A caisson lighthouse (also referred to as a sparkplug lighthouse, or bug light) is a type of lighthouse whose superstructure rests on a concrete or metal caisson. [1] Caisson lighthouses were developed in the late nineteenth century as a cheaper alternative to screwpile lighthouses. The caisson design was also more efficient as it could better withstand harsh weather, and was not as fragile. Caisson lighthouses usually have living quarters made of cast iron, although some brick examples are known. The two American nicknames were later coined because of the structure's shape. [1] [2] [3]
Media related to Lighthouses built on caissons at Wikimedia Commons
A lighthouse is a tower, building, or other type of physical structure designed to emit light from a system of lamps and lenses and to serve as a beacon for navigational aid, for maritime pilots at sea or on inland waterways.
A screw-pile lighthouse is a lighthouse which stands on piles that are screwed into sandy or muddy sea or river bottoms. The first screw-pile lighthouse to begin construction was built by the blind Irish engineer Alexander Mitchell. Construction began in 1838 at the mouth of the Thames and was known as the Maplin Sands lighthouse, and first lit in 1841. However, though its construction began later, the Wyre Light in Fleetwood, Lancashire, was the first to be lit.
The St. George Reef Light is an inactive lighthouse built on North West Seal Rock, six miles (10 km) off the coast of northern California near Crescent City.
Butler Flats Light is a sparkplug lighthouse located in the outer harbor of New Bedford, Massachusetts, at the mouth of the Acushnet River. Built in 1898 by the United States Lighthouse Board, it is the only known caisson lighthouse designed by a marine architect. The light was added to the National Register of Historic Places as Butler Flats Light Station on June 15, 1987. Automated in 1978, it is now operated by the city as a private aid to navigation.
Great Beds Light is a sparkplug lighthouse in Raritan Bay, about 1 mile (1.6 km) from South Amboy of Middlesex County, New Jersey, United States. Over the years the lighthouse has become the symbol for the city of South Amboy. Named as Great Beds Light Station, it was added to the National Register of Historic Places on May 29, 2008, for its significance in architecture, engineering, transportation, and maritime history.
Duxbury Pier lighthouse also called Duxbury Light is a lighthouse located in Plymouth Harbor, Massachusetts. Duxbury Pier Light was built in 1871 on the north side of the main channel in Plymouth Harbor to mark the dangerous shoal off Saquish Head. The unusual coffeepot-shaped lighthouse is locally known as "Bug Light" or simply "The Bug." It was the first so-called sparkplug lighthouse in the United States. Application was made to list the lighthouse on the National Register of Historic Places in 2014.
Orient Point Light is a sparkplug lighthouse off Orient Point, New York in Plum Gut of Long Island Sound – the deep and narrow gap between Orient Point and Plum Island. It was built in 1899 and was automated in 1954. The lighthouse was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 2007.
Greens Ledge Lighthouse is a historic offshore lighthouse in the western Long Island Sound near Norwalk, Connecticut and Darien, Connecticut. It is one of 33 sparkplug lighthouses still in existence in the United States and remains an active aid to navigation. It sits in ten feet of water on the west end of Greens Ledge, a shallow underwater reef that runs a mile west of Sheffield Island and is roughly a mile south of the entrance to Five Mile River at Rowayton. Completed in 1902 by the Philadelphia Construction Company, the cast-iron structure is approximately 90 feet tall including roughly 15 feet of the submerged caisson. In 1933, more than 30,000 tons of rocks from the excavation of Radio City Music Hall were added to the riprap foundation. The light was added to the National Register of Historic Places as Greens Ledge Lighthouse on May 29, 1990.
The Craighill Channel Lower Range Front Light, named for William Price Craighill, was the first caisson lighthouse built in the Chesapeake Bay in Maryland, USA. First lit in 1873, the range marks the first leg of the maintained Craighill Channel from the Chesapeake Bay at the mouth of the Patapsco River into the Baltimore harbor and works in conjunction with the Craighill Channel Lower Range Rear Light. It was owned by non-profit organization Historical Place Preservation, Inc. from 2005 until the government took back the property in 2017 due to neglect. The lighthouse was put up for auction and sold to the highest bidder on September 15 2017 for $95,000.
Newport News Middle Ground Light is a lighthouse near the Monitor–Merrimac Memorial Bridge–Tunnel (MMMBT) on Interstate 664 in Hampton Roads. It is the oldest caisson lighthouse in Virginia.
The Sharps Island Light is the third lighthouse to stand nearly 3 miles (5 km) south-southwest from the southern end of Tilghman Island in Maryland's Chesapeake Bay. The structure is best known today for evoking the Leaning Tower of Pisa, a condition caused by an ice floe in 1977.
Oswego Harbor West Pierhead Lighthouse is an active aid to navigation located off the coast of Oswego, New York. It was built in 1934 to replace an earlier light constructed in 1880. It stands at the end of a 2,000-foot-long (610 m) breakwater at mouth of Oswego River, extending one-half mile (0.80 km) out onto Lake Ontario. It is accessible by boat or from land over the abutting breakwater. It is open to the public for tours during the summer. It is owned by the City of Oswego and operated by the United States Coast Guard. It is listed on the National Register of Historic Places.
The Hooper Island Light is a lighthouse in the Chesapeake Bay, west of Middle Hooper Island in Maryland.
Hog Island Shoal Light, built in 1901, is a sparkplug lighthouse on a shoal off of Hog Island, Rhode Island. It is located about 600 feet (180 m) southeast of the island, at the entrance to Mount Hope Bay. It stands on a circular concrete foundation set in about 10 feet (3.0 m) of water, and rising about 6 feet (1.8 m) above the water line. It was built to replace a light ship, and was the last light station formally established in the state. The lighthouse was automated in 1964. In 1988 it was added to the National Register of Historic Places. In 2006 the lighthouse was auctioned by the GSA as government surplus to a private buyer.
Borden Flats Light is a historic lighthouse on the Taunton River in Fall River, Massachusetts, US. It is a tower-on-caisson type known as a sparkplug lighthouse.
Latimer Reef Light is a sparkplug lighthouse on Latimer's Reef in Fishers Island Sound. The lighthouse is located one mile northwest of East Point on Fisher's Island, Suffolk County, New York. Originally called Latemore's Reef after James Latemore.
Tarrytown Light, also known as Kingsland Point Light and Sleepy Hollow Light, is a sparkplug lighthouse on the east side of the Hudson River in Sleepy Hollow, New York, United States. It a conical steel structure erected in the 1880s. In 1979 it was listed on the National Register of Historic Places.
Lubec Channel Light is a sparkplug lighthouse in Lubec, Maine. Established in 1890, it is one of three surviving sparkplug lights in the state, and served as an important aid to navigation on the route from the Bay of Fundy to Eastport, Maine and the St. Croix River It is set in shallow waters in the Lubec Channel, about 500 feet (150 m) from the Canada–United States border. The lighthouse was listed on the National Register of Historic Places as Lubec Channel Light Station on March 14, 1988. The lighthouse was sold by auction into private hands on 2007.
The Detroit River Light, also known as Bar Point Shoal Light, was first established as a lightship in 1875. The current sparkplug lighthouse was built in 1885. It sits in Lake Erie, south of the mouth of the Detroit River, 1.75 nautical miles from land and about 20 nautical miles from the Ambassador Bridge in the Detroit River. It is about 0.4 nautical miles from the border with Canada, and just under 24 nautical miles from Put-in-Bay, Ohio. Its original 4th order Fresnel lens is on loan to the Michigan Maritime Museum.
The Sabine Bank Light is a caisson lighthouse in the Gulf of Mexico south of the mouth of the Sabine River. It is still active, though the original tower has been replaced with an automated beacon on a skeleton tower.
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