 Founded in 1984 by Wayne Wheeler and initially headquartered in San Francisco, California, one of the United States Lighthouse Society's first major projects was the purchase of the lightship LV605 in 1986 from a private individual.The organization subsequently invested $400,000 and more than 40,000 volunteer hours in the preservation and restoration of the vessel.In 2003 the society received the California Governor's Historic Preservation Award for its work on the ship.