Aerobeacon - A
searchlight-type light originally designed for use at airports and
adapted for use in a number of lighthouses throughout the Great Lakes.
Acetylene - A fuel used which began to be used in lighthouses
after 1910. It was the first fuel to eliminate the need for a keeper to
carry oil up the tower, since it could be stored on the ground and an
automatic sun valve used to turn the light off at daybreak and on again
at dusk.
Argand lamp -
A variety of light used in lighthouses
that featured a hollow wick in a glass chimney, with a silvered
parabolic reflector behind to intensify the light. The Argand lamp was named after Aimee
Argand, the Swiss inventor who developed the design.
Astragal -
Metal bar (running vertically or diagonally) dividing the lantern room
glass into sections.
ATON
- An acronym for Aid TO Navigation
Breakwater -
A fixed or floating structure that protects a shore area, harbor,
anchorage, or basin by intercepting waves
Bulls eye -
A convex lens used to concentrate (refract) light.
Catwalk -
A narrow elevated walkway, allowing the keeper access to light towers
built out in the water.
Characteristic -
Individual flashing pattern of each light.
Chariot -
The wheeled
carriage at the bottom of a Fresnel lens assembly which allowed the lens
to rotate around a circular iron track atop the lens pedestal.
Crib - A structure, usually of
timbers, that was sunk in water through filling with stone, and served
as the foundation for a concrete pier built atop it.
Daymark -
Unique color, pattern or architecture of towers and other markers used
by navigators to mark their location during the day.
Focal Plane -
The height above the water level at which the center of the beam of
light emanates.
Fresnel lens -
An optic array manufactured using the design principles of Augustin
Fresnel, the French physicist who first established the design, and
after whom the Fresnel Lens was
named.
Fog Signal -
Any type of audible device that could
warn mariners from obstacles during period of heavy fog when the light
could not be seen. Bells, whistles and horns, either manually or power
operated were all used with varying degrees of success.
Gallery -
Outdoor railed walkway encircling the watch room where the keeper sat
and monitored the lantern and weather conditions.
GPS -
An electronic system for identifying position, GPS is an acronym for Global
Positioning System. A GPS receiver triangulates satellite transmissions to calculate
position on the Earth.
Inner (or rear) Range Light -
The light in a pair of range lights that is
situated behind the other as viewed from the water.
Lantern
-
A room surrounded by windows
which housed the lighthouse lens.
lens - Glass
optical system used to concentrate the light in a desired direction.
Lewis Lamp
-
A variety of light that used a silvered copper reflector behind a glass lens.
The design of the Lewis Lamp was
heavily "borrowed" from that of the Argand Reflector, and was
named for Winslow Lewis who imported the design from
Europe.
Lighthouse Board -
A nine member board appointed by the US Congress in 1852, established to
manage the lighthouses throughout the United States.
Light Station - A complex containing the lighthouse tower and all of the outbuildings,
i.e. the keeper’s living quarters, fuel storage building, boathouse,
fog-signaling building, etc.
LORAN -
An electronic system for identifying position, LORAN is an acronym for Long-Range
Radio Navigation.
A LORAN receiver measures the differences in
the arrival of signals from three or more transmitters to calculate its
position
Nautical Mile -
A unit of distance used primarily at sea. The nautical mile is defined
to be the average distance on the Earth's surface represented by one
minute of latitude. This may seem odd to landlubbers, but it makes good
sense at sea, where there are no mile markers but latitude can be
measured. A nautical mile equals about 1.1508 statute miles.
Incandescent
Oil Vapor (IOV) Lamp -
A type of lamp in which oil was forced into a vaporizing chamber, and
then into a mantle. Similar to the Coleman lamps in camping use today.
Outer (or front) Range Light
The light in a pair of range lights that is situated in front of the
other as viewed from the water. This light was situated at a lower level
that the inner range, to allow both lights to be seen, one above the
other.
Parapet -
A walkway with railings which encircled the lamp room
Pharologist -
One who studies or is interested in lighthouses.
Pier -
a structure extending into navigable waters for use as a landing place,
or to protect or form a harbor.
Range Lights -
A pair of lights placed in such a manner that when they are visually
lined up one behind the other, they lead a vessel into harbor.
Revetment -
A facing placed on a bank or bluff of stone to protect a slope,
embankment, or shore structure against erosion by wave action or
currents.
Rip-rap - A loose arrangement of
broken rocks or stone placed to help stem erosion.
Shoal -
A shallow area, such as a sandbar or rock formation.
Stag Light -
A lighthouse with no family living in it, i.e. inhabited by men only.
Tender -
A vessel used in the servicing of lighthouses and buoys.
Ventilator -
Round 'ball' at the top of most lighthouse towers to provide exhaust for
heat of the lamp and air circulation within the tower.
Watch Room -
A room, usually located immediately beneath the lantern room, outfitted
with windows through which a lighthouse keeper could observe water
conditions during storm periods.
Wickies -
A nickname give to early lighthouse keepers who spent a great deal of
their time trimming the wick on the lamp in order to keep it burning
brightly, and to minimize sooting.
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