George Worthylake served as the first lighthouse keeper in the United States. The earliest record of a named individual in a formal capacity as a lighthouse keeper was William, a member of the now famous Knott family, who was appointed to the South Foreland lighthouse near Dover, England, in 1730. In the US, periodic maintenance of the lights is now performed by visiting Coast Guard Aids to Navigation teams. In most countries, the training of lighthouse keepers falls within the jurisdiction of the Navy or Coast guard. Those who continue to work as lighthouse keepers today perform building maintenance, repair work to broken and blind buoys, geographic realignment of wayward navigational aids off the coast, and technical maintenance on automated systems. Įlectrification and other technological advancements such as remote monitoring and automatic bulb changing began to appear in the 1960s and over the course of the late 20th century made paid resident keepers at the lights unnecessary in certain areas, while simply altering their responsibilities elsewhere. It meant stations that were operated solely by men, rather than accommodating keepers and their families. "Stag light" was an unofficial term given to some isolated lighthouses in the United States Lighthouse Service. īecause most lighthouses are located in remote, isolated or inaccessible areas on islands and coastlines, it was typical for the work of lighthouse keeper to remain within a family, passing from parents to child, all of whom lived in or near the lighthouse itself. They were also responsible for the fog signal and the weather station, and played a major role in search and rescue at sea. Historically, lighthouse keepers were needed to trim the wicks, replenish fuel, wind clockworks and perform maintenance tasks such as cleaning lenses and windows. Lighthouse keepers were sometimes referred to as " wickies" because of their job trimming the wicks. A lighthouse keeper or lightkeeper is a person responsible for tending and caring for a lighthouse, particularly the light and lens in the days when oil lamps and clockwork mechanisms were used.
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