Part of our mission is to collect, study and interpret important and historic documents, photographs, and artifacts for the benefit of the public. As time goes on, we will work to make more documents and photographs available through this web site. If you are interested in helping us transcribe historic documents, or scan and prepare photographs, please contact us.

Transcribed documents currently available on our site:

• Francis Hopkinson Smith's 1908 book, Captain Thomas A. Scott, Master Diver
• National Historic Lighthouses Preservation Act of 2000
• Selected Pages from the 1881 Instructions to Light-Keepers
• Christmas on Plum Island - An 1843 Poem by Sarah D. Bowditch

Waiting for Transcription:

• 1820 Letter from the Secretary of the Treasury documenting funds appropriated and spent since 1775 on lighthouses and related matters.
• 1845 Report of the Secretary of the Treasury regarding an experiment using gas instead of oil as a fuel for lighthouse lamps.
• 1855 Treasury Department estimates for light-house establishment appropriations for the year 1857
• 1879 government report on fog signal research during the years 1865 to 1877, including research conducted at Little Gull Island.
• Various laws pertaining to lighthouses, such as the Lighthouses Act of 1789
• Various local lighthouse documents, such as letters from keepers to their superintendents (and vice versa), annual reports, land deeds for lighthouses, and more.
• Old articles from newspapers and magazines

Early 1900s Long Island lighthouse images currently on our site (many of these are from postcards in our collection):

• Little Gull Island
• Long Beach Bar (with screwpile foundation)
• Shinnecock Bay
• Cedar Island (with fog bell tower)
• Plum Island (with fog bell tower)
• Eaton's Neck
• Lloyd Harbor