Fierce northeast gales caused the tower to sway. Waves eroded the clay banks below the light station. Periodic storms forced the Lighthouse Board to move the original fog signal building from the base of the cliff up onto the bluff in 1875. The fog signal building held a locomotive whistle, with coal fired boilers used to build up steam pressure. The tramway was constructed in 1884 to aid in hauling supplies up from the boat landing.
Outer Island is remote.
In between times the folks had no idea of what was happening in the world - no telephone, and this was before radio was invented. Most of the provisions were canned foods, refrigeration hadn't been invented then, and we had no electricity anyway. The station changed with improvements in technology. In 1925, the steam fog whistle was converted to an air diaphone run by air compressors and diesel engines. The light was electrified in the late 1930's allowing it to operate automatically through the winter.