Digest>Archives> September 2000

Salute to the Coast Guard

By Timothy Harrison

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When one thinks of lighthouses, one almost always also thinks of the Coast Guard, simply because it is the Coast Guard that for so many years has been and still is, “in the lighthouse business.”

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However, at the end of the last century, primarily due to automation as well as budget cutbacks, the United States Coast Guard has been gradually been getting out of the lighthouse business. With automation came the end of the jobs of keepers. The men and women who tended the lighthouses were simply no longer needed. During automation, especially at some of the more remote stations, there was no thought of preservation. As we look back on this now, we are appalled, but at the time these light stations and the equipment were not thought of as historic. Some stations and artifacts were destroyed or lost. However, fortunately, thanks to the foresight of many at the time, many of the stations and artifacts were saved from destruction.

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The facts are sad but obvious - although there is still an obvious need for aids to navigation, there simply is no longer a need for lighthouses as we know them. Furthermore, the United States Coast Guard does not have the money it takes to maintain and restore every historic lighthouse. They need to concentrate on law enforcement, environmental protection, search and rescue, preventative maritime safety and always be on the ready in case of a military crisis. In addition, they still need to maintain the aids to navigation to keep our waterways on the ocean, harbors, lakes and rivers safe.

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Over the years the U.S. Coast Guard has been divesting itself of as many lighthouses as possible. Wherever possible they have turned many lighthouses over to local communities, state agencies and other government agencies like the National Park Service, as well as non-profits preservation groups who are charged with restoring and maintaining these historic buildings for the future. In fact, many of the lighthouses on the Lighthouse Digest Doomsday List of endangered lighthouses are no longer under Coast Guard control.

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Shown here is QM2 Andrew VanDerVeen, boat ...
Photo by: Preston Logan

The budget cutbacks and downsizing which the modern Coast Guard is experiencing is not just something recent. In fact it’s been going on for over 100 years. To understand it, one only needs to go back in the history books and look at the origins of the Coast Guard.

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The U.S. Coast Guard Cutter Dallas sailing past ...

The United States Coast Guard is in fact the oldest maritime agency of the government of the United States of America. It has a glorious and colorful history. In my opinion, (sorry you Navy people), the Coast Guard is the nations premier maritime agency.

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U.S. Coast Guard Capt. Earl Fox is shown here ...

It was Alexander Hamilton, the first Secretary of the Treasury, who first created a floating police force. From its inception in 1789/90, this “floating police force” operated under a number of different names — The System of Cutters, Revenue Marine, and Revenue Service — until 1863 when it was renamed the United States Revenue Cutter Service. In fact, it was our nation’s only maritime agency from 1790 until the U.S. Navy was officially established in 1797.

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Coast Guardsmen Robert Holm, left, Brian ...
Photo by: Kevin Mingora

In 1915 the United States Life-Saving Service, an organization that was officially organized in 1878, and the U.S. Revenue Cutter Service were merged together to create a new maritime agency that was named the United States Coast Guard.

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A U.S. Coast Guard Aids to Navigation Team ...
Photo by: Tom Taylor

In 1939, the United States Lighthouse Service, which had been in existence since 1789, was dissolved and merged in to the United States Coast Guard, thus giving control of our nation’s lighthouses to the Coast Guard.

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A U.S. Coast Guard Aids to Navigation Team ...
Photo by: Tom Taylor

There were a number of other government agencies that also became part of the Coast Guard. The Steamboat Inspection Service, formed in 1852, and the Bureau of Navigation, formed in 1884; both operated under the Treasury Dept until they were transferred to the Department of Commerce in 1903. In 1932 they merged to form one organization, and in 1936, the name of organization became the Bureau of Marine Inspection and Navigation. During World War II this organization was transferred to the Coast Guard under Navy control and in 1946 it was abolished and its duties were assigned to the United States Coast Guard.

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It’s the Coast Guard in action as shown here when ...
Photo by: Patrick Montgomery

All of these mergers and changes were implemented as cost saving measures and budget cutbacks, something that continues to affect today’s modern Coast Guard, and more importantly, lighthouses.

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Special Salute to the Coast Guard Issue... we ...
Photo by: Bob and Sandra Shanklin, The Lighthouse People

Despite all this, the Coast Guard has managed to continue to save and restore many of our nation’s lighthouses. Perhaps it because they are so used to, as the saying goes, “doing more with less.” However, it is the responsibility of the American people to let their members of Congress know that the Coast Guard needs more money. We must not allow this vital maritime organization that helped make this country the great nation that it is today to continue to operate with less. What they need is more.

Since this is a lighthouse magazine, we are only concentrating on one small aspect of the United States Coast Guard: their link to lighthouses. There are books and numerous articles that cover all the other good things the Coast Guard has done and is doing.

In the next few pages you will see in photos and stories our “Salute to the Coast Guard” and the many things they are accomplishing with lighthouses. And this is just the tip of the iceberg. We could probably have dozens of issues jammed packed with all the other things the Coast Guard is doing to help the lighthouse community. Also, many Coast Guard military and civilian personnel volunteer their free time helping lighthouse groups with fundraisers and special events, working on restoration projects and helping many preservation groups in many other ways too numerous to mention here.

All of this is the kickoff for a new, yet to be named column about the Coast Guard that will appear in future issues of Lighthouse Digest. If you have ideas, suggestions or comments, let’s hear from you.

In the meantime—to the men and women of the United States Coast Guard,

“We Salute You!”

This story appeared in the September 2000 edition of Lighthouse Digest Magazine. The print edition contains more stories than our internet edition, and each story generally contains more photographs - often many more - in the print edition. For subscription information about the print edition, click here.

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