Built to Last: Dedication to Quality

Built to Last: Dedication to Quality. . In the mid-1800s the U.S. Light-House Service vowed to improve the agency with a new dedication to structural and architectural quality in its lighthouses., Yaquina Head Lighthouse reflects this change in values and the new focus on skilled craft and artistry. Completed in 1873, Yaquina Head's sturdy construction and beautiful design included thick brick walls, granite decorations, marble floors, and ornate ironwork , even though the lighthouse served a remote wilderness location where few people would visit., Captions , (top left) In 1851 an economically built iron lighthouse in Massachusetts, Minot's Ledge, toppled in a storm. Two lighthouse keepers died. In its place, the U.S. Light-House Service erected a sturdy stone structure and began featuring the new lighthouse on keepers' hats as a symbol of quality. , (bottom left) Early U.S. lighthouses used an inefficient and poorly built light system made up of a series of small lamps burning whale oil. Each lamp consisted of a flame, a curved reflector, and a 9-inch lens. , (bottom center) As part of its emphasis on quality in the last half of the 19th century, the U.S. Light-House Service equipped new lighthouses with French-made Fresnel lenses. Yaquina Head's huge lens contained a lamp measuring 9 feet tall, which was lit by burning lard oil. The Fresnel lens prisms magnified the lamp's 3.5-inch flame by bending its light rays into a horizontal beam visible to ships 20 miles out at sea. , (top right) Compare the two lighthouse drawings. Minot's Ledge Lighthouse [at left] was built with spindly iron legs. Yaquina Head Lighthouse [below] features thick brick walls and an attention to architectural details, such as decorative braces and granite tile patterns.