The Confederate States Lighthouse Bureau was an administrative bureau within the Confederate States Department of the Treasury

Confederate States Department of the Treasury

The Confederate States Department of the Treasury was the department of the executive branch of the Confederate States of America responsible for the administration of the economic affairs of the Confederacy...

 which was responsible for the upkeep of lighthouses and other navigational aids along Confederate shores.

Overview

The Confederate States Lighthouse Bureau was formed by an act of the Provisional Confederate Congress

Provisional Confederate Congress

The Provisional Confederate Congress, for a time the legislative branch of the Confederate States of America, was the body which drafted the Confederate Constitution, elected Jefferson Davis President of the Confederacy, and designed the first Confederate flag...

 on March 5, 1861 to oversee the construction and care of all aids to navigation in the Confederate States of America

Confederate States of America

The Confederate States of America was a government set up from 1861 to 1865 by 11 Southern slave states of the United States of America that had declared their secession from the U.S...

. In the portion of the act establishing the Lighthouse Bureau, the position of Chief of the Lighthouse Bureau was declared to be open only to commissioned officers of the Confederate Navy

Confederate States Navy

The Confederate States Navy was the naval branch of the Confederate States armed forces established by an act of the Confederate Congress on February 21, 1861. It was responsible for Confederate naval operations during the American Civil War...

. Act No. 51 also declared the Lighthouse Bureau was to divide the shores of the Confederate States of America

Confederate States of America

The Confederate States of America was a government set up from 1861 to 1865 by 11 Southern slave states of the United States of America that had declared their secession from the U.S...

 into no more than five separate districts which would be the responsibilities of five lieutenants acting as district superintendents. The act also authorized the President to direct that military engineers construct and maintain lighthouses and navigational aids. The Chief of the Bureau was to report directly to the Secretary of the Treasury on a yearly basis. The Bureau's papers are currently housed in the National Archives

National Archives and Records Administration

The National Archives and Records Administration is an independent agency of the United States government charged with preserving and documenting government and historical records and with increasing public access to those documents, which comprise the National Archives...

 in Washington, D.C.

Washington, D.C.

Washington, D.C., formally the District of Columbia and commonly referred to as Washington, "the District", or simply D.C., is the capital of the United States. On July 16, 1790, the United States Congress approved the creation of a permanent national capital as permitted by the U.S. Constitution....