Refer to page 6 of Lighthouses Short and Tall for St. Marks Lighthouse

During the first half of the 19^th century, lighthouses were built by contractors without any architectural drawings. When a lighthouse was authorized, a request for proposals was advertised in the major newspapers. This advertisement contained the specifications of the proposed lighthouses and contractors were requested to submit bids based on these specifications. The project was awarded to the lowest bidder. Some contractors used inferior materials to keep their costs low. The contractors knew very little about how harsh marine environments destroyed buildings. Consequently, many of the early lighthouses soon started to disintegrate, particularly those built late in the season when not enough time remained to dry the mortar before freezing weather set in. The result was that most of those early lighthouses had to be replaced. Do you think that the Treasury’s attempts to economize saved money in the long run?

Erosion was another hazard not understood in those early years. The local collectors of customs were charged with picking a site and superintending the construction and maintenance of lighthouses, but had no training for that responsibility.

After a Light-House Board was appointed in 1852 to oversee the lighthouse service, engineers were employed to design and build lighthouses.

Compare the size of St. Marks’ fourth-order lantern with the first-order lantern on the previous page. A close-up photo of an empty third-order lantern can be found in this Reader's Guide under Sabine Bank Lighthouse.