Useful Research Links and Other Resources

Lighthouse Research

• Library of Congress
  • American State Papers
  • Historic American Buildings Survey/Historic American Engineering Record (HABS/HAER) “Built in America”
•  Lighthouse Friends
•  National Archives
  • National Archives page for lighthouses 
•  NOAA’s Historical Map & Chart Collection for downloadable historic nautical charts
•  New England Lighthouses: A Virtual Guide
•  Seeing the Lights: Lighthouses of the Western Great Lakes
•  U.S. Coast Guard Historian’s Office
  • Index of lighthouse pages
  • Lighthouse photography and Photography Index
• U.S. Lighthouse Society
  • Architectural Drawings 
  • Light Lists
  • Lighthouse History
  • Lighthouse links
  • PhotographyU.S. Lighthouse Society

Resources for Teachers

• U.S. Lighthouse Society lighthouse curriculum and more
• Teaching with Historic Places Lesson Plans: Little Kinnakeet Life-Saving Station and Navesink and Robbins Reef Lighthouses
• Lighthouses of North America: Exploring Their History, Lore & Science by Lisa Trumbauer – excellent resource book on lighthouses for children

Lighthouse Preservation Resources

• Historic Lighthouse Preservation Handbook
• American Lighthouse Coordinating Committee

Genealogical Research on Keepers

• Note the section for keepers in the Record Group 26 finding aid for lighthouse research
• If you know the lighthouse where the keeper served, Kraig Anderson has included lists of keepers with each lighthouse on his website Lighthouse Friends
• Some registers of keepers have been put on microfilm available at any National Archives location and some federal depoistory libraries – M1373 Registers of Lighthouse Keepers 1845-1912 (6 rolls arranged geographically)
• For civilian keepers in the service since 1896, I recommend that descendants request their personnel file from: National Personnel Records Center in St. Louis. See <http://www.archives.gov/st-louis/archival-programs/civilian-personnel-archival/> for more information.