| The locations of lighthouses were chosen because of a specific need in that area, usually to guide ships to a particular harbor or warn them of local hazards. More specifically, site location was based on the type of lighthouse that was required and the type of lighthouse was often determined by its location. For example, lighthouses on the east coast of the United States were built well over 100 feet tall because the locations where they needed to be built were primarily flat with low elevations. On the other hand, lighthouses on the west coast of the United States were often not built to be very tall, because the sites chosen for their construction were already well above sea-level, giving them an overall height that sometimes reached hundreds of feet. |
