In 1836, 2 lighthouses were built in the Bahamas in order to improve navigation and decrease the amount of shipwrecks.  One of the lighthouses was stationed at the southernmost tip of Abaco called Hole-in-the-Wall, and the other just south of Bimini.  Even with the lighthouse at Hole-in-the-Wall, wrecks were still building up around Abaco.  As a result, in 1863, England decided, to build a lighthouse at Hope Town to steer ships clear of the extensive “Elbow Reef”.  Despite protests made by wrackers (salvagers), the lighthouse was completed in 1864.  At this time, the lighthouse was equipped with a non-rotating, first-order light.  In 1936, approximately 73 years later, the Imperial Lighthouse Service closed the Lighthouse at Gun Cay (south of Bimini), and realized that the lighthouse at Hope Town was in need of a beacon for easier identification by ships.