Eldred Rock Light

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]

Eldred Rock Light

Eldred Rock Light
Alaska
Location	Eldred Rock Lynn Canal Alaska United States
Coordinates	58.97096°N 135.22026°W / 58.97096; -135.22026
Year first constructed	1905
Automated	1973
Foundation	masonry
Construction	wooden tower
Tower shape	octagonal tower with balcony and lantern centred on the roof of a 2-storey keeper's house
Tower height	56 feet (17 m)
Focal height	91 feet (28 m)
Original lens	Fourth order Fresnel lens
Current lens	250 mm lens
Light source	solar power
Range	8 nautical miles (15 km; 9.2 mi)
Characteristic	Fl W 6s.
Admiralty number	G6543
ARLHS number	ALK-006
USCG number	6-23880
Managing agent	Sheldon Museum and Cultural Center[1] [2]
Heritage	place listed on the National Register of Historic Places
Eldred Rock Lighthouse
U.S. National Register of Historic Places
Alaska Heritage Resources Survey
Nearest city	Haines, Alaska
Area	less than one acre
Architectural style	Octagon Mode
NRHP reference No.	75000332[3]
AHRS No.	JUN-081
Significant dates
Added to NRHP	December 30, 1975
Designated AHRS	1970

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]

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

• List of lighthouses in the United States
• National Register of Historic Places listings in Haines Borough, Alaska

References

1. Eldred Rock The Lighthouse Directory. University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. Retrieved 7 June 2016
2. Alaska Historic Light Station Information & Photography United States Coast Guard. Retrieved 7 June 2016
3. "National Register Information System". National Register of Historic Places. National Park Service. July 9, 2010.
4. C. M. Brown (March 12, 1975). "National Register of Historic Places Inventory/Nomination: Eldred Rock Lighthouse". National Park Service. and accompanying photo from 1966

External links

• Media related to Eldred Rock Lighthouse at Wikimedia Commons
• United States Coast Guard
• "Historic Light Station Information and Photography: Alaska" (PDF). United States Coast Guard Historian's Office.
• Eldred Rock Lighthouse at Lighthouse Friends
• Rowlett, Russ. "Lighthouses of Alaska". The Lighthouse Directory. University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.