5. The headquarters of the United States Lighthouse Service was located here
The building that now houses the National Lighthouse Museum used to be part of the general depot for the United States Lighthouse Service (USLHS) and served as a headquarters for the agency. Also known as the Bureau of Lighthouses, the agency was established in 191o with the purpose of maintaining and regulating lighthouses in the United States. The building itself was constructed on the site of a former hospital in 1862 and became a key storage facility for maintenance materials used by the USLHS. Vaults within the building contained equipment such as lamp oil, lenses, ship anchors, chains, paint, and other maintenance materials.
The facility started to decline after the property was handed over to the U.S. Coast Guard in 1939. The United States entered World War II a few years later, and the site was utilized as a repair center and painting facility for marine vessels used during the war. Once the Coast Guard moved its headquarters over to Governors’ Island in the early 1960s, coupled with the decreasing need for lighthouses, the facility’s condition worsened even further. The abandoned location became vandalized and worn down until the 1980s, when the building became a designated New York City landmark.
