Introduction to Lights of the Coast:
Exploring Lighthouses

 

Though it is probable that the lighthouse aided navigation for almost as long as people have sailed the sea, the golden age of the lighthouse came within only the last couple of hundred years. With technology advancing by leaps and bounds in the 19th and 20th centuries, ways of improving these lights of the coast (ways such as better, more easily replenished fuels and brilliant lenses) added tremendously to the mariner's ability to safely sail the margin between land and the open sea. Lighthouses have had a significant impact on civilization in a multitude of ways, including:

• The importance of lighthouses throughout history and the roles that they've played
• The technological advances that brought the lighthouse into its golden age
  • Incandescent Oil
  • Argand lamp
  • Fresnel lens
  • Screwpile construction
  • Electricity
• The influence lighthouses have had on human culture

The following are just a few of the many benefits provided by lighthouses:

1. Guiding ships into port
2. Warning mariners of navigational hazards
3. Serving as identifying markers of a particular region

The primary components of a lighthouse are:

Light Source

the illuminating device or burning of fuel to create light

Lens

usually glass, used to focus and increase light intensity

Lantern

the glass housing that contains both the light source and the lens

Gallery

a narrow, circular balcony that helps to provide external access to the lantern or other parts of the tower

Tower

the main structure, usually tall and cylindrical, that holds the lantern and its components up high for increased visibility

Keeper

prior to the common occurrence of lighthouse automation in the 20th century, the most important component of all, responsible for all the necessary duties associated with the operation and maintenance of lighthouses