Keeper's Garden

Keeper's Garden. . Please enjoy our garden, but do not pick the fruits of our labor, these are for our current keepers. Thank you., The keepers of the Tybee Island Light Station were required to have a garden by the United States Lighthouse Service. In the 1927 edition of, Instructions To Employees of the United States Lighthouse Service, in states that "in addition to the duties of cleaning the tower and living quarters daily, painting as needed, and maintaining the grounds, a vegetable garden must be planted "The keepers and their families would have relied heavily on their gardens to supplement the monthly flour and food allotment provided to them by the U.S. Lighthouse Service., Different seasons would have provided different craps in the winter and early spong, plants such as potatoes, beans, com, carrots, melons, tomatoes and peas were planted, and in the early summer, pumpkin squash, peppers, okra, and sweet potatoes. The full crops produced parsnips, radishes, cabbage, collards, and spinach. Not all crops would have been successful in Tybee's sandy soil, but as our current garden has proven, many of the above would have grown and provided an abundant harvest for the keepers and their families. In addition to the crops grown in the garden, the keepers kept livestock to supplement their food supply., The United States, Lighthouse Service program ended in 1939, and all of the light stations in the United States were transferred to the control of the United States Coast Guard. The Tybee Island Light Station remained as the local headquarters for the United States Coast Guard until 1986, when the headquarters were transferred to Cockspur Island. Even though it was no longer required, many of the Coast Guard families who were stationed on Tybee continued to keep a garden., The Tybee Island Historical Society has recreated. the light station garden so that visitors and their families can learn a little bit more about the life of a lighthouse keeper and his family. Special thanks to Hope Barton for the creation and care of the garden and the Georgia Master Gardener Association for the grant they awarded for this project in 2016., The gardens would have provided an outdoor area for the family to gather and spend time together as well. The photos to the left and above show the Jackson family in their garden.