Matagorda Island

Lighthouses Short & Tall

Matagorda Island Lighthouse

Readers Guide

Refer to page 7 of Lighthouses Short and Tall for Matagorda Island Lighthouse

In the middle of the 19^th century cast iron became a popular building material for lighthouses. How do you think the weight of a cast-iron lighthouse would compare with one built of stone or brick? (Masonry towers built on soft or swampy terrain would settle unevenly.)

Note the privy to the left of the keeper's dwelling. USLHB photo

Every lighthouse in the 19^th century had a keeper who needed food and fresh water. Is ‘cistern’ a familiar term to you? A cistern is a container which collects rain water when it runs off the roofs through gutters. How much water do you think a keeper and his family would require every day? They had no bathroom or flush toilets until late in the 19^th century. For what other needs did they require fresh water? How often would you do laundry if it required using water pumped out of a cistern and heated on a wood stove?

Lighthouse Maps

Eighth Lighthouse District

Can you find Matagorda Island Lighthouse on this map?

Click on map to view larger image

Source: 1881 Annual Report of the U.S. Light-House Board

Links

Matagorda Island Lighthouse Restoration Project

This Reader's Guide is intended to be used with Lighthouses Short and Tall, a book for readers 11 and up written by Mary Louise and Candace Clifford. It is available from the publisher, Cypress Communications, by using their book order form.

For more information contact books@lighthousehistory.info