Northern Coast Archive Timeline

How the northern coast lighthouse system took shape across two centuries

From early warning fires to coordinated preservation, these five periods trace how coastal lights became a shared maritime network.

  1. 1798–1825

    First coastal beacons

    Harbor committees raised timber beacons and coal lights on headlands, establishing the first dependable night markers for fishing craft and packet routes.

  2. 1826–1869

    Stone towers and shared signaling

    Permanent masonry towers replaced temporary structures, and coordinated flash intervals allowed captains to identify each station along the northern reach.

  3. 1870–1915

    Keeper households and routine records

    Logbooks, weather tables, and family correspondence from resident keepers formed the archive core now used to reconstruct daily life and storm response.

  4. 1916–1968

    Fog signals, radio links, and automation

    Mechanical horns, radio reporting, and remote lamp controls modernized the line, reducing isolation while preserving each tower’s local watch role.

  5. 1969–Present

    Preservation and public memory

    Decommissioned sites entered trust stewardship, where restoration teams, oral histories, and digitized photographs keep the coastal system legible for new researchers.