In 1732, General James Oglethorpe, Governor of the 13th colony ordered construction of a lighthouse on Tybee Island to safely guide mariners into Savannah harbor. The original lighthouse was first completed in 1736. It was made of brick and wood and stood 90 feet (27 m) tall, making it the highest structure in colonial America at that time. Five years later the lighthouse was destroyed by a horrible storm. In 1742 a second lighthouse was finished; this version reached 94 feet (29 m) tall 4 feet (1.2 m) taller than the first lighthouse. In 1773 a third lighthouse was built which was also destroyed, this time in 1862 by Confederate troops from nearby Fort Pulaski. Of the 100 feet (30 m) of the third lighthouse only60 feet (18 m) remained which served as a rebuilding point for a fourth lighthouse.
In 1869 it was decided that the lighthouse must be protected from ever increasing tides and gale force winds so it was moved 164 feet (50 m) back from the shoreline. In the years from 1871 and 1886 the walls of the lighthouse became cracked by storm forces and later the light lens was broken by the Charleston earthquake of 1886.The latest incarnation of the Tybee Island lighthouse stands at 154 feet (47 m) and in 1933 became an electrically driven lighthouse. Because modern marine navigation techniques outgrew the need for such a lighthouse, the Tybee Island lighthouse became obsolete. Just three weeks after it became electrically driven it was donated to the Tybee Island Historical Society by theU.S.government.
