As the Coast Guard writes, “She not only kept the light burning but by her own account may have saved as many as 50 people.” Still, Cuadrado explains, women who became head lightkeepers “always got paid half.” Whereas men in the 19th century typically earned $600 a year to live in a solitary cylinder, she says, women ...
How long did lighthouse keepers stay in the 1800s?
At most offshore lighthouses reliefs were carried out every two weeks, weather permitting. Each keeper in turn was relieved (replaced) by another keeper, so each individual keeper was on duty for six weeks, followed by two weeks off.
In the past, lighthouse keepers were typically paid a salary, which varied depending on the country and the time period. In the United States, for example, lighthouse keepers were typically paid by the federal government, with salaries based on their rank and years of service.
Were there female lighthouse keepers in the 1800s?
Thomas was the first woman to actually tend a light, but the new federal government did not hire her. Kate Moore at Black Rock Harbor Light, Connecticut (unofficially 1817-1871, officially 1871 - 1878), and Ida Lewis at Lime Rock Light, Rhode Island (unofficially 1857-1879, officially 1879-1911).
The care of the nation's lighthouses moved from agency to agency until 1910, when Congress created the Bureau of Lighthouses. The U.S. Coast Guard took over responsibility in 1939. A keeper's job was not quite a 24-hour job, but it could be. Typically, the keeper's day began before dawn and ended well past dusk.
Donald McArthur, Occasional Keeper – doing duty for William Ross, 1st Assistant, on sick leave. Their disappearance was only discovered as a result of the routine visit by Lighthouse Tender HESPERUS, on 26 December 1900.
Although keepers were on call 24 hours a day, they were actually only paid for eight working hours per day: four during the daylight hours and another four at night, which meant 'a man has plenty of time for himself'.
The most well-known lighthouse keeper in the world was an American woman who was a Federal civil servant. Ida Wilson Lewis, lighthouse keeper of Rhode Island, saved somewhere between 13 and 25 lives, including men stationed at Fort Adams and a sheep. Ida Wilson Lewis was born Idawally Zorada Lewis in 1842.
Typically a single keeper and two assistant keepers resided at the lighthouse and kept the station operational. The lighthouse operated during the shipping season, from May to December, and shut down during the winter months.
Keepers stayed away through the night, taking turns at the light watches if there were multiple keepers at the light station. During the day, there were constant chores, cleaning, repairs, and daily life tasks to accomplish, and maybe a nap to rest for the evening watch.
Like the hatters of their day, the light house keepers were being driven mad by exposure to mercury fumes. The solitude was not driving the lighthouse keepers mad. They were being poisoned by the lighthouse itself. Perhaps we should add “mad as a lighthouse keeper” to the lexicon.
The Coast Guard further clarified in 2022 that there are 90 people employed as lighthouse keepers across the country, all of whom are considered to be employees of the federal government, and 54 of whom operate out of British Columbia. The last civilian keeper in the United States, Frank Schubert, died in 2003.
You might have to rely on a boat to bring your supplies. You had to place orders from catalogs for things like books, clothes, and other daily items. Food was often grown in gardens and animals were kept to provide eggs, milk, and meat.
Though a few—like Ida Lewis—found fame during their lifetimes, the contributions of most women lighthouse keepers were kept in the dark for centuries until modern scholars were able to illuminate their stories.
The oldest existing lighthouse in the world is considered to be La Coruna in Spain that dates from ca. 20 B.C. A Roman lighthouse is located on the Cliffs of Dover in the UK that was constructed in 40 A.D. The first lighthouse in America was at Boston on Little Brewster Island (1716).
Modern scholars have wondered if mercury, not isolation, was behind reports of lighthouse keepers behaving erratically or losing sanity, since chronic mercury poisoning causes confusion, depression, and hallucinations.
2019 film The Vanishing is based on the true story of the mysterious disappearance of three lighthouse keepers. Set in the Flannan Isles in the Outer Hebrides of Scotland, it tells the tale of Thomas Marshall, James Ducat and Donald MacArthur, who were all discovered missing in December 1900.
The process of lighthouse automation began in the late 1960s with the introduction of helicopter reliefs, but most lighthouses remained manned until the 1980s and 1990s.
Generally speaking the lighthouse keeper and his family didn't keep warm any differently than other people of the time period, no matter if they lived in the lighthouse proper or in an adjunct cottage. Iron cast wood stoves or bricked fireplaces were the way to go.
Boston Light is located in Massachusetts. This historic Lighthouse overlooks the sea from Little Brewster Island, casting a light beam 27 miles into the Atlantic. This is the oldest continually used and last staffed lighthouse in the country, which dates back to the Revolutionary War!
Mercury, of course, is highly toxic, and the lighthouse keepers must have been exposed during their day to day activities, particularly when they had to remove impurities from the top of the bath and also when they had to periodically clean the liquid metal by passing it through a chamois leather, which they had to do ...
D'Entremont estimated 60 to 70 percent of the country's 800 or so lighthouses are still active today (numbers are hard to nail down because lighthouses are divided among private owners, nonprofits, and the government).
