mary Smith. Although I realize these women had challenges living in such a remote location, I think it would have been a rather plum assignment when compared to many other light stations of that …
Cast Iron Tower at Portland Breakwater
I posted a plan and photo of the first tower on the Portland Breakwater a few days ago. Here is a historic image of the current cast iron tower constructed on the breakwater in 1875. Note that the building attached to the tower no longer exists. And the current tower is now painted white rather than a dark color. Below is a Historic American Building Survey (HABS) drawing of the current tower. Note the classical columns. You can download high-resolution HABS/HAER/HAL drawings and photos from the Built in America section of the Library of Congress website.
Wooden Tower at Portland Breakwater
Click on images to see a larger view. Like many of the early pier lights, the first tower built on the Portland, Maine, breakwater in 1855 was constructed of wood. It was replaced in 1875 by the current cast iron tower.