Whale oil
Relative to the subject of lighthouse illuminants – the evolution of fuels used in America's lights went as follows: wood fires and candles were replaced by whale oil with solid wicks. Whale oil continued to be used via an improved mechanical delivery system when the parabolic reflector system was introduced around 1810. Whale oil remained the fuel of choice until coiza oil (pressed from wild cabbages) replaced whale oil in the early 1850s. However, due to certain challenges, America's farmers lost interest in growing and manufacturing coiza oil. In the mid-1850s, the U.S. Lighthouse Board switched to lard oil (made from animal fat). Kerosene started replacing lard oil in the early 1870s – with full conversion to kerosene by the late 1880s. Electricity started to replace kerosene around the turn of the 20th century, with Gay Head Light being electrified in 1954.