A general depot supports the entire Lighthouse Service. A district depot usually consisted of a repair shop, lampist shop, buoy storage, coal storage, berths for lighthhouse and buoy tenders, and berths for lightships A district depot would always have an assigned depot keeper. District depots provide an entire district with multiple services. Some districts had two district depots due to their size, number of aids to navigation, and other factors.
The district office was the headquarters of the Inspector/Superintendent, Engineer, and their assistants. This was sometimes at or near the district depot (especially after 1900), though not always. In some cases the District Engineer and District Inspector had their offices in seperate cities, usually when the Engineer was responsible for more than one district.
A buoy shed is a storage building for spare navigational buoys, normally accompanied by a wharf to aid loading and unloading from a buoy tender. Buoy sheds were usually placed at or near a existing light station and were usually be under the supervision of the nearest lighthouse keeper. A buoy depot is a similiar but larger facility for the same purpose, often with its own live-in keeper. A buoy depot would include one or more buoy sheds and some combination of coal storage (primarily for use by the tenders, but also for delivery to keepers in cold climates), blacksmith, workshop space, and cistern (for benefit of tender crews). Some buoy depots also stored supplies for nearby lightships. Each district contained multiple buoy depots/sheds.
The 13th, 14th, and 15th Districts (Mississippi and Ohio Rivers, and their tributaries) did not have depots operated by the Lighthouse Service. They were presumably supported from Army Corps of Engineers depots.
Depots are listed by District, then by geographic order. Depots located in the same general area are listed chronologically rather than in strict geographic order. Links go to the page in the US Lighthouse Society Digital Archives for the depot.
| General & District Depots | |||
| Buoy & Minor Depots |
Dist. |
Location | State |
Type | Years Active |
Status | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1 |
Little Hog Island / Little Diamond Island (Portland Harbor) |
ME |
district depot (coal, buoys, supplies) |
1875 - 1930s? |
Replaced House Island Depot. Island renamed ca. 1891. Some buildings still extant when sold to private ownership in the 1950s. |
|
2 |
Lovells Island (Boston Harbor) | MA |
district depot | 1874-1910 |
replaced by Castle Island | |
2 |
Castle Island (Boston Harbor) | MA |
district depot | 1910 - ca. 1919 |
replaced by Chelsea | |
2 |
Chelsea (Boston Harbor) | MA |
district depot | ca. 1919 - aft. 1940 |
not extant | |
3 |
New York City | NY |
district office | 1853-1864 |
||
3 |
Tompkinsville (Staten Island) | NY |
general depot (supply) & district depot |
1864-1966 |
partly extant | Part of the former depot is now the National Lighthouse Museum. Other surviving buildings have been converted to commercial use. |
4 |
Philadelphia | PA |
district office | 1852-1880? |
||
4 |
Christiana | DE |
buoy depot | 1869-1880 |
replaced by Edgemoor | |
4 |
Edgemoor (Cherry Island) | DE |
district depot | 1880 - aft. 1913 |
adjacent to Cherry Island Flats Range Front | |
5 |
Curtis Bay (Baltimore) | MD |
buoy construction ship repair |
1939-present |
active | established in 1910 as the Curtis Bay Revenue Cutter Station used for buoy construction after the 1939 merger with Coast Guard now the Coast Guard Yard |
5 |
Lazaretto Point (Baltimore Harbor) | MD |
district depot | 1863 - aft. 1910 |
Unsuccess proposals to move depot to Fort McHenry in 1909. Many screwpile cottage lighthouses were prefabricated at this depot. |
|
5 |
Portsmouth | VA |
district depot | 1870 - aft. 1910 |
Buoy depot for southern Cheseapeake Bay. | |
6 |
Fort Johnson (Charleston Harbor) | SC |
district depot (buoys & supplies) |
1858-1879 |
on land belonging to the War Department inactive 1861-1868 due to Civil War replaced by Castle Pinckney Depot |
|
6 |
Charleston Customs House | SC |
district depot (buoys & supplies) |
1879-1880 |
temporary | |
6 |
Castle Pinckney (Charleston Harbor) | SC |
district depot (buoys & supplies) |
1880-1916 |
on land belonging to the War Department wreck by hurricane in Aug 1893, but repaired replaced by Charleston Depot |
|
6 |
Charleston Old Post Office | SC |
district office & lamp shop |
bef. 1902 - 1916 |
replaced by Charleston Depot | |
6 |
Charleston | SC |
district depot | 1916 - present |
extant | now part of Coast Guard Base Charleston |
7 |
Key West | FL |
buoy & coal depot district office |
1870 - 1888 |
partly extant | Adjacent to Key West Customs House. Same site for both depots. Substantial rennovations in 1886 and 1898-1899. Replaced by Fort Jefferson Buoy Depot. Replaced Pensacola and Fort Jefferson Buoy Depots. Main storehouse is now Shops at Mallory Square. |
| inactve | 1888-1899 |
|||||
| district depot & office | 1899-1941? |
|||||
8 |
Choctaw Point / Mobile | AL |
district depot | 1903-1934? |
on former reservation of Choctaw Point Lighthouse (1831-1861) | |
8 |
South Pass / Port Eads (Mississippi Delta) |
LA |
district depot (buoys, coal, & suplies) |
1879 - 1910s |
Adjacent to South Pass Light Station. Renamed 18893. Rebuilt 1890. Replaced by New Orleans Depot. |
|
8 |
New Orleans | LA |
district depot | 1910s - aft. 1939 |
||
9 |
New Orleans | LA |
district office | 1852-1867 |
9th District merged with 8th District. | |
9 |
San Juan | PR |
district depot | 1904-1912 |
Replaced by new depot at new location. Old depot transfered to War Department. | |
1912 - aft. 1939 |
Part of former naval reservation on Puntilla Point. |
Dist. |
Location | State |
Type | Years Active | Status | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
10 |
Buffalo | NY |
district depot | 1857 - aft. 1950 |
expanded 1871 & 1899-1901 | |
11 |
Detroit | MI |
district depot (supply, repair, & buoy) |
1860-? |
extant | located on former Marine Hospital grounds substantially rennovated & expanded 1870-1876 lampist shop space substantially expanded 1892 also winter quarters for tenders and lightships on Lake Huron, Lake Superior, and Lake Michigan |
11 |
Sault Saint Marie | MI |
buoy depot | aft. 1939 |
Coast Guard Base Sault Ste. Marie | |
11 |
St. Mary's River (Sugar Island, near Sault Saint Marie) |
MI |
buoy depot | 1900-? |
partly extant | Storehouse extant. |
12 |
St. Joseph | MI |
district depot (supply & buoy) |
1893-1916 |
extant | New 9th District in 1893; rennumbered 1910. Land for depot donated by the Cincinnati, Washbash, and Michigan Railway. Building now owned by the St. Joseph Yacht Club. |
12 |
Chicago | IL |
district office | 1893-1916 |
Created as the new 9th District in 1893; rennumbered 1910. | |
12 |
Milwaukee | WI |
repair | 1900-1905 |
temporary | |
| repair? | 1905-1916 |
permanent, subsequently expanded. | ||||
| district depot (supply, repair, & buoy) |
1916-1967 |
demolished | Replaced St. Joseph Depot. Part of Coast Guard Base Milwaukee (1939-1967). |
Dist. |
Location | State |
Type | Years Active | Status | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
16 |
Ketchikan | AK |
district depot | early 1910s - present |
Rebuilt and expanded 1920. Now part of Coast Guard Base Ketchikan |
|
17 |
Seattle | WA |
district depot | |||
17 |
Tongue Point (near Astoria) | OR |
district depot | 1876 - aft. 1910 |
extant? | |
18 |
Yerba Buena / Goat Island (San Francisco) |
CA |
district depot | 1873 - aft. 1939 |
extant | rebuilt ca. 1930 |
18 |
Goat Island | CA |
district depot | 1915 - aft. 1939 |
||
19 |
Honolulu | HI |
district depot | 1904 - aft. 1939 |
Sub-District of 12th District until 1910. Originally a temporary depot at Honolulu Naval Station. Permanent depot built after 1910. |
Dist. |
Location | State |
Type | Years Active | Status | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1 |
House Island | ME |
buoy depot | 1841-1875 | demolished? | Located on Fort Scammel Military Reservation. Removed at the War Department's request. Replaced by Little Hog/Diamond Island Depot. Storehouse in use until 1889. |
1 |
Bear Island (Mount Desert Harbor) | ME |
buoy & coal depot | 1887 - aft. 1910 | ||
1 |
Whitehead (West Penobscot Bay) | ME |
coal shed | 1871 - aft. 1905 | Located at Whitehead Island Light Station. | |
1 |
Southwest Harbor | ME |
||||
2 |
Gulf Island (Boston Harbor) | MA |
buoy depot | 1861-1874 | construction staging site for Minot's Ledge LH (1857-1860) replaced by Lovells Island |
|
2 |
Cohasset | MA |
buoy depot | 1873-1874 | temporary depot during establishment of Lovell's Island Depot | |
2 |
Woods Hole | MA |
buoy & supply depot |
1857 - aft. 1910 | On leased land until 1867. Rennovated and expanded 1869-1872. Buoys and lightship support for the area from Cape Cod to Buzzards Bay. |
|
3 |
Goat Island (Newport) | RI |
buoy & coal depot | 1855 - aft. 1910 | originally used the old wharf from Fort Wolcott Buoys and lightship support for Narragansett Bay. |
|
3 |
Bristol | RI |
||||
3 |
Juniper Island (Lake Champlain) | VT |
buoy & supply depot | 1892 - aft. 1910 | Juniper Island Lighthouse keeper served as depot keeper. | |
3 |
Black Rock (Fayerweather Island) | CT |
buoy & coal depot | 1872-1875? | Replaced Norwalk Island Depot. Adjacent to Black Rock Light Station. |
|
3 |
Norwalk Island | CT |
buoy | |||
3 |
New London | CT |
buoy & supply depot | 1856 - aft. 1910 | Supported lightships. | |
4 |
Great Egg Harbor Inlet | NJ |
buoy shed | 1880-1887 | On rented propert. Replaced by Absecon Buoy Depot | |
4 |
Tuckers Beach (Tuckerton) | NJ |
buoy shed | 1877-1909 | destroyed | Located at Tuckers Island Light Station. Discontinued due to shoaling. |
4 |
Barnegat | NJ |
buoy shed | 1868-1892? | demolished? | 1/2 mile from lighthouse on private property |
4 |
Absecon | NJ |
buoy shed | 1879-1886 |
extant | Shed located adjacent to Absecon Lighthouse Shed converted to an oil house after it became inadequate for buoys. |
| buoy storage site | 1886-1895 | n/a | Buoys stored at Absecon Light Station during delays acquiring property for establishing a buoy depot. | |||
| buoy depot | 1895 - aft. 1910 | Primary buoy depot for New Jersey inlets | ||||
4 |
Lewes | DE |
boathouses | 1903-? | Boats for support of LV-69 Overfalls Lightship,
LV-52 Fenwick Island Shoal Lightship, and Delaware Bay offshore lighthouses. Also buoy storage starting 1910. |
|
5 |
Annapolis | MD |
buoy depot | 1896 - aft. 1907 | buoys for Cheseapeake Bay from Sandy Point, MD to Patuxent River, MD | |
5 |
Point Lookout | MD |
buoy depot | 1883 - aft. 1910 | Buoy depot for central Cheseapeake Bay. | |
5 |
Washington | DC |
storage wharf | 1900-1910 | Wharf rebuilt and storehouse added 1908-1910. | |
| buoy depot | 1910-? | |||||
5 |
Chincoteague | VA |
buoy shed | 1878 - aft. 1910 | also support shed for LV-45 Winter Quarter Shoal Lightship | |
5 |
Fort Monroe | VA |
buoy depot | [1885] | never built | Planned and funded in 1884, but never built when the site was found to be unsuitable. Portsmouth Buoy Depot substantially repaired instead. |
5 |
Fort Norfolk | VA |
aft. 1923 | |||
5 |
Washington (Palmico River) | NC |
buoy depot | 1874 - aft. 1910 | Buoys for NC sounds. | |
5 |
Currituck | NC |
buoy depot | ? - 1920 | extant (relocated) | moved to Currituck Light Station, used as assistant keeper dwelling |
5 |
Long Point (Coinjock) | NC |
buoy depot | 1875-? | construction staging site for Currituck Beach LH (early 1870s) | |
6 |
Brunswick | GA |
buoy | ?-1906 | ||
6 |
Fort Pierce | FL |
buoy depot | 1937 - aft. 1963 | ||
7 |
Fort Jefferson (Dry Tortugas) | FL |
buoy & coal | 1888-1900 | buoys for the Florida Keys replaced by the new Key West District Depot turned over to the Navy Department |
|
7 |
Egmont Key (Tampa Bay) | FL |
buoy & coal depot | 1872 - aft. 1910 | buoys for the Florida Gulf Coast rebuilt 1888 |
|
8 |
Fort Pickens (Pensacola Harbor) | FL |
buoy shed | 1870-1888 | buoys for the Florida Panhandle replaced by the Pensacola Buoy Depot |
|
8 |
Pensacola | FL |
buoy depot & district office |
1888-1899 | Located at Pensacola/Warrington Navy Yard. Closed when the district office moved to Key West. | |
| buoy storage site | 1903 - aft. 1910 | Property on the western side side of the Navy Yard was transferred from the USN to USLHE in 1903 and used for buoy storage. Plans were drawn up for a buoy shed at the site, but as of 1910 these had not been funded. | ||||
8 |
Mobile Point | AL |
coal | 1870 - aft. 1876 | ||
8 |
Head of Passes (Mississippi Delta) | LA |
buoy depot | 1867-1879 | Expanded 1870. Replaced by the South Pass / Port Eads Depot due to erosion problems. | |
8 |
Southwest Pass (Mississippi Delta) | LA |
buoy & coal depot | [1874] | Depot would have been located at the Southwest Pass Light Station. Authorized and funded, but never built due to problems with the river channel. Built at South Pass instead. |
|
8 |
Sabine Pass | LA/TX |
[1870] | proposed | ||
8 |
Fort San Jacinto (Galveston) | TX |
1908-1935 | located at Fort San Jacinto Military Reservation | ||
8 |
Galveston | TX |
1935-? | |||
9 |
Culebrita Island | PR |
||||
9 |
Guantanamo Bay | Cuba |
||||
9 |
San Juan | PR |
Dist. |
Location | State |
Type | Years Active | Status | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
10 |
Rock Island (St. Lawrence River) | NY |
buoy depot | 1883 - aft. 1910 | Buoys for Lake Ontario and the St. Lawrence River. | |
10 |
Erie | PA |
buoy shed | 1871 - aft. 1910 | enlarged 1889 | |
10 |
Cedar Point / Maumee Bay (Sandusky) | OH |
buoy shed | 1884 - aft. 1910 | located at Maumee Bay Range Light Station | |
10 |
Toledo | OH |
buoy depot | bef. 1870 - 1883 | Destroyed by a freshet. Replaced by Cedar Point Buoy Depot. | |
| buoy & supply depot | 1939-? | Land for depot donated by the City of Toledo. | ||||
11 |
Cheboygan | MI |
buoy depot | |||
11 |
Minnesota Point (Duluth) | MN |
buoy depot | 1906-1930s | extant | |
12 |
Charlevoix | MI |
buoy depot | 1900 - aft. 1910 | extant | served northern Lake Michigan |
Dist. |
Location | State |
Type | Years Active | Status | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
16 |
Sitka | AK |
supply warehouse | 1909-? | ||
17 |
Watmough Head (San Juan Islands) | WA |
buoy depot | [1876] | Site reserved 1876, but may have never been built. | |
17 |
Point Wilson (near Port Townsend) | WA |
buoy depot | Loated at Point Wilson Light Station. | ||
18 |
Long Beach | CA |
1933-? |
Sources:
Lighthouse Depots by Wayne Wheeler & Thomas Tag (US Lighthouse Society)
Depot Clipping Files (National Archives - digitized in the US Lighthouse Society Digital Archives)
Coast Guard Yard History