Lighthouse Lamp

On October 17, 1804, a plantation owner on St. Simons Island, Georgia, acquired four acres of his land at the southern tip of the island for a dollar the federal government for the construction of a lighthouse.

The first lighthouse and a residence through a floor was built in 1810 at a cost of $ 13,775. The lighthouse tower was 85 feet high and has been in the form of an octagonal pyramid. It was 25 feet in diameter at the base and gradually reduced to 10 feet in diameter at the top. On foot and 10 foot iron lantern ten high school senior based on the top of the tower, and oil lamps were suspended on iron chains in the lantern.

The first keeper was appointed in May 1810 and the tower was lit for the first time. In 1857, a new, more modern glass has been installed and the power of the lighthouse and the range have been improved considerably.

The light guided mariners in St. Simons Sound for years until the Civil War. During the civil war artillery troops and six field guns were stationed at Fort Brown, just west of the lighthouse, to protect St. Simons Sound.

Evenutally, Confederate troops were forced to evacuate because of an invasion by federal troops. Before their departure, however, they began to jump the lighthouse to prevent the opposing troops to use as an aid to navigation. For the next ten years, a barn near Retreat Plantation on Cotton has served as a reference to navigation for ships entering the port in Brunswick. The large barn cotton shown on maps as "King's Cotton House."

The U.S. government ordered the construction of a second lighthouse that was placed west of the first. The construction consisted of a white, a 104-foot tower containing a 129-step cast iron spiral staircase and a guardian of homes of two storey brick lighthouse nearby.

The construction of the lighthouse was the tragedy at the head of the construction and part of the crew did not live to see their completed project. ponds of standing water on the island were ideal breeding places for mosquitoes. Many men have been bitten and infected by malaria and died a year before construction was completed.

Official Records of the lighthouse keeper in 1874, said: "This station is very unhealthy, and is attributed to stagnant water in several ponds in the vicinity." In 1876, the American establishment has made a lighthouse overhaul the lighthouse and lighthouse keeper's house to improve the condition of buildings.

Originally, the keeper and his family with the Wizard and his family both lived in the keeper's house. The keeper and his family lived downstairs and the assistant and his family lived upstairs. A central staircase connects the two households. The house was connected to the tower by a room in the home custodian.

By 1910, the building was converted into two apartments with the removal of the central staircase. An exterior staircase, stoop, and door were added on the north side giving access to the second floor. These steps and stoop were removed, the door re-bricks, and the central stairway rebuilt during the 1975 rehabilitation.

The lighthouse keeper's house was used to house the lighthouse keepers from 1872 until 1950's. The lighthouse kerosene lamp was replaced by electricity in 1934. In the summer of 1939, the lighthouse was placed under the jurisdiction of the U.S. Coast Guard. In 1953, the lighthouse was fully automated and the last lighthouse keeper retired.

Stories from the haunting strains of an argument in 1880 between then lighthouse keeper Frederick Osborne and his assistant. Apparently, the two men got into a fight that ended with a fatal shot that left Osborne died.

Goalkeeper deputy, who was never charged in that case, Contin.