Skeletal tower

Skeletal frame light towers are lighthouse towers that have only an open frame. They are commonly built as aids to navigation; most of them are not considered to be lighthouses. However, during the late nineteenth century and the first years of the twentieth, larger skeletal towers were installed at various light stations throughout the United States. These lights were originally tended by lighthouse keepers, so they were and are listed as lighthouses.

Alligator Reef Light in Florida

Skeletal towers became very popular with the United States Congress, because they cost less than half the price of a stone or brick tower of the same height. Since they were assembled from prefabricated sections, they could be built quickly, even at remote locations. If necessary, they could also be disassembled and shipped to a new location.^{[1][2][3][4][5]}

References

1. "Onshore Skeletal Lighthouses". www.ibiblio.org. Retrieved 2023-02-13.
2. Apostle Islands National Lakeshore, General Management Plan, Wilderness Management Plan: Environmental Impact Statement. 2011.
3. Hyde, Charles K. (1995). The Northern Lights: Lighthouses of the Upper Great Lakes. Wayne State University Press. ISBN 978-0-8143-2554-4.
4. Office, United States Hydrographic (1908). Lake Supplement: H.O. Nos. 108A, 108B, 108C, 108D. 1908. U.S. Government Printing Office.
5. List of Beacons, Buoys, Towers, and Other Day-marks in the Sixth Light-House District Embracing the Sea-coasts, Harbors, Sounds, and Rivers from New River Inlet, North Carolina, Southward Along the Coast to Just North of Jupiter Inlet, Florida, and Including the Indian River: 1888 (1889). U.S. Government Printing Office. 1889.