Lighthouse Engineering Patterns: Brick Towers

Conical brick towers of similiar designs, including variants thereof. This list will include stone and iron towers whose design clearly influenced or was influenced by brick towers. In a few cases, iron lighthouses are also included when their design is clearly similiar to a masonry tower. For the earliest examples, see Winslow Lewis.

Defining Characteristics: conical brick towers with "birdcage" lanterns. Design specifics unknown, but probably similiar to the earlier Lewis designs.
Notes: Gibbons also worked on several early Pacific Coast lighthouses and some screwpile lighthouses in the Chespeake Bay.

Characteristics: octagonal brick tower with flaired brick apron supporting gallery deck, stairs around central column.

Characteristics: double-walled conical brick tower, grated iron stairs around central column, windows on four sides at landings, granite brackets supporting gallery deck
Notes: Meade also designed the Cedar Keys and Sombrero Keys Lighthouses, but these were of substanially different styles. Some of the later designs included elements Antebellum Standard Brick Tower Plan design.

Characteristics: double-walled conical brick tower, flared brick apron to support gallery deck (sometimes simple iron brackets were used instead), iron or stone stairs around a central column. Original architectural design includes an attached two-story structure (oil room and work room), but in some cases the oil house was not built or was only one story.
Notes: Daniel Woodbury also designed the Cockspur Island Lighthouse, but it used a simple single-wall design.

Characteristics: double-walled brick tower, iron gallery deck brackets, open center with weight well, tall windows on two opposite sides of the tower, metal staircase with double hand rails, semicircular landings, watch room, lantern room seperated from top of staircase.
Variantions: This list includes iron lighthouses that were clearly inspired by the Pelz Standard Plan and masonry towers that were clear variants of the design.
Origin: This design seems to have been influenced by the Antebellum Standard Brick Tower Plan and William B. Franklin's design of the 1861 Cape Ann twin lights. Lighthouse Historian John Havel and National Park Service both credit William Newnan, 5th District Engineer, with creating the Hatteras plan, which seems to have been designed first. The main design credited to Paul Pelz has so many similiarities with Hatteras it must have been the inspiration. Pelz was a civil engineer and draftsman for the Lighthouse Board from 1867 to 1877, the last five years holding the title of Chief Draftsman.

Characteristics: lantern design, including gallery deck brackets, found on the Pelz design but tower is of a different design.

Defining Characteristics: conical double-walled brick tower, grated iron stairs, iron corbells supporting gallery deck, attached oil house and keeper's dwelling (usually a duplex)
Main Verison: service room with four arched windows and tall bell-style lantern room (2nd, 3rd, or 3.5 order Fresnel lens)
Variant: no service roomed or arched windows, small lantern (4th or 5th order Fresnel lens)
Notes: Orlando Metcalfe Poe also designed the Spectacle Reef Lighthouse on Lake Huron, but using a different design. Terry Pepper has argued that the "Poe Tower" design may have actually originated with William F. Raynolds then been adopted by Poe.