History Pensacola Lighthouse, Pensacola Florida
The first light of the 1825 Pensacola Lighthouse, the first U.S. lighthouse in Florida, was undoubtedly an Argand lamp invented by Ami Argand in 1781. The lamp, an improvement over earlier lighting systems, had a hollow circular wick and burned with a brightness equivalent to seven candles. The Argand lamp was later used in conjunction with a parabolic reflector, 18 to 20 inches in diameter, which considerably improved illumination. This reflector lamp was used in the United States after Winslow Lewis, an unemployed sea captain, experimented with it and won acceptance of this method of lighting for U.S. lighthouses, which he patented. Lewis used a lens with the lamp and reflector, which ultimately proved unsuccessful. However, he managed to have "his" system installed in all U.S. lighthouses by 1815. In 1822, Augustin Fresnel perfected the lens, named in his honor, which had prisms at the top and bottom to refract the light so that it would come through the lens in a narrow sheet. A powerful magnifying glass was placed at the center of the lens. The result was a bright, narrow sheet of concentrated light.
Unfortunately, Lewis was able to prevent the installation of the Fresnel lens in U.S. lighthouses for many years. It was not until 1840 that the first Fresnel lens was placed in a U.S. lighthouse at Navesink Light Station, New Jersey. By 1851 only three U.S. lighthouses were using the Fresnel lens: Navesink; Sankaty Heady Light Station, Nantucket Island, Massachusetts; and Brandywine Lighthouse, on Delaware Bay.
By the time of the Civil War, all U.S. Lighthouses were equipped with a Fresnel lens including that of Pensacola.
It is traditionally considered that Henri LaPaite of Paris, France, cut and polished the lens used in the first lighthouse with its Argand lamp. That lamp probably used whale oil, sperm oil, colza or rapeseed oil, or lard oil in that order as fuel. These frequent changes in the pre-Civil War period stemmed from efforts to obtain a plentiful supply of inexpensive fuel, and one which would eliminate constant attention by the keeper.
Some confusion reigned in 1835 when the Mobile Point Light was changed from a fixed to a revolving light by Winslow Lewis. It caused furor among ships' captains and resulted in much criticism of Stephen Pleasonton, Fifth Auditor of the Treasury Department, and the man in charge of the country's lighthouses. It was impossible for mariners to distinguish between Pensacola, which had long been a revolving light, and the new one at Mobile Point. Pleasonton, nevertheless, approved the actions, despite Lewis' lack of official capacity in the lighthouse service.
In 1838, as a result of dissatisfaction with the nation's lighthouse program, Congress authorized Navy commissioners to inspect the lighthouses to determine their needs and to make recommendations. As a consequence of Captain Lawrence Rousseau1s inspection the following observations were made concerning the Pensacola Lighthouse in a report dated October 29, 1838: "Pensacola, being our only naval station in the Gulf of Mexico, ought to be so lighted as to enable our cruisers to leave or enter the port at any time by removing the present lighthouse to the height between the old Fort Barrancas and the Oaks; by placing a lighthouse on the west angle of Fort Pickens; and placing a small light-boat on the southwest spit of the Middle Ground. The cost of such operations Captain Rousseau estimated as $8,000 for the Fort Pickens Lighthouse, and $12,000 for the light-boat."
Apparently none of the recommendations made by Captain Rousseau, who was later Commodore and Commandant of the Pensacola Navy Yard, 1854-56, were carried out.
Thirteen years later, in 1851, Congress launched another investigation of the lighthouses. This time the report on the Pensacola Lighthouse termed the light "deficient in power, being fitted with only ten lamps and sixteen-inch reflectors." It was characterized as "Little better than a harbor light." The new Lighthouse Board felt that "the Pensacola light should be changed and that the port, because it was an important naval station, rated 'a first-class sea coast light.'"
On October 18, 1853, the Commandant of the Pensacola Navy Yard wrote to the Collector of the port of Pensacola about improvements at the harbor entrance. The lighthouse, he wrote, was well located but was much too low. Tall pines obscured the light in certain directions from ships at sea and he recommended that the tower be raised 20 to 25 feet, or a new one built. The Collector agreed with the Commandant and in his report to the Lighthouse Board endorsed the recommendations and further suggested that new machinery and a more brilliant light be provided. During 1854-58 Congress appropriated $55,000 for elevating, re-fitting and increasing the illumination of the Pensacola lighthouse. Thus, construction of a first order, revolving light was completed and lighted by January 1, 1859. It was in this new structure that the Fresnel lens was installed.
The new lens also required a new lamp. However, it is not known which of several lamps used with the Fresnel lens was placed in the lighthouse. In 1884 mineral oil (kerosene) was substituted as a fuel. Kerosene was also used when the incandescent oil vapor lamp, similar to the Coleman lantern, replaced the old lamps.
The new lighthouse was up only a few years when the Civil War began. The Confederate occupation of the Navy Yard and Fort Barrancas brought the lighthouse under fire from Union forces at Fort Pickens. A picture of 1861 or early 1862 shows a Rebel mortar battery entrenched near the lighthouse. Reports indicate that the tower was struck many times by solid shot. Fearful that the lens might be damaged, it was removed and buried in the sand near the tower, though when and by whom, whether Union or Rebel, is not known. In 1863, after the Union forces had reoccupied the area, a report on the lighthouse stated: "the important light at Pensacola has been repaired and re-exhibited, showing temporarily a fouth-order instead of first-order lens, which is alloted to that station, and the placing of which is not deemed advisable until the occupancy of a greater portion of the surrounding country by the United States forces shall have placed the station beyond risk of damage and spoliation."
It was not until 1866 that the Lighthouse Board report noted that "steps have been in progress for the reestablishing of range beacons to mark the entrance into Pensacola. The Caycas range was lighted December 22, 1866, and the Barrancas range on February 4 , 1867, the delay being caused by the failure of the respective keepers to report for duty at the proper time, owing to some misunderstandings." Congressional appropriations following the war enabled repairs to be made and a first-order light was exhibited on April 1, 1869, At the same time a new keeper's dwelling was constructed.
In 1852, Congress created a nine-member Lighthouse Board with the Secretary of the Treasury as the ex-officio president of the board, but with Commodore William B. Shubrick as the chairman. According to the law, seven members of the board were from the Army and Navy. An inspector, a naval officer, was placed in charge of each lighthouse district, and this officer inspected the lighthouse in his district every three months. The Pensacola Collector of Customs was retained as Superintendent of Lights, but his duties were primarily fiscal and administrative. In a few years, a district engineer, an army officer, was added. It was his responsibility to supervise the building of new light stations and the repair of old ones. It was the new Lighthouse Board and its field representatives that were responsible for rebuilding the Pensacola Lighthouse in 1858. In 1903, lighthouses were transferred to the Department of Commerce and in 1910 Congress abolished the Lighthouse Board and created the Bureau of Lighthouses which remained a part of the Commerce Department. This reorganization did away with the multi-headed military dominated board and substituted a one-man civilian head of the lighthouse service. Much credit, however, is given t the old Lighthouse Board for materially improving the lighthouses throughout the country in its fifty-eight years of operation.
George R. Putnam served as the head of the Bureau of Lighthouses from 1910 and 1935. Under him and directly in charge of the Pensacola Lighthouse was a civilian district inspector. An officer from the Corps of Engineers was concerned with construction and repair. On July 7, 1939, the Lighthouse Bureau was discontinued and its personnel and equipment were transferred to the U.S. Coast Guard and back to the Department of the Treasury. The Pensacola Lighthouse has been operated and maintained by the Coast Guard since that time, although the Coast Guard in 1967 was transferred from the Treasury to the Department of Transportation.
Nothing has been found to indicate the amount of land in 1825 under the jurisdiction of the Pensacola Lighthouse. In 1888 and 1909 the Secretary of War granted revocable licenses to the Pensacola Lighthouse for the use of certain portions of the nearby Fort Barrancas Military Reservation. In 1927, Executive Order 4739 transferred enough acreage from Fort Barrancas to create a lighthouse reservation of seventy-five acres. In April 1955, 31.5 acres were declared surplus and were transferred to the U.S. Navy which by that time had acquired Fort Barrancas from the Army. This left the Pensacola Lighthouse Reservation with 43.5 acres which it currently maintains.
When the light was converted to electricity in 1939, permission was obtained from the U.S. Army to run power lines over Army land, to use Army power and to pay the Army current electric rates. The conversion was effected on August 30, 1939. The same procedure was reenacted in 1949 when the Navy secured the Army's holdings.
On September 8, 1965, the lighthouse was automated. The light is controlled by sensor switches which turn it on and off at the proper times. In addition, when one light burns out, a second automatically is moved into position. Thus, there is no need for a resident keeper. Today, the lighthouse is maintained by personnel from the U.S. Coast Guard station on Santa Rosa Island. A trip across the bay is made weekly to Inspect the light and provide normal maintenance. The former keepers1 quarters are now used for rest and relaxation by Coast Guard and Navy personnel.
Jeremiah Ingraham was appointed the first keeper on December 22, 1824, and served until his death on September 6, 1840. His wife succeeded him and continued in that capacity until January 185 5. Joseph Palmer served as the keeper from January 5, 1855, until February 13, 1863, when he was succeeded by Henry B. Estes. Estes stayed on the job until January 3, 1867. There is no indication whether Palmer remained at his post during the Confederate occupation or not. In any event, it is most unlikely that any kind of a light was shown by the Confederates from January 1861 when they took the territory until they evacuated it in May 1862. Robert H, Watts became keeper on January 3, 1867, and served until May 22, 1869. He was succeeded by Benjamin E. Peters who served until October 8, 1869. Thomas C. Madden was keeper for two months, or until December 8, 1869. Patrick Williams O'Neill, who was appointed February 17, 1870, was. In office until May 10, 1870. William A. Mills followed him and kept the light until May 5, 1871. Then came Stebhen I. Jarvis who was the incumbent until January 24, 1872. His successor was John Robinson, who was the keeper until April 4, 1873. Then Charles J. Moberly was acting keeper from October 14, 1873 until July 28, 1874. Richard Morris became acting keeper on July 28, 1874, and served until June 4, 1875, when Richard Riggs succeeded him as acting keeper, holding office until May 26, 1877, and remaining until October 30, 1885. Mr. Samuel Lawrence was appointed keeper in 1878. During Lawrence's service, on January 21, 1884, Tennessee Avanda Lawrence was the first child known to have been born in the keeper's house. Her mother was the former Martha Enfinger of Pensacola. William A. Bethel became keeper on April 2, 1886, but remained on the job only until June 14 of that year. He was succeeded by George T. Clifford who had an unprecedented 30 years 9 months and 17 days service as keeper. He resigned April 1, 1917.
Records were not available to provide detailed information on the keepers who have been assigned to the Pensacola Lighthouse since 1917, when Clifford retired. Three names appear during the years between 1917 and 1932: Mr. Thompson, Mr. Doyle and George Darby. In 1932, Mr. J. M. Hatten, Sr., succeeded Darby and remained in that position until he retired in 1953. In 1939 when the Coast Guard took over the lighthouses, civilians were given the option of donning a uniform or of remaining in the Civil Service. Mr. Hatten chose the latter. Hatten was the last civilian keeper to man the tower. Since that time the tower has been maintained by the Coast Guard personnel.
The keeper's family normally lived in the house at the base of the tower. An exception occurred during World War II, when they were forced to move out and to make room for an enlarged team of Coast Guard personnel. The added force was needed to perform beach surveillance and to provide a guard for the tower. During the war, the wattage of the bulb was decreased for obvious reasons. Mr. Hatten and his family moved back into the keeper's house in 1945. By 1952 the house had been divided into several apartments and two members of the three-man team assisting Mr. Hatten lived in the apartments with their families.
The list of keepers during these years Is complete, but who supervised the keepers and what was the administrative organization of the country's lighthouses? From its erection in 1825 until 1852, the Pensacola Lighthouse was under the jurisdiction of Stephen Pleasonton, Fifth Auditor of the Treasury Department. Pleasonton was popularly known as the General Superintendent of Lighthouses. Directly responsible for the Pensacola Lighthouse was the Collector of Customs for the port of Pensacola, called the Superintendent of Lights. During those years, supervision of the nation's lighthouses was more noted for its economy than its efficiency.
