Federal Lighthouse Records Resources

 

At National Archives  (NARA Archives I), Washington, DC

I.          Microforms

            A.         Microfilm Publications in RG 26: Records of the United States Coast Guard in Room 400, NARA Washington, DC

                        M63                 Lighthouse Letters: Correspondence 1792-1809 (3 rolls)

                        M94                 Lighthouse Deeds and Contracts 1790-1853 (2 rolls)

M1373 Registers of Lighthouse Keepers 1845-1912 (6 rolls)

            B.         Microfiche

                                    Lighthouse Plans in the National Archives. A Special List

of Lighthouse-Related Drawings in Record Group 26. Special List 57. Available at NARA College Park, MD.

 

II.         Unfilmed Records at NARA Archives I, Washington, DC.

            A.         Most popular textual records with relatively simple access:

                        1.         RG 26, NC-31, E66. Lighthouse Site Files 1790-1939. Plans, deeds, and other documents related to property. Arranged alphabetically by State and then numerically under number assigned to lighthouse.

                        2.         RG 26, NC-63, E13. Lighthouse Clipping Files. Filed by State/District/Name, these are actual clippings from Annual Reports to the Lighthouse Board for a particular lighthouse, arranged chronologically. Filed by Lighthouse District, State, and lighthouse name.

            B.         Other valuable records, less simply found and studied:

                        1.         RG 26, NC-31, E17. Correspondence 1785-1852. 14 vols. Plus 39 ft. unbound papers not indexed. Divided into eleven subsections labeled A-K.

                        2.         RG 26, NC-31, E82. Correspondence Concerning Keepers and Assistants, 1821-1902. Filed alphabetically by name of official charged with making appointments.

                        3.         RG 26, NC-31, E102. Letters of Appointment of Lighthouse Keepers 1886-1907. Press copies of letters, arranged chronologically in 13 bound volumes, not easily searched if date of appointment is not known.

                       


III.            Unfilmed Records at Archives II, College Park, MD.

            A.         Textual Records:

                        RG 365 Treasury Department Collection of Confederate Records.

  E78: Correspondence of the Lighthouse Bureau Apr 12 1861-Feb 5, 1864.

  E79: Records Relating to Lighthouse Establishments 1860-1865.

B.         Still Pictures Branch on 5th floor.  Finding Aids:  File Cabinets in Still Pictures Branch (5th floor) hold reference information under RG 26.

C.         Cartographic and Architectural Branch on 3rd floor. RG 26. Finding Aids: file cabinets with index cards. Notebooks of prints of plans and photos, not inclusive of all lighthouses, can be copied onsite. Some records transferred from Cleveland containing many Great Lakes lighthouses. Many records remain at Regional Archives (for example, many New England lighthouse plans are located at Waltham, MA).

 

IV.        Other Record Groups with lighthouse records

RG 23             Records of the Coast and Geodetic Survey - Administrative Operations and Division 1860-1965. Various photos of lighthouses from 1893-1963 in various boxes, mixed in with other photos (NARA II, MD) 

RG 36              General Records of the U.S.Customs Service - some pre-1852 lighthouse administration documents. See PI # NC 154 (1968)

 

RG 40              Records of the Dept. Of Commerce - general correspondence files contain some references to individual lighthouses and vessels.

RG 41              Records of the Bureau of Marine Inspection and Navigation - while not responsible directly for lighthouses, the Bureau’s work interacted with lighthouse services on occasion.

RG 49              Records of the Bureau of Land Management - records of Division K have files on some lighthouse reservations, indexed.

RG 56              General Records of the Department of the Treasury - some records from period that lighthouses reported to this Dept.

RG 77             Records of the Office of the Chief of Engineers - correspondence relating to construction, land, repairs, inspections. (NARA II, MD with some records located at Atlanta Region)

            RG 217            Records of the Accounting Officers of the Department of Treasury - ledgers and audit reports of lighthouse engineers and inspectors, and construction contracts 1853-1888, and registers 1853-1895.

RG 233                        U.S. House of Representatives Territorial Papers Collection - contain many citizen petitions, providing names and signatures.

            RG 287                        Publications of the U.S. Government - record copies of various Bureau of Lighthouses publications and reports.

 

Additional Selected Bibliography

 

______, United States Coast Guard Annotated Bibliography. Historian, Commandant

(G-BPA), U.S. Department of Transportation, United States Coast Guard. Washington, DC: U.S. Government Printing Office, 1982, pp. 5-18. This update of a 1972 “list” has a chapter on “Aids To Navigation” which cites a variety of federal and private publications.

 

Burger, Barbara Lewis, Comp. Guide to Holdings of the Still Pictures Branch of the National Archives. Washington, DC: National Archives and Records Administration, 1990. The Branch was relocated to College Park since this guide was published, and there have been additions to the collections made by transfer from other locations.

 

Heynen, William J., Elizabeth K. Lockwood, and Margo Szabunia, Comp. Lighthouse Plans in the National Archives. A Special List of Lighthouse-Related Drawings in Record Group 26. Special List 57. Washington, DC: National Archives and Records Administration, 1990. Describes some holdings now at NARA College Park, and includes three microfiche of 200+ pages of indexes to these records.

 

Matchette, Robert B., et al, Comp. Guide to Federal Records in the National Archives of the United States. 5 Volumes. Washington, DC: National Archives and Records Administration, 1995. Volume I covers Record Groups 1-170. Vol. III has an index compiled by Jan Shelton Davis.

 

Ryan Carmelita, Comp. Treasury Department Collection of Confederate Records.

RG 365, Preliminary Inventory No. 169. Washington, DC:  National Archives and Records Administration, 1967.

                                                                                               

Federal Lighthouse Information Accessible on the Internet

 

(There are hundreds of privately sponsored and personal Web sites with lighthouse information, many with beautiful photographs. The historical information is usually undocumented and often inconsistent with known information from federal records.  This list below is limited to federal agencies with responsibility for maritime records.)

 

The National Archives: Included in the fabulous collections online, one can search the NAIL database for “lighthouse”, “light house”, and “lighthouses”  and find hundreds of references to  materials including textual, photos, and motion pictures. Many lighthouse photos taken in the 1940s by the 13th District, USCG (Pacific Coast) are online. Email appropriate reference staff at NARA to inquire about other holdings.           < www.nara.gov/ >

 

The National Maritime Initiative: A program within the History Division of the National Park Service, which was mandated by Congress to survey and evaluate the historic maritime resources preserved around the country. There is an Inventory online of 613 historic light stations, most of which have been evaluated for inclusion in the National Register of Historic Places. It also describes the Historic Lighthouse Preservation Handbook, a 1997 publication, created by a collaboration among three federal agencies and one non-profit organization, [National Park Service (NPS), U.S. Coast Guard (USCG), Department of Defense (DoD), U.S. Lighthouse Society (USLHS) ] , with some sections online and ordering information through the Government Printing Office. < www.cr.nps.gov/history/maritime/ >

 

The United States Coast Guard: Resources of the Historian’s Office: Bibliographies of federal and non-federal documents, information about their collection of over 500,000 images, and textual records, some of which duplicates the holdings of the National Archives, but much of which is unique.       < www.uscg.mil/ hq/g-cp/history/h-lhindex.html >

 

 

Other Resources Studied for Lighthouse Family Records

 

U.S. federal census records 1790-1920 on microfilm at the National Archives

 

Civil War Pension Files - Union. (Index available online at < www.ancestry.com > Original files are unfilmed and available for onsite study at NARA, or can be ordered by mail. See NARA web site at < www.nara.gov >

 

World War I Draft Registration Files - microfilmed by state, county and local registration board. Further information at NARA web site.

 

Various Internet web sites for surnames and localities, especially at North Carolina sites on US GenWeb: cemetery transcriptions, newspaper abstracts, family trees, etc. Various surname message boards at the GenForum were contacted for information.