LILAC, United States Lighthouse Tender
Why it's listed
LILAC is a 174-foot steel lighthouse tender completed in 1933 by Pusey & Jones of Wilmington, Delaware, and now berthed at Pier 40 on Manhattan's west side. She was designed for servicing buoys, lightships and isolated lighthouses. Her stable hull, shallow draft, high bow, wide wheelhouse, and heavy steam hoisting gear could lift buoys weighing up to 14 tons. Twin triple-expansion steam engines and two oil-fired boilers drove her. Her riveted construction, galley, mess rooms, crew quarters and the captain's stateroom largely survive. She served the U.S. Lighthouse Service and later the Coast Guard, including wartime port security duty and response to tanker collisions and fires on the Delaware. She was decommissioned in 1972, then used as a union training facility and later as scrap-yard offices in Virginia. A non-profit group bought her in 2003 and brought her to New York. She is considered nationally significant as the last unaltered steam lighthouse tender of her kind.
Significance in brief: The nomination argues that LILAC has national significance as the last unaltered steam-propelled, steam-hoisting lighthouse tender designed for open-sea and sound work. She is also the last surviving vessel of her type operated by the U.S. Lighthouse Service, and she was the last steam lighthouse tender in service when retired in 1972. Her design reflects the specialized work of servicing buoys, lightships and lighthouses.
Machine-generated summary. This summary was generated by a language model from the official nomination document and has not been reviewed line by line by an editor. It may contain errors. Check the source document before relying on any detail. Source: nomination document (PDF) · National Archives catalog entry. NRHP reference 04001441, listed January 7, 2005. Summary generated October 2026 (model claude-sonnet-5-5, prompt v1.0-2026-10-29, confidence high).
Key facts
| Address | Pier 40, New York |
|---|---|
| County | Manhattan |
| Listed | January 7, 2005 |
| Reference number | 04001441 |
| Resource type | Structure |
| Period of significance | 1932-1933 |
| Architect / builder | Pusey & Jones shipyard, Wilmington, DE |
| Architectural style | OTHER: lighthouse tender |
| Criteria |
|
| Areas of significance | Maritime History, Engineering |
| Level of significance | National |
| Status (as stated in the nomination) | Owned by a non-profit preservation group, moored at Pier 40 in Manhattan, with renovation under way and a stated aim of returning her to steaming operation as an educational exhibit. |
| Acreage | 0.9 |
| Coordinates | 40.73278, -74.01229 (NPS GIS) |
What listing means for this property
For a publicly owned building or structure, listing mainly matters when federal funds, permits or licences are involved: projects then go through Section 106 review so effects on the property are considered. Listing also strengthens applications for preservation grants and, for leased income-producing uses, can enable the federal rehabilitation tax credit.
General information, not legal or tax advice. Rules change; confirm with your State Historic Preservation Office or a qualified adviser.
Sources and further reading
- National Park Service, National Register of Historic Places database (snapshot May 2026), reference 04001441.
- Nomination form (PDF, National Archives) — catalog entry
- Wikipedia article (used for cross-checking only; text not reproduced here)
- Wikidata Q6547498
- This listing as JSON
Last updated October 2026. Found an error? See the editorial policy for how to report it.