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1736
The first two towers at Tybee were never lit
The current lighthouse is the fourth tower at this station. The first, built of wood at the direction of James Oglethorpe, went up in 1736 and was felled by a storm in 1741. The next year a tower of stone and wood replaced it, topped with a flag pole instead of a light. It gave way to shoreline erosion. Neither of the two was ever lit.
1773
John Mullryne built a brick tower of 100 feet in 1773
The third tower was built in 1773 by John Mullryne, a brick tower originally 100 feet high. It was first fitted with reflectors and candles, and upgraded to oil lamps after it was ceded to the federal government in 1790. A second tower was added in 1822 to form a range. Both towers received Fresnel lenses in 1857.
7surviving colonial-era lighthouse towers in the United States include this one
1862
Confederate forces burned the light in 1862 and took its lens
Confederate forces burned the light in 1862 during the Civil War and removed the lens as they retreated to Fort Pulaski. Rebuilding began in 1866 but a cholera outbreak delayed it. A new tower was built atop the first 60 feet of the old one, raising the whole to 154 feet, with a 1st order lens.
Storm and quake
A hurricane in 1871 and an earthquake in 1886 shook the tower
The main tower was severely damaged in a hurricane in 1871 and developed such serious cracking that its replacement was requested. Instead, a new iron front tower was built. New keepers' dwellings followed in 1881 and 1885. In 1886 the Charleston earthquake shook the tower, damaging the lens and cracking the brickwork, and both were repaired immediately.
Black and white
The daymark changed many times, and the beacon still works
Originally all white, the tower had its base and lantern painted black in 1887. In 1914 and 1916 the black at the top was brought further down. The tower was electrified in 1933, and the beacon was automated in 1972. A major restoration began in 1999, and the Tybee Island Historical Society took possession of the station in 2002. The beacon is still a functioning navigational aid with its original lens.
Day 3, afternoon
It comes after Fort Pulaski. Then Tybee Island.
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The words are a retelling of the Wikipedia article Tybee Island Light, and are shared under CC BY-SA 4.0. They are checked against those articles, and a fact that is not in them is left out.