Eldred Rock Light
Eldred Rock Light
LocationEldred Rock
Lynn Canal
Alaska
United States
Coordinates58°58′15″N 135°13′13″W / 58.97096°N 135.22026°W / 58.97096; -135.22026
Tower
Constructed1905
Foundationmasonry
Constructionwooden tower
Automated1973
Height56 feet (17 m)
Shapeoctagonal tower with balcony and lantern centred on the roof of a 2-storey keeper's house
Power sourcesolar power Edit this on Wikidata
OperatorSheldon Museum and Cultural Center[1] [2]
HeritageNational Register of Historic Places listed place Edit this on Wikidata
Light
Focal height91 feet (28 m)
LensFourth order Fresnel lens (original), 250 mm lens (current)
Range8 nautical miles (15 km; 9.2 mi)
CharacteristicFl W 6s.
Eldred Rock Lighthouse
Alaska Heritage Resources Survey
Nearest cityHaines, Alaska
Arealess than one acre
Architectural styleOctagon Mode
NRHP reference No.75000332[3]
AHRS No.JUN-081
Significant dates
Added to NRHPDecember 30, 1975
Designated AHRS1970

The Eldred Rock Light is an historic octagonal lighthouse adjacent to Lynn Canal in Alaska. It is the last of the ten lighthouses constructed in Alaska between 1902 and 1906. It was also the last of 12 manned lighthouses that were started in Alaska.[4] It is listed on the National Register of Historic Places as Eldred Rock Lighthouse.[3]

History

The Lighthouse Board approved plans for a lighthouse on Eldred Rock in 1905 and hoped that the design would be completed before November and the coming of harsh winter weather. However, due to weather, the lighthouse was not finished until June 1, 1906. A fourth-order Fresnel lens was placed in the lantern room, near the top of the fifty-six foot lighthouse, at a focal plane of ninety-one feet. This unique lens consisted of two bull's-eye panels — one about four feet in diameter and the opposing one a smaller, 14-inch panel. A sheet of red glass was placed between the light source and the larger prism, causing the revolving lens to produce alternating red and white flashes. The light was automated by the United States Coast Guard in 1973 and downgraded to a minor light.

USCG archive photo

In view of Skagway's commercial importance, the United States Board of Light-Houses established four manned lighthouses in Lynn Canal between the years 1902 and 1906. This was nearly half the number of light stations ever located in Southeast Alaska in the 1900s. Commissioned in 1906, Eldred Rock Light Station was the last lighthouse constructed in Lynn Canal; the second station in Alaska with light and fog-signal apparatus and keepers' quarters combined in a single structure; and the first lighthouse in Alaska constructed with concrete.[4]

Nils Peter Adamson was a keeper on Eldred Rock in 1910, when his colleagues (John Currie and John Silander) disappeared during their way with victuals from lighthouse Point Sherman to Eldred Rock. [5]

It was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1975.[3]

The original lens was moved to a museum in Haines, Alaska in 1978.

See also

References

  1. ↑ Rowlett, Russ. "Lighthouses of Alaska". The Lighthouse Directory. University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. Retrieved 2016-06-07.
  2. ↑ Alaska Historic Light Station Information & Photography United States Coast Guard. Retrieved 7 June 2016
  3. 1 2 3 "National Register Information System". National Register of Historic Places. National Park Service. July 9, 2010.
  4. 1 2 C. M. Brown (March 12, 1975). "National Register of Historic Places Inventory/Nomination: Eldred Rock Lighthouse". National Park Service. and accompanying photo from 1966
  5. ↑ González Macías, José Luis (2021). Atlas des phares du bout du monde. Nelly Guicherd. Paris. p. 54. ISBN 978-2-7467-6282-4. OCLC 1299175556.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link)


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