In my quest for learning about lighthouses, I have a question that I hope has an answer.

I know that lighthouses like Thomas Point and Middle Bay are called screwpilings. (right?) Well, then if a lighthouse is built in metal on land like Sanibel or Hillsboro, what is that called or is that also a screwpiling? Is there a formal name for a brick or concrete tower as compared to a metal one?

Joanne

There are lots of different names for the different types of lights.

A metal light on LEGS in the water is a screwpile
A metal light with LEGS on land is a skeleton tower
A metal light in the water such as Baltimore Harbor is a caisson style light

And it goes on from there to different styles
Cape Cod, etc

Noelle

There is a book called: Great Lakes Lighthouse - American & Canadian by Wes Oleszewski and Photography by Wayne S Sapulski. It has a lot of nice information about the lighthouses and is laid out with a place on each lighthouse listing to check off that you visited and on what day. In the front of the book he has a nice glossary of some of the terms and a couple of pages on the different shapes of Great Lakes lighthouses and what they are called. You won't find Screwpile in the book because as far as I can tell they weren't used in the Great Lakes, but they do list Skeletal, like Whitefish Point, which is one of the more famous ones. It is another good source of information when touring the Great Lakes region in search of lighthouses. Also a lot of people refer to the caisson style light as Spark Plugs, since they look like a giant spark plug stuck in the water especially when it is low tide.


WackoPaul '
Keep the Flame

"Screwpiles" are a unique kind of in-the-water support structure for a lighthouse. The typical method of driving piles into the mucky bottom of the Chesapeake Bay didn't work. The special piles had screw-like fins that augered them into the bottom. They are "screwed in" at a angle from the center to provide additional rigidity against waves and ice.

Thomas Point, Drum Point and Middle Bay (Alabama) are examples of the screw pile from Harbour Lights. Skeleton lights include Sanibel Island and Hillsboro Inlet.

Thank you for answering my question. At work I'm becoming the so called lighthouse lady, so I need to learn more about them so I can intelligently answer all the questions I'm getting. I have the screensaver on my pc at work and everyone is amazed at all the different lighthouses. And when I can name them off, they're impressed. What's nice is that everyone at work talks about lighthouses now. Most of the engineers travel a lot and they are taking notice of them.

Joanne

Joanne:

Yes it is quite contagious! Easy to become a disciple for lighthouses!

Joanne,

Here's a photo of a screw from a pile once used to anchor a Chesapeake Bay screwpile lighthouse. Not a great photo, but it should get the idea across.

This one now resides in the VA Mariners Museum in Newport News, VA, which by the way is a great place to stop if you are ever visiting Cape Henry.

[img]http://albums.photopoint.com/j/View?u=42289&a=282882&p=10899554[/img]

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-Art

As to the lack of screwpile lights in the Great Lakes: Screwpile foundations generally were not used in areas where ice was a big problem. The large ice floes could shear the framework. I've recently read some accounts of this happening, but don't recall which book these were in. It may have been Elinor DeWire's Guardians of the Lights, published by Pineapple Press.

Here on Long Island, surprisingly, we had one for a while. The Long Beach Bar light, which is usually reffered to as the Bug Light, got its insect name from its appearance when it was built upon a screwpile foundation in 1870. That foundation was changed to a concrete foundation in the 1920s to create a basement into which a central steam heating system was installed.

I have new images of the Bug Light from yesterday's Orient Point lighthouse birthday cruise on my site at: www.longislandlighthouses.com/orientbday.htm

Bob Muller
Stony Brook, NY
wildbird99@aol.com

This is one of the best sites explaining construction classifications and architectural styles of lights I have seen. It is from the Coast Guard:

www.uscg.mil/hq/g-cp/history/LHevolution.html

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Rod Watson
_{[This message has been edited by Rod Watson (edited 08-01-99).]}

Here is another good site to visit.
http://www.cr.nps.gov/maritime/constype/constype.htm

"the lightkeeper"

Boy, see what happens when you go on vacation for a week.
I'm glad I started browsing the Forum today.
These are great references Art, Rod, and thelgtkpr!
John maybe we should start a Lighthouse 101 Forum to include topics like this, fresnel lens www.pigeonpointlighthouse.org/sizecht.htm ,why does light flash?,fog signals, fuels, etc.
There is always some great information here, and many inquiring forum members to ask questions and knowledgeable FM to answer them.




[This message has been edited by rscroope (edited 09-01-99).]

I just want to thank everyone for all the information you've supplied. Between all the personal knowledge and websites given, I should be up to speed in no time. I'm planning a vacation in a few weeks. I'm renting a car and driving around Florida to see some lights. It will be nice to know what I will be looking at.

I remembered - it's screwpiles not screwpilings!

Joanne