Any ideas? The question comes from two points of view. The first is being a boater in Milwuakee our breakwater light is white. Even on clear days it's hard to see on the water until you get close to it. The white seems to blend in with downtown Milwaukee.

The second thought comes from white in bad weather blends in. In any type of fog, clouds, or snow the white would blend right in.

This past week we were in Door County. I would guess I was equal distance from both the canal light and the pierhead light. Since the pierhead light was red I could see that one better. It was still hard to see in the fog but it did stand out more than the canal light which is white.

I would think that more lighthouses would be painted other colors than white.

In New England, most lighthouses are white with a Black lantern room, but there are a few exceptions in my general vicinity. Some lights are constructed of masonary products, such as bricks or granite blocks which are not painted.

I've been a "saltwater" boater since 1968, and have traveled the southeast coast of New England for many years. The white painted lights are easy to spot along the coast line depending on the visibility conditions. The flashing beacon definitely helps too.

We don't have any red lighthouses or green lighthouses in my area of the coast. There are a few with broad stripes such as Point Judith, Sankaty Head, Orient Point, and Montauk. I'm sure there are a few others that have slipped my mind as I type.

Maybe one of our Coasties can elaborate on the white lighthouses as to whther or not they show up better than other colors. I would imagine the lights made with brick and granite have the advantage of less maintenance (no painting).

Interesting topic, buoyhunter.

Bob

I imagine that most lighthouses had trees behind them and the white would show up good. Of course many have cities behind them now or at least sub-divisions.

I also know some were painted two colors. One to stand out against the trees behind the lighthouse and the other to stand out against the sky. It seems if you are going to paint two colors is a good choice.

Very thought provoking topic buoyhunter!
I always thought it was because white stood out better...but you have introduced good points as to why they don't in bad weather.
Maybe white paint was cheaper and more plentiful back when they were constructed?

Remember that the original lighthouses were "painted" with whitewash. As Eric pointed out, the cities grew up around the lighthouses. Some were painted with unique day marks to make them more easy to identify from their neighboring lights. It seems that a number of the pier lights on the GL are painted red to help them stand out.

And, don't forget our neighbors to the north who tend to have snow on the ground much of the year so they add red markings to the white lights.

I think most of the early ones on the east coast started out white. I know Montauk (Shinnecock was red brick,Fire Island B&W), and a lot of the NC towers lights did too. Then bands, diamonds, swirls etc were added to help sailors diferrentiate one from the other as DayMarkers.I'm sure I heard that story many times as Dave said.
The red up North in the snow areas makes a lot of sense.

I'm not sure it matters what color the lighthouse is, as long as it lights the way at night.

The tower does have an importance, Stan, because in days of old the light was not illuminated full time. In the early days of navigation, being able to actually see the light during the day was very important to a ship captain so that they would know their position and perhaps which direction they needed to turn to reach the port they were sailing to. Before lights were surrounded by cities they would have been easier to see, especially against a contrast such as a forest.

Could you imagine the dilema of a ship captain if they came upon the Carolina coast and Hatteras, Bodie and Currituck were all tall white towers? That is where the all important day marks come into play.

The daymarks were terribly important; however, most people tend to think of lighthouses as aides to nighttime navigation. The white would not matter as much at night since mariners would be looking for the signal from the lantern. During the day, the marks were critical to distinguish one from another. As Dave points out, in places such as NC where you have Hatteras, Currituck and Bodie in the same general vicinity, the daymarks were a vital factor. Many lighthouses which had distinguishing marks were painted over in more recent times.

Actually, many of the day marks we now know are on the newer side. Big Red wasn't red until 1956. White Shoal wasn't a candy cane until 1990.

Cape Lookout's daymark, the diamond pattern serves a dual purpose. Not only does the diamond pattern let the mariner know what lighthouse he is near, but the pattern also shows direction. The black diamonds point north and south, and the white ones point east and west.

Cape Lookout received it's diamond pattern in 1873. I don't know how many times it's been repainted, but the tower received a complete new paint job just a few years ago, as did Bodie Island.

What I found strange was that the company who painted both towers, went about it differently at each. When they painted Bodie, they went up and down, painting black then white then black again from top to bottom. When they did Cape Lookout, they went round and round. I lucked out and got to see both jobs in progress.

Ocracoke was always whitewashed, and if you visit it today, you can find traces of whitewash on the nearby trees.

Judy

Amazing what you can learn in CF! Thanks for the education folks!

Wow thanks for the feedback everyone. Lots of good points raised. Now if you think about this further there aren't alot of other colors out there that they could be painted. Green or brown would blend into the trees, blue would match the sky etc. All we really have is black, white and red.

It also makes sense about them being the day markers. I was thinking more in a storm and the lights guideing the ships to safety.

One thing I always found strange is the fog horns. Maybe in the days of the sailing ships you could hear them but when I boat on Lake Michigan and it's foggy I can't hear the fog horn from any great distance over the sound of the engine.

Wow !!! Thanks for the lighthouse lesson !!!

Thanks for the reason to go back...I was just there Wednesday and missed that. Guess I have to get back in the car.

A grandson of the last keeper pointed that out to me, Greg. If you can get into the grounds and look around the base of the tower, you might even find some whitewash that has fallen off.

Like you, any little reason is a always a good reason for me to go back.

Judy