A "skeletal tower" is a metal structure of several main support legs and various cross-beams and tension rods, similiar to a radio antenna. A skeletal lighthouse will have a vertical cylinder in the center for the stairs resulting in a narrower tower than a brick, stone, or wooden lighthouse. These lighthouses stand on iron pilings, sometimes but not always screwpiles. Skeletal towers were originally used mostly for offshore locations, but in the 1880s these towers became preferred over classic brick towers. They were especially popular for large rear range lights and locations with erosion danger. In either case, the lighthouse could be disassembled and moved if needed.
Lighthouse |
State |
Constructed |
First Lighted |
Height |
Status |
Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Whitefish Point II | MI | 1860-1861 | 1861 | 76 ft | active | |
| Manitou Island II | MI | 1860-1861 | 1861 | 42.5 ft | active | |
| DeTour Point II | MI | 1860-1861 | 1861 | demolished (1931) | replaced by DeTour Reef Lighthouse |
Characteristics:Square pyramidal skeletal iron tower. The lowest skeletal section is vertical rather than sloped. Wider than later square skeletal designs.
Central column goes to the ground and connects to one adjacent keeper's dwelling.
Always built on dry land.
Notes: all three manufactured at the West Point Foundary, Cold Spring, NY and designed by William F. Smith.
Lighthouse |
State |
Designer | Manufacturer |
Constructed |
First Lighted |
Height |
Watchroom? |
Status |
Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Deepwater Range Rear | NJ | 1876 |
demolished (1956) | ||||||
| Port Penn Range Rear Liston Range Rear |
DE DE |
Kellogg Bridge Company | 1877 1906 |
120 ft |
no |
disassembled & relocated extant |
|||
| Finns Point Range Rear | NJ | Kellogg Bridge Company | 1877 |
no |
extant | ||||
| Schooner Ledge Range Rear Michigan Island |
PA WI |
1880 1929 |
disassembled (1919) & relocated (1929) active |
||||||
| Tinicum Island Range Rear | NJ | 1880 |
extant | ||||||
| Hilton Head Range Rear (aka Leamington) |
SC | Peter C. Hains (1877) | 1880 |
extant | hexagonal lantern instead of round | ||||
| Delaware Breakwater Range Rear Boca Grande Range Rear |
DE FL |
Phoenix Iron Company | 1881 1932 |
no |
disassembled & relocated active |
now Gasparilla Island Lighthouse |
Characteristics:
Tall hexagonal pyramidal skeletal iron tower.
Exclusively used as rear range lights, mostly on Delaware Bay and the Delaware River.
"Small head, big body" (per Lighthouse Directory)
Lighthouse |
State |
Designer |
Manufacturer |
Constructed |
First Lighted |
Height |
Status |
Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Sanibel Island | FL | William H. Heuer (1883) | 1884 | 1884 | 102 ft |
|||
| Cape San Blas IV | FL | William H. Heuer (1883) | 1885 | 1885 | 90 ft |
original keeper dwellings destroyed by hurricane (1894) tower moved 1918-1919 & 2015 |
||
| Brazos River | TX | William R. Livermore? (1895) | 1896 | demolished (1967?) | ||||
| Chandeleur Island III | LA | 1896 | Oct 31, 1896 | destroyed by Hurricane Katrina (2005) | elevated column connected to a boardwalk rather than directly to the keeper dwellings. | |||
| Sapelo Island II South Fox Island II |
GA MI |
1905 1934 |
100 ft |
disassembled & relocated (1933) extant (inactive since 1969) |
||||
| Belluvue Range Rear | DE | 105 ft |
extant | elevated column connected to a wharf built just offshore |
Characteristics:
Square pyramidal skeletal iron tower.
Central column elevated off ground, with stairways connecting to two adjacent keeper dwellings.
Usually but not always built on dry land.
Lighthouse |
State |
Designer |
Manufacturer |
Constructed |
First Lighted |
Height |
Status |
Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Cape San Blas IV original design | FL |
William H. Heuer (1883) | n/a | n/a | n/a | never built | design changed to Sanibel style | |
| Anclote Keys | FL |
1887 | 102 ft | active | ||||
| Coney Island | NY |
Phoenix Iron Company | 1890 | 70 ft | active | |||
| Throgs Neck | NY |
Phoenix Iron Company | 1890 | 70 ft | removed (1906) | |||
| New Point Loma | CA |
William H. Heuer (1890) | Phoenix Iron Company | 1891 | 70 ft | active | ||
| Waackaack Range Rear | NJ |
? (1891) | 1894 | 106 ft | demolished (1950s) | |||
| Crooked River | FL |
1895 | 100 ft | active | ||||
| Marblehead | MA |
William R. Livermore? (1895) | 1896 | 105 ft | ||||
| LaPointe | WI |
1896 | 65 ft | |||||
| Plum Island Range Rear | WI |
1897 | 65 ft | |||||
| Duluth Harbor South Breakwater | MN |
1901 | 67 ft | |||||
| Reedy Island Range Rear | DE |
William R. Livermore? (1895) | 1910 | 110 ft | reused plans from Marblehead |
Characteristics:
Square pyramidal skeletal iron tower.
Central column goes to the ground and is not connected to keeper dwellings. (Constrast to Sanibel style above.)
Always built on dry land.
Lighthouse |
State |
Designer | Manufacturer |
Constructed |
First Lighted |
Height |
Status |
Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Chicago Harbor I (Chicago North Pier) |
IL | 1858-1859 | July 9, 1859 | dismantled | central column elevated above pier no service room lantern moved to new open-frame tower in 1885 remainder of tower dismantled in 1894 |
|||
| Rawley Point II (Twin River Point II) |
WI | 1894 | Nov 20, 1894 | 113 ft | extant | included reused sections from Chicago North Pier LH tallest lighthouse on the Great Lakes different watchroom and lantern design than the others |
||
| Cape Charles III | VA | Frederick A. Mahan (1893) | 1893-1895 | Aug 1895 | 191 ft | extant | ||
| Hog Island II | VA | Frederick A. Mahan (1893) | 1894-1895 | Jan 31, 1896 | 194 ft | demolished (1948) | ||
| Cape Fear | NC | Richard L. Hoxie (1900) | 1902-1903 | Aug 31, 1903 | 184 ft | demolished (1958) | ||
| Hillsboro Inlet | FL | Russell Wheel & Foundry | Mar 7, 1907 | 137 ft | active |
Characteristics: Tall octagonal pyramidal skeletal iron tower. Lantern has diamond-shaped glass, instead of square or triangular. Service room under lantern. (Typical of large post-Civil War brick towers, but not found in most other skeletal towers.) Central column goes to the ground and is not connected to keeper dwellings. Always built on dry land.
Foundaries That Manufactured Iron Lighthouses
Kellogg Bridge Company, Buffalo, NY
J. V. Merrick, Philadelphia, PA
Phoenix Iron Company (Paulding, Kemble, and Company), Trenton, NJ
Russell Wheel & Foundry Company, Detroit, MI
West Point Foundary, Cold Spring, NY
Sources (photos and text)::
Lighthouse Directory - Onshore Skeletal Lighthouses
US Lighthouse Society
LighthouseFriends.com
various newspaper articles