Talk:List of tallest lighthouses in the United States

Proposed merge with Lighthouses in the United States
This should not be merged. a list from tallest to shortest will be useful. someone just needs to build it. Scarykitty 23:23, 13 August 2006 (UTC)


 * While this list is rather short, I believe that the sheer amount of information on the proposed mergeto article would hide this info. -- Bossi  ( talk • gallery • contrib ) 23:03, 14 August 2007 (UTC)
 * Given the amount of time that has passed without significant comment, I am removing the merge tag. If anyone feels inclined to add it back, please discuss your reasoning here.  Thank you. -- Bossi  ( talk • gallery • contrib ) 23:04, 14 August 2007 (UTC)

Grossly inaccurate
I dont know what the source for this list is, but it appears to omit at least some entries. Using wikipedia itself as the source isn't reasonable considering how many lights do not have articles. Mangoe 21:46, 16 August 2007 (UTC)

The article has left out the lighthouses of Mississippi, Louisiana, and Texas (at least). The Point Bolivar Lighthouse in Texas is 117 feet above sea level - which would place is at number 30 on the list. Suggested edit: include ALL of the lighthouses in the United States with a cutoff at 60 feet. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 72.183.227.13 (talk) 10:28, 18 April 2011 (UTC)

Cape Mendocino
Per this NPS page I am correcting the recorded FP height to 422 feet. Mangoe (talk) 21:47, 25 January 2008 (UTC)

Renaming article
As the article has expanded out of the "tallest lighthouses" to a more comprehensive list, I'm about to rename the article as List of lighthouses in the United States by height. If there are any better suggestions, feel free to discuss. -- Bossi  ( talk • gallery • contrib ) 19:06, 18 February 2008 (UTC)

Suggested columns:
 * Tower height (ft/m), Name, State, Image
 * Focal height (ft/m), Name, State, Image
 * Promontory height (ft/m), Name, State, Image

-- Bossi  ( talk • gallery • contrib ) 19:20, 18 February 2008 (UTC)

Change info format to a table
The information in this article may be better presented as a table. I'm not too familiar with tables, though -- anyone up for the challenge? -- Bossi  ( talk • gallery • contrib ) 19:06, 18 February 2008 (UTC)

You forgot the whole of the Great Lakes?
Given the rather substantial oversight, this list is whimsical at best. I don't want to insult the creator, but the omissions are legion, and the need for additions manifest. We are really short on lighthouse articles for the Great Lakes, and there is a tremendous amount of work to do as to individual listings. Just so you don't think I'm blowing smoke, here is a listing of tower heights from just the Western Great Lakes

http://www.terrypepper.com/Lights/lists/towers.htm

Here's a book that references 650 Great Lakes lighthouses:

Great Lakes Lighthouses Encyclopedia Wright, Larry Wright, Patricia ISBN 1550463993 Hardback Boston Mills Press

Of course, some of those are in Canada.7&amp;6=thirteen (talk) 22:59, 18 February 2008 (UTC)Stan


 * As I disclose in the edit history as well as by a hidden comment right next to the part that reads "this list is incomplete", this is only inclusive of Alabama, Alaska, California, and the Caribbean. I just simply got bored of going through NPS and adding in each one.  I hope to get more states as I get the energy and motivation, though others are welcome to beat me to it. -- Bossi  ( talk • gallery • contrib ) 04:57, 19 February 2008 (UTC)

On height of tower and focal plane
Because of an issue that arose concerning the heights of Sturgeon Point Light, I wrote to Terry Pepper, who is now the executive direct of the Great Lakes Light Keepers Association. Of course, he is the author of Terry Pepper, Seeing the Light, Lighthouses of the western Great Lakes. He was kind enough to write back with a detailed response, and he has given me permission to post this here:


 * Good call - that number is clearly incorrect.


 * '''As you are no doubt aware, height from water level to the focal plane was the metric of critical importance to mariners, since through triangulation the mariner could determine his distance from the light. To this end, focal height has been reported in US Light Lists since the earliest days. The physical height of the structure was of far lesser importance to mariners, and was only rarely included. For reasons I have yet been unable to determine, the 1914 issue of the Great Lakes Light List broke the mold, and included both metrics in its description of the lights. As such, I would consider that volume to be the definitive reference on the height of Great Lakes lighthouses.

'''
 * According to the 1914 Great Lakes Light List, Sturgeon Point lighthouse stood 71 feet from base to top of lantern, and 69 feet from mean high water to focal plane.


 * '''Interestingly, the metric specifics used in calculating focal height changed frequently over the years, varying between low water, mean water, and high water. (The Coast Guard currently reports distance from mean high water.

'''
 * I hope this helps.


 * This should settle this issue, and provide some guidance in the future for editors.

Here is a link to Seeing the Light, which should be of interest to any lighthouse editor:

Best to you all. 7&amp;6=thirteen (talk) 15:50, 18 May 2008 (UTC) Stan
 * Terry Pepper, Seeing the Light, has completely redone his list of western Great Lakes lighthouses by height and focal plane, and he has aptly explained the difference, and given the sources for his information.

7&amp;6=thirteen (talk) 16:13, 28 May 2008 (UTC) Stan
 * Terry Pepper, Focal Plane.
 * Terry Pepper, Tower Height.

Cutoff for Heights?
I just finished adding 40+ stub articles on Maine Lighthouses. Since I had the data from the Light List in a spreadsheet, it was easy to create entries for this list. I thought about including only notable heights, but, seeing that there was already at least one 23' height in the Focal Plane list, I added them all. It seems to me, though, that we should not include every light, lest the list grow beyond reason.... Jameslwoodward (talk) 15:20, 7 August 2009 (UTC)

A great resource
Historical Coast Guard light Lists, many books that are new to me, etc. Worth the look. An article on how to preserve a lighthouse. Great Lakes Light Keepers Association, List of Resources.  7&amp;6=thirteen (talk) 12:47, 8 August 2009 (UTC) Stan

Oak Island Light
The lighthouse on Oak Island is 148 feet tall, not 169 feet. Its focal height is 169 feet, not the tower height. Dorzac (talk) 16:24, 2 August 2012 (UTC)


 * Corrected. Mangoe (talk) 17:34, 2 August 2012 (UTC)

Requested move 22 July 2016

 * The following is a closed discussion of a requested move. Please do not modify it. Subsequent comments should be made in a new section on the talk page. Editors desiring to contest the closing decision should consider a move review. No further edits should be made to this section. 

The result of the move request was: Move unopposed. (non-admin closure) — Andy W.  ( talk  · ctb) 22:56, 29 July 2016 (UTC)

List of lighthouses in the United States by height → List of tallest lighthouses in the United States – It has been suggested at least twice above, in previous years, that the two lists be cut off at some minimum heights. It is very non-interesting to list many 15-foot towers tied with one another, and development/maintenance of the lower height ones is not worthwhile. Both types of heights of all of these should be covered in List of lighthouses in the United States and its split-out separate state lists. So rename this to make this cover just the tallest ones. I suggest cutting off the tower heights at 100 feet and the focal plane heights at 150 feet, so that the lists are manageable, and seek comments from others on what they think are suitable cutoffs, but the cutoffs are a separate editing question from this move/rename decision. It would then be nice to see coordinates added to the article and a GeoGroup template, so that a reader could see where the tallest ones are located (will there be any pattern?). do ncr  am  19:35, 22 July 2016 (UTC)
 * Support – I fully approve all suggestions above. See List of tallest buildings in China for a good example. — JFG talk 22:22, 22 July 2016 (UTC)


 * The above discussion is preserved as an archive of a requested move. Please do not modify it. Subsequent comments should be made in a new section on this talk page or in a move review. No further edits should be made to this section.

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