The Coast Guard Takes Over

The Presidential Reorganization Act of 1939, in another one of those moves "in the interest of economy and efficiency" that aids to naviagation had gone through so many times before, abolished the lighthouse service and incorportated its activities into the U.S. Coast Guard. On July 7, 1939, the Lighthouse Bureau went out of existence and its personnel moved themselves and their equiptment to Coast Guard Headquarters from the Commerce Department building. Thus, did lighthouses return to the Treasury, the department they had been part of for so long.
[This message has been edited by Randy Kremer (edited 07-02-2002).]