Over the years, these grounds contained a variety of buildings that supported the Lighthouse operation. As you look around, envision the oil storage house with a greenhouse and sheds behind it, a square brick building housing the Weather Bureau to the left and the Life-Saving Station in the right corner. All these buildings were within the confines of the present corner property.
Weather Bureau
The Department of Agriculture Weather Bureau constructed a two-story building on the west side of the site in 1901. The building was wedged onto a 100' x 50' plot, and apparently caused rancor between employees of the Weather Bureau and those of the Lighthouse Service. As a result, a board fence was constructed to separate the Weather Bureau from the Lighthouse property. Relations eventually improved and the board fence was replaced with a more neighborly picket fence in 1912.
Oil House
Absecon's light was first illuminated using mineral oil. The Lighthouse lamps consumed two gallons of oil daily in the summer and three and a half gallons daily in the winter, when nights are longer. Oil was stored in a separate building a short distance from the Light. The brick oil house that you see today was the second one on the Lighthouse grounds and the only one of at least seven original outbuildings to survive. It provided a separate, secure storage space for Lighthouse oil until at least 1921.
Greenhouse
Around the turn of the 20th century, a greenhouse was built to supply plants for the site's gardens. Once the Federal Lighthouse Board discovered its existence, the Board ordered the greenhouse dismantled, along with the gardens. By then, the gardens had become a much-loved institution, and the community protested vehemently. Even these protests could not sway the Lighthouse Board. The gardens and greenhouse disappeared from the site.
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