Tuesday, September 6 - Small Lighthouses

My niece sent me a few pictures of a small lighthouse, which triggered this post. Technically they are referred to as Cottage Lighthouses, which consist of a small single-story building with a light tower and lantern on the roof. They were quite common in early to mid 1800s; especially in the south. Typically they combined the lighthouse with a small keeper's cottage built around it, next to it or nearby.

My Niece's pic, Maine

My Niece's pic, Maine

Cottage lighthouses were usually built at the end of a pier, on a marsh jog, or on broad shoals and made of wood, which made them very vulernable to the elements. More than quite a few were rebuilt several times up through the 1960s. Not many remain, and most of those which do are in the mid-Atlantic region (Chesapeake Bay area). There are a few still remaining in New England as well :). In more recent times the small lighthouses also served as landmarks, or harbor lights, to mark the entrance to a harbor.

To give credit, there were quite a few cottage lighthouses built on the Great Lakes and the North West Coast of the US as well.

Most are no longer in operation, although a few are.

Lake Michigan

Built at end of pier

In addition to providing light at night, they also served as "Daymarks" to guide mariners into narrow coves from the sea. To that end, they were typically brightly colored or painted with distinct patterns.


To be effective at night, the lamp must be high enough to be seen before the danger is reached by a mariner. The exact height of the light is calulated by a complicated triginometry formula (really - look it up! I got lost after the first few sentences!).

From the website: Sometimes a lighthouse needs to be constructed in the water itself. Wave-washed lighthouses are masonry structures constructed to withstand water impact, such as Eddystone Lighthouse in Britain and the St. George Reef Light off California. In shallower bays, screw-pile lighthouse ironwork structures are screwed into the seabed and a low wooden structure is placed above the open framework. As screw piles can be disrupted by ice, steel caisson lighthouses are used in cold climates.

I leave you with some pictures of Cottage Lighthouses, and I thank my niece for inspring today's blog!

Caisson lighthouse Ogunquit, ME

Cottage lighthouse

At end of pier

Doubling Point, Arrowsic, ME