The Assateague Island Lighthouse is a historic landmark and an active aid to navigation that provides ships with a visual point of reference and warns them away from danger. Built in 1833, the first lighthouse at Assateague was 45 feet high and used eleven small fish oil lamps, making it less than fully effective for sailors. The current lighthouse, built in 1866 and 1867, stands 142 feet tall on a 12-foot-deep foundation in the sand, and its distinctive stripes were added in 1963. For many years, a Fresnel lens focused the light of a single four-wick fish oil lamp, until an automated electric lamp replaced it in 1963 and began producing a double flash every 5 seconds. Along this coast, shipwrecks were common, and crews from lifesaving stations on Assateague Island rescued many people, including the entire crew of President Benjamin Harrison's official yacht, the Despatch, after it wrecked in 1891.