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List of lighthouses in the United States

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Boston Light, the oldest light station and second oldest lighthouse structure in the USA.
Charleston Light, the last manned lighthouse built on shore in the United States

This is a list of lighthouses in the United States. The United States has had approximately a thousand lights as well as light towers, range lights, and pier head lights. Michigan has the most lights of any state with over 150 past and present lights.

Most of the lights in the United States have been built and maintained by the Coast Guard (since 1939) and its predecessors, the United States Lighthouse Service (1910–1939) and the United States Lighthouse Board (1852–1910). Before the Lighthouse Board was established, local collectors of customs were responsible for lighthouses under Stephen Pleasonton. As their importance to navigation has declined and as public interest in them has increased, the Coast Guard has been handing over ownership and in some cases responsibility for running them to other parties, the chief of them being the National Park Service under the National Historic Lighthouse Preservation Act of 2000.


Alabama

Alaska

"Historic Light Station Information and Photography: Alaska" (PDF). United States Coast Guard Historian's Office.

California

"Historic Light Station Information and Photography: California". United States Coast Guard Historian's Office. Archived from the original on 2017-05-01.

Alcatraz Island Light
East Brother Island Light
Point Reyes Light

Connecticut

"Historic Light Station Information and Photography: Connecticut". United States Coast Guard Historian's Office. Archived from the original on 2017-05-19.

Stonington Harbor Light
Morgan Point Light

Delaware

"Historic Light Station Information and Photography: Delaware". United States Coast Guard Historian's Office. Archived from the original on 2017-05-01.

Fourteen Foot Bank Light, in the Delaware Bay

Florida

Alligator Reef Light, four miles (7 km) east of Indian Key in the Florida Keys
St. Augustine Light near St. Augustine, Florida
Gasparilla Island Light, Boca Grande, Florida

Georgia

"Historic Light Station Information and Photography: Georgia". United States Coast Guard Historian's Office. Archived from the original on 2017-05-01.

Hawaii

Lahaina Light, Maui, Hawaii

"Historic Light Station Information and Photography: Hawaii". United States Coast Guard Historian's Office. Archived from the original on 2017-05-01.

Illinois

Grosse Point, IL

"Historic Light Station Information and Photography: Illinois". United States Coast Guard Historian's Office. Archived from the original on 2017-05-19.

Indiana

Old Michigan City Light, IN

"Historic Light Station Information and Photography: Indiana". United States Coast Guard Historian's Office. Archived from the original on 2017-05-01.

Notable faux lighthouses:

  • Cooper Memorial (1997), on the Prairie Creek Reservoir near Muncie, is an active light but does not meet the Directory's size standard for a lighthouse.
  • Gloryland Lighthouse, near New Castle, is not on navigable water.

Kentucky

Lighthouses in Kentucky and Tennessee

Notable faux lighthouses
  • Louisville Waterfront Plaza, lighthouses on top of building

Louisiana

"Historic Light Station Information and Photography: Louisiana". United States Coast Guard Historian's Office. Archived from the original on 2017-05-01.

Maine

"Historic Light Station Information and Photography: Maine". United States Coast Guard Historian's Office. Archived from the original on 2017-05-01.

Portland Head Light
Petit Manan Light, home of the Petit Manan National Wildlife Refuge
Dice Head Light, Castine
Fort Point Light, Stockton
Doubling Point Light, Georgetown

Maryland

"Historic Light Station Information and Photography: Maryland" (PDF). United States Coast Guard Historian's Office.

Thomas Point Shoal Light near Annapolis

Massachusetts

"Historic Light Station Information and Photography: Massachusetts". United States Coast Guard Historian's Office. Archived from the original on 2017-05-01.

Borden Flats Light
Duxbury Pier Light in Plymouth harbor
Nauset Light
Derby Wharf Light at the Salem Maritime National Historic Site, Salem.

Michigan

"Historic Light Station Information and Photography: Michigan". United States Coast Guard Historian's Office. Archived from the original on 2017-05-01. The Michigan.gov website has a Map of Michigan Lighthouses in PDF format.

Minnesota

Grand Marais Light

Mississippi

Nebraska

New Hampshire

"Historic Light Station Information and Photography: New Hampshire". United States Coast Guard Historian's Office. Archived from the original on 2017-05-01.

New Jersey

"Historic Light Station Information and Photography: New Jersey". United States Coast Guard Historian's Office. Archived from the original on 2017-05-01.

Barnegat Light

New York

"Historic Light Station Information and Photography: New York". United States Coast Guard Historian's Office. Archived from the original on 2017-05-01.

Montauk Point Lighthouse, the very first lighthouse in New York State.

North Carolina

"Historic Light Station Information and Photography: North Carolina". United States Coast Guard Historian's Office. Archived from the original on 2017-09-23.

America's tallest lighthouse, Cape Hatteras Light, located on the Outer Banks of North Carolina

Ohio

"Historic Light Station Information and Photography: Ohio". United States Coast Guard Historian's Office. Archived from the original on 2017-05-01.

Oklahoma

Rowlett, Russ. "Lighthouses of Oklahoma". The Lighthouse Directory. University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.

Notable faux lighthouses

Oregon

Tillamook Rock Light
Umpqua River Light

Pennsylvania

"Historic Light Station Information and Photography: Pennsylvania". United States Coast Guard Historian's Office. Archived from the original on 2017-05-01.

In addition, Rowlett, Russ. "Lighthouses of the United States: Northwestern Pennsylvania". The Lighthouse Directory. University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. lists:

Southeastern Pennsylvania Lighthouses

Schuylkill River Lighthouse

Notable faux lighthouses:

Lost lighthouses:

Puerto Rico

See Lighthouses in Puerto Rico

Rhode Island

South Carolina

Morris Island Light Charleston,SC

"Historic Light Station Information and Photography: South Carolina". United States Coast Guard Historian's Office. Archived from the original on 2017-05-01.

Tennessee

Notable faux lighthouse

Texas

"Historic Light Station Information and Photography: Texas". United States Coast Guard Historian's Office. Archived from the original on 2017-05-01.

Vermont

"Historic Light Station Information and Photography: Vermont". United States Coast Guard Historian's Office. Archived from the original on 2017-05-01.

On Lake Champlain:

On Lake Memphremagog:

Virginia

Old and New Cape Henry Lights

"Historic Light Station Information and Photography: Virginia" (PDF). United States Coast Guard Historian's Office.

Washington

Admiralty Head Light

"Historic Light Station Information and Photography: Washington". United States Coast Guard Historian's Office. Archived from the original on 2017-05-01.

Wisconsin

"Historic Light Station Information and Photography: Wisconsin". United States Coast Guard Historian's Office. Archived from the original on 2017-05-01.

Outer Island Light, Apostle Islands

Territories

Puerto Rico

See List of lighthouses in Puerto Rico

Other territories and minor islands

See also

Further reading

  • Crompton, Samuel Willard & Michael J. Rhein, The Ultimate Book of Lighthouses (2002) ISBN 1-59223-102-0; ISBN 978-1-59223-102-7.
  • Hyde, Charles K., and Ann and John Mahan. The Northern Lights: Lighthouses of the Upper Great Lakes. Detroit: Wayne State University Press, 1995. ISBN 0-8143-2554-8 ISBN 9780814325544.
  • Jones, Ray & Bruce Roberts, American Lighthouses (Globe Pequot, September 1, 1998, 1st Ed.) ISBN 0-7627-0324-5; ISBN 978-0-7627-0324-1.
  • Jones, Ray,The Lighthouse Encyclopedia, The Definitive Reference (Globe Pequot, January 1, 2004, 1st ed.) ISBN 0-7627-2735-7; ISBN 978-0-7627-2735-3.
  • Noble, Dennis, Lighthouses & Keepers: U. S. Lighthouse Service and Its Legacy Annapolis: U. S. Naval Institute Press, 1997. ISBN 1-55750-638-8; ISBN 978-1-55750-638-2.
  • Oleszewski, Wes, Great Lakes Lighthouses, American and Canadian: A Comprehensive Directory/Guide to Great Lakes Lighthouses, (Gwinn, Michigan: Avery Color Studios, Inc., 1998) ISBN 0-932212-98-0.
  • Penrod, John, Lighthouses of Michigan, (Berrien Center, Michigan: Penrod/Hiawatha, 1998) ISBN 978-0-942618-78-5 ISBN 9781893624238.
  • Penrose, Laurie and Bill, A Traveler’s Guide to 116 Michigan Lighthouses (Petoskey, Michigan: Friede Publications, 1999). ISBN 0-923756-03-5 ISBN 9780923756031
  • Pepper, Terry. "Seeing the Light: Lighthouses on the western Great Lakes".
  • Putnam, George R., Lighthouses and Lightships of the United States, (Boston: Houghton Mifflin Co., 1933).
  • Roach, Jerry, Ultimate Guide to Great Lakes Lighthouses, (2003).
  • Thurston, Harry,Against Darkness and Storm: Lighthouses of the Northeast (Halifax: Nimbus, 1993).
  • United States Coast Guard, Aids to Navigation, (Washington, DC: U. S. Government Printing Office, 1945).
  • Price, Scott T. "U. S. Coast Guard Aids to Navigation: A Historical Bibliography". United States Coast Guard Historian's Office.
  • U.S. Coast Guard, Historically Famous Lighthouses (Washington, D.C.: Government Printing Office, 1957).
  • Wagner, John L. "Beacons Shining in the Night: The Lighthouses of Michigan". Clarke Historical Library, Central Michigan University.
  • Wagner, John L., Michigan Lighthouses: An Aerial Photographic Perspective, (East Lansing, Michigan: John L. Wagner, 1998) ISBN 1-880311-01-1 ISBN 9781880311011.
  • Weiss, George, The Lighthouse Service, Its History, Activities and Organization (Baltimore: Johns Hopkins Press, 1926).
  • Wright, Larry and Wright, Patricia, Great Lakes Lighthouses Encyclopedia Hardback (Erin: Boston Mills Press, 2006) ISBN 1-55046-399-3.

External links

General

Great Lakes

Notes