Lighthouses were not built solely for the benefit of ships and sailors, but by the people on shore to line their pockets, so that they and their communities could prosper by bringing more trade their way. The history of lighthouses in North America began in Massachusetts with the erection of Boston Light, lit in September, 1716.
Maine has more lighthouses than any other state.
Besides their functional qualities, the lighthouse has always had an esthetic appeal as a symbol of our nautical heritage and as a monument to our seafaring men. During the Civil War, the Confederate army seized nearly all the lighthouses on the southern coasts. In July of l863 the Charleston Lighthouse tender was captured and the light put to warlike uses. For many years, the former members of the Lighthouse Service maintained an identity within the Coast Guard but, as they retired, only the functional identity of the Lighthouse Service remained. In the 1850's the Lighthouse Board put up seven of these impressively statuesque towers, most of which ap peared along the coast of New Jersey.