John Couper, owner of a plantation on the southern end of St. Simons Island, sold four acres of his land in 1804 to the government for a token sum of one dollar. Couper wanted a lighthouse built on the island to aid commerce in the Brunswick area. In April of 1807, his plan seemed to have worked as a notice appeared in the Savannah Advertiser soliciting a builder with sufficient skills to erect a lighthouse on the southern end of St. Simons Island. The plans called for a lighthouse constructed of brick in the form of an octagon, supported by a stone foundation, and secured by a substantial panel door with iron hinges.

Saint Simons Lighthouse Photograph courtesy U.S. Coast Guard

James Gould, newly arrived from New England, answered the ad and suggested that the tower be constructed of tabby, a local building material made from a mixture of lime, water, sand and oyster shells, and that some other minor alterations to the design be made. Gould's suggestions were accepted, and he was awarded the contract.

Gould used the ruins of Fort Frederica, which was built on the island in 1736, as a source for the tabby, and completed the seventy-five-foot tower in late 1810 at a cost of $13,775. Oil lamps suspended on chains served as the light source.

With the St. Simons Lighthouse finished, Gould was now out of work, but the following excerpt from a letter exchanged between two of his sisters reveals his work at the lighthouse was not yet done.

James has been officially appointed Keeper of the Light by President Madison, at a salary of $400 a year. The appointment came 4 May and he was, in spite of the small pay, plainly pleased to be trusted with the keeping of his beloved lighthouse. He appears also proud of the tower, so far, but what he insists is my discontent, I feel is somehow his own. I simply try to make him laugh and attempt to understand what it is he really wants to do with his life once the lighthouse is completed and he has been its keeper long enough to be satisfied that the lantern and all else is in order.

Following the Civil War, noted Georgia architect Charles B. Cluskey drew up plans for a new lighthouse and dwelling on the island. The impressive Victorian duplex and tower were completed in 1872 at a cost of $45,000. The light from a third-order, L. Sautter Company Fresnel lens was first shown on September 1 of that year. The lens is a fixed lens, meaning it does not contain any flash panels and thus produces a steady light, however, there are four flash panels that revolve around the outside of the lens producing a bright flash once per minute.

Cluskey did not live to see his lighthouse completed as he died of yellow fever in 1871. Frederick Osborne, the first head keeper at the new lighthouse, repeatedly complained about the unhealthy living conditions on the island. The Lighthouse Board eventually drained the ponds near the lighthouse, greatly reducing the number of mosquitoes and improving life at the station.

On a Sunday morning in March of 1880, head keeper Osborne and his assistant had an altercation on the lighthouse grounds, wherein the assistant shot Osborne dead. The assistant was later acquitted of murder charges, which may have prevented a peaceful rest for the departed Osborne, whose service was cut short. During Carl Svendsen's service as keeper, which lasted from 1907 to 1935, he and his wife repeatedly heard mysterious footfalls, which would send their dog Jink into a frenzy. To this day, people claim to hear inexplicable footsteps in the tower.

In 1890, the brick oil house was constructed on the grounds to store the volatile kerosene, which replaced the increasingly expensive whale oil as the lamp fuel. The 9' x 11' building could hold 450 five-gallon oil cans. The kerosene was in turn replaced by electricity in 1934, and the station was automated sixteen years later in 1950. Shortly after automation, the passageway connecting the tower to the dwelling was removed.

The keepers' dwelling was vacant for several years until it was deeded to Glynn County in 1972 for use as a museum and visitors' center. After three years of restorative work overseen by the Coastal Georgia Historical Society, the museum opened to the public. The tower was opened in 1984 to climbers willing to brave the 129-step spiral staircase. Under the National Historic Lighthouse Preservation Act, ownership of the St. Simons Lighthouse was officially transferred to the Coastal Georgia Historical Society on May 26, 2004.

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References

1. "The Lighthouses of Georgia," Buddy Sullivan, The Keeper's Log, Spring 1988.
2. Georgia's Lighthouses and Historic Coastal Sites, Kevin McCarthy, 1998.
3. Southeastern Lighthouses, Ray Jones, 1998.

The St. Simons Lighthouse is open Monday through Saturday, 10:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m., and Sunday 1:30 p.m. to 5:00 p.m. Call (912) 638-4666 for more information.