The Statue of Liberty was an official lighthouse for 16 years.

The U.S. Lighthouse Board took control of the statue shortly after its dedication on October 28, 1886. Engineers installed nine electric arc lamps inside the torch. A steam-powered generator on the island provided the electricity. This was very advanced technology for the late 1800s.The government wanted the light to be visible from 24 miles away. However, the torch was made of solid copper with only small holes for the light to shine through. This design blocked most of the light from reaching the ocean. Most lighthouses use a glass lantern room that allows light to shine in every direction.Workers tried to fix the problem by cutting more holes into the copper flame. They also installed a stronger 13.5-kilowatt generator to make the lamps brighter. These changes did not help enough. The light remained too faint to guide ships safely into New York Harbor.Maintaining the statue as a lighthouse was also very expensive. It cost about $10,000 every year to keep the lamps running. The Lighthouse Board stopped using the statue as a maritime aid on March 1, 1902. The statue was then moved to the control of the War Department.Even though it failed as a lighthouse, the project proved that electricity could work for coastal signals. This led to the modernization of lighthouses across the country. The original 1886 torch was removed in 1984 and is now kept in a museum. A new torch covered in 24-karat gold leaf replaced it in 1986.