Tallest Lighthouse in US

Earlier I made a post and someone accidently deleted it. Does not seem like a good system when someone else can delete someone else's post.

Here is my original post: Cape Hatteras is considered the tallest lighthouse, although the Statue Of Liberty is taller and considered a lighhouse. Seems like a conudrum. What say you?

I guess it all depends on you definition of lighthouse as opposed to aid to navigation. I say Lady Liberty is the tallest, but then I'm not a big fan of Cape Hatteras.

That is a bit odd. Obviously there is some distinction being emphasized between the two elsewhere as I was unaware that Liberty was taller.

Perhaps that is the distinction being made in the books I have read through. I personally put The Statue of Liberty in a different category as it is not what I consider to be a "traditional" lighthouse. Still, I can see how it really is no different as it does serve as an aid.

Whether one considers the SOL as a lighthouse or not is irrelevant for it was ordered by President Grover Cleveland that it be turned over to the U.S. Lighthouse Board in Nov. 1886 to be operated as a real lighthouse which was the case until Mar. 1902 when it was turned over to the War Department and no longer operated as a real lighthouse.

Thus Hatteras is today's tallest U.S. lighthouse, but the SOL at about 300' would have been the tallest during its period of operation.

mg

HOW CAN YOU NOT BE A FAN OF THE
"HATTERAS" LIGHT? AND BE A LIGHTHOUSE
ENTHUSIAST? WOW! (this would be interesting to hear about)

the statue,, is a "STATUE" given to us by France
as a welcoming symbol of "LIBERTY" to those coming to our country for the first time. The illuminated Flame was not designed to be a directional, navigational beacon.

So....one's opinion doesn't really matter even if one's assertion is correct? ...... It's been nice agreeing with you. We'll have to do this again sometime. :p :p :p

Point one- I'd be interested in more information on that myself.

Point two- While the first part- it was a statue given as a gift- you second part is flawed by opinion not supported by fact.

It is a fact that the SOL served as an official Lighthouse for aproximately 14 years. This simply put makes the SOL - at the very least- a former lighthouse and IMHO it is still a lighthouse just a decommisioned one.

Facts are facts and opinions are opinions- they should be stated seperately and correctly- again IMHO.

Opinions matter but they don't trump facts- it is a simple fact that the SOL was an official lighthouse so any opinion that states otherwise is trumped by that fact.

Fact / Opinion get a bit cloudier when one asks is the SOL still considered a lighthouse even though decommisioned. My position is that we hold literally hundreds of non-working lighthouses to continue to be lighthouses so why is the SOL not considered one still?

IMHO it is and always will be a lighthouse- albiet a uncommisioned or non-working one at this point.

Dennis

We've all heard the term, "Once a Marine, always a Marine".

Same is true for lighthouses, "Once a lighthouse, always a lighthouse".

The Statue of Liberty is indeed the tallest and the first United States Lighthouse to be lit by electric light.

If you do NOT consider a former ligthouse as a ligthouse anymore, you would have to change a lot of information out there. For example Ponce Inlet is no longer a offical lighthouse, it is a aid to navigation, so then it would not no longer be the tallest in Florida (fourth tallest in the US).

Excellent FACT about Ponce Eric and very well stated.

To become exceptionally semantic, you could say the SOL is only 105' tall but mounted on a 200' pedestal, the statue itself being the lighthouse structure. Is this different from mounting a short light on a hill (Old Pt. Loma) or a cliff (Cape Meares) to achieve the height effect? The SOL may be the "highest" light on the east coast as opposed to the "tallest."

But the 200' pedestal was made to be part of the SOL structure, the hills and cliffs under the lights you mentioned were not.

To me, you both make valid points. However, if Cape Hatteras' pedestal is included, one could argue that Liberty's pedestal should also be included.

For me, the problem lies with the pedestal itself. If the pedestal exceeds the height of the lighthouse on which it is mounted, it seems as though it should be considered separately.....otherwise one could build a 10 foot lighthouse and place it on a 490' base and claim it to be 500' tall. If one places a vase on a pedestal, does one consider the pedestal as part of the vase's height?

Why are we making a point to separate the pedestal from the rest of the lighthouse?

It should be looked at as one whole structure!

I think we have slipped over into the realm of whimsey at this point.

Have fun parsing what the meaning of the word "is" is.

Dennis

You may call it "whimsey" if you wish....but this seems to be the argument that authors are using to say that Hatteras is taller. I have books that clearly list the SOL as a lighthouse.......that is just over 100' tall. Is the pedestal being considered? Maybe the authors need to a lesson or two on the meaning of the word "is"......or is it possible that they're right?

Of course, the Rappahannock Shoal Channel South Range Rear at 220 feet is also taller than Cape Hatteras, but everyone ignores it.

As an engineer it has been my knowledge that the height of a structure is measured from ground level up.

This thread has added new dimensions to previous heated discussions of the tallest US lighthouse. Hilarious!

I would like to throw some "LIGHT" on this discussion. Looking at the 1898 List of Lights and Fog Signals of the Atlantic and Gulf Coasts published by the Office of the Light-House Board (the official document about light stations),it lists Cape Hatteras as being 191 feet above mean high water with a flashing white light every 10 seconds. Liberty Enlightening the World is listed at being 303 feet above mean high water with a fixed white electric light. The description of station states "Bronse statue on granite pedestal". Hope this helps a bit.

Thanks for that info, Mike !!!

Whoa now, We are starting to mix apples and oranges. The height of a light above mean high water is the height of the focal plane and has nothing to do with the height of the structure it self. Example Old Point Loma has a focal plane height of 462 ft(Highest in the US),but it is a 40 foot strucure sitting on a hill 422 feet above sea level, therefore the structure is only about 40 feet high.

You guys & gals have been mixing apples and oranges since the 1st post..

Statue of Liberty (Big Apple) and Cape Hatteras Lighthouse..

Niether holds a candle, so to speak, to what the Pharos Lighthouse was in Alexandria, when it comes to height..

You are exactly correct:
There is a definite difference between what is the highest and the tallest.
In the crazy world of lighthouses highest has to do with how high the light is above sea level.
Tallest has to do with the actual height of the structure itself.

I agree
Apples and oranges.

This therefore makes "Liberty Enlightening The World" , the tallest.

WackoPaul, My original thread was which was the tallest between Hatteras and SOL, I did not ask what was the tallest lighthouse. The Pharo cannot be "the tallest" as it no longer stands. You just add a Bananna to the mix. The present day tallest lighthouse is Yamashita at 348 ft. MY conclusion is if the SOL was truly a lighthouse then it wins. But was it real built originally as a lighthouse? Should this bear on the conclusion?

It was built as a Statue and a light was added to it and it was found not to aid in navigation so the light was turned off.