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Lighthouse History
Built: 1857
Type: Conical Tower with
Bow Shaped Base
Height: 46 feet
Status: Active - Does not
serve as an Aids to Navigation
Location: Islet just off
the eastern end of Cockspur Island
Deactivated: 1909
Lens: Fourth order fresnel
Keepers: John Lightburn(1857
- ?), Cornelius Maher(? - ?), Mary Maher (?-?)
Notes: The first Tybee Island
tower was built in 1736 to mark the entrance to the Savannah River, but
mariners had to travel seventeen miles up the river to reach the port of
Savannah. Several islands, including Cockspur, Long and Elba, lie between
the river's mouth and the port, dissecting the river into two main channels:
the north channel, and the south channel. In 1849, a lighthouse was built
on an islet just off the eastern end of Cockspur Island to mark the entrance
to the south channel of the Savannah River. The lighthouse, whose light
source consisted of five lamps with 14-inch reflectors, was short-lived,
and a replacement was built on its oyster bed foundation in 1857.
The second Cockspur Lighthouse
was built of brick and exhibited a light from a fourth-order Fresnel lens.
The forty-six-foot tower has a unique feature - it's eastern side is shaped
like the prow of a ship to better withstand the force of high seas. A twin
tower was built nearby on Oyster Bed Island to mark the river's north channel,
but the structure fell victim to the storms that buffet the area.
The first keeper of the
Cockspur Island Lighthouse was appropriately named John Lightburn. The
keeper lived on Cockspur Island, near Fort Pulaski, and would make daily
trips to the tower to service the light. The lighthouse's second keeper,
Cornelius Maher, drowned near the tower when his boat capsized while he
was trying to help someone in distress. Maher's wife, Mary, replaced her
husband as keeper and remained at the light for three more years.
This lighthouse was initially
built as a daymarker without lights to indicate the entrance to the south
channel of the Savannah River. Construction lasted from March 1837 to November
1839. By 1848 it was retrofitted with lights and reflectors. It housed
a fixed white light from five lamps with 14 inch reflectors that shone
9 miles at a height of 25 feet above sea level. It was damaged by a hurricane
in 1854. The larger replacement that was built in 1855 on the same foundation
was designed by New York architect John S. Norris.
The light was extinguished
for a time during the American Civil War during the battle that brought
the defeat of Fort Pulaski. The lighthouse suffered little or no damage,
even though it was in direct line of fire. It was relit in 1866.
On June 1, 1909, the light
was finally extinguished because the south channel was infrequently used,
compared to the much more popular north channel, which was deeper and wider.
The United States Coast Guard relinquished control of this lighthouse to
the National Park Service on August 14, 1958. Along with the entire National
Monument, the lighthouse is listed on the National Register of Historic
Places. Starting in 1995 and lasting until 2000, the upper portions of
the lighthouse were restored, although the foundations still require protection
from wave action and tidal erosion.
On March 18, 2007 at 7:30pm
the lighthouse was relit in a ceremony hosted by the National Park Service
and the U.S. Coast Guard. |