James Chatham Duane was born in Schenectady, NY in 1824. His great-grandfather, James Duane, had been a member of the Continental Congress. He graduated West Point 3rd in the Class of 1848 and joined the Corps of Engineers. His antebellum service included two stints teaching engineering at West Point and two stints with the Company… Continue reading Bright Ideas #14: James C. Duane
Orlando Poe’s lasting lighthouse legacy is the Poe Tower. Fifteen lighthouses of this design were built on the Great Lakes between 1867 and 1895: Big Sable Point (Grande Pointe au Sable), Cana Island, Sturgeon Point, New Presque Island, South Manitou Island, St. Helena Island, Grosse Point, Little Sable Point (Petite Point au Sable), Au Sable… Continue reading Bright Ideas #10: Poe Towers
Orlando Metcalfe Poe graduated 6th in the West Point Class of 1856. He initially sought a commission in the Artillery, but quickly changed his mind and took one in the Corps of Topographic Engineers instead. Until the Civil War, he served on survey duty in the Great Lakes under Capt. George G. Meade. The Civil… Continue reading Bright Ideas #9: Orlando Poe
The Civil War was an important event in the history of lighthouse design. Many Southern lighthouses that would otherwise have been in service for a long time, probably even standing today, were destroyed during the conflict. The need to rebuild created new opportunities to innovate and improve. The lighthouse engineers of the 1850s had nearly… Continue reading Bright Ideas #7: Postbellum Evolution Of The Standard Brick Lighthouse Plan
As discussed in my preceding column, by 1857 the Lighthouse Board introduced the Antebellum Standard Brick Tower Plan. Daniel Woodbury designed and built the first in this lighthouse class at Loggerhead Key. At least four other engineers followed in Woodbury’s footsteps: Danville Leadbetter, George Horatio Derby, William Henry Chase Whiting, and Lorenzo Sitgreaves. Between them… Continue reading Bright Ideas #6: The Standard Brick Lighthouse Plan Enters Widespread Use
There was not much standardization of early American lighthouses. Masonry towers were generally octagonal, but rarely did the same contractor design or build multiple towers. As engineering techniques improved, conical brick towers became feasible. The first real step toward a standardized design came from Winslow Lewis. Around 1820, he developed a simple design for a… Continue reading Bright Ideas #5: Daniel Woodbury and Standard Lighthouse Design
A native of York, Pennsylvania, William Buel Franklin graduated West Point at the top of the Class of 1843. His classmates included William F. Raynolds and Ulysses S. Grant. Franklin spend his entire antebellum service in the Corps of Topographic Engineers. He worked on various surveys in the Great Lakes and the Atlantic Coast, taught… Continue reading Bright Ideas #4: William Franklin
William Franklin Raynolds was born in Canton, Ohio in 1820. He graduated from West Point 5th of 39 in the Class of 1843. One of his classmates was Ulysses S. Grant. Head of the class was William B. Franklin, of whom more will be said in a subsequent column. Between 1843 and 1856, Raynolds served… Continue reading Bright Ideas #3: William Raynolds
Of all the lighthouse engineers in American history, George Meade is perhaps the most famous. Yet he also gets more credit than he deserved. George Gordon Meade graduated from West Point in 1835, 19th in a class of 56. He ranked immediately behind Montgomery Blair, who was later Postmaster General during the Civil War, and… Continue reading Bright Ideas #2: George Meade
