Guard Island Light

The Guard Island Light is a lighthouse on a small island near the entrance to the Tongass Narrows, in Clarence Strait in southeastern Alaska. The western entrance to the Behm Canal also lies nearby.

Guard Island Light

Guard Island Light
Alaska
Location	Guard Island Tongass Narrows entrance Clarence Strait Alaska United States
Coordinates	55°26′46″N 131°52′52″W
Year first constructed	1904 (first)
Year first lit	1924 (current)
Automated	1969
Foundation	Concrete
Construction	Reinforced concrete
Tower shape	Square tower with balcony and lantern on oil house
Markings / pattern	White tower, black lantern
Tower height	30 feet (9.1 m)
Focal height	74 feet (23 m)
Original lens	Fourth Order Fresnel lens
Range	17 nautical miles (31 km; 20 mi)
Characteristic	Fl W 10s. emergency light (Fl W 6s.) of reduced intensity when main light is extinguished.
Admiralty number	G6046
ARLHS number	ALK-008
USCG number	6-22300
Managing agent	United States Coast Guard[1] [2]
Heritage	place listed on the National Register of Historic Places
Guard Island Lighthouse
U.S. National Register of Historic Places
U.S. Historic district
Alaska Heritage Resources Survey
Nearest city	Ketchikan, Alaska
Area	10.4 acres (4.2 ha)
Architect	J.T. Elliot
Architectural style	Moderne
MPS	Light Stations of the United States MPS
NRHP reference No.	03001378[3]
AHRS No.	KET-00025
Added to NRHP	January 14, 2004

History

Aerial view

The lighthouse location was prioritized sixth in a 1901 study of 15 Alaska proposed sites. It would assist shipping along Southeast Alaska's Inside Passage, at the north end of the Tongass Narrows, "one of the more difficult passages along the route" of Klondike Gold Rush-related shipping to Juneau and to Skagway.[4]

Original 1904 lighthouse – USCG archive photo

Construction of the Guard Island Lighthouse began in the summer of 1903 and was completed by September 1904. The 34-foot (10 m) wooden tower housed a fourth order Fresnel lens that produced a fixed white light. However, the wood used for Guard Island Light Station, as well as for several other Alaskan lighthouses, soon deteriorated in the harsh weather conditions. By the 1920s, all the lighthouses except Eldred Rock were falling apart, and in 1922, Congress authorized the reconstruction of Guard Island Light. In 1924, the dilapidated light tower was replaced with a new single-story rectangular tower of reinforced concrete. The station was automated by the Coast Guard in 1969.

The lighthouse was listed as a historic district on the National Register of Historic Places in 2004. The listing includes one contributing building, one contributing structure, and one contributing site on a 10.4-acre (4.2 ha) area.[3]

See also

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

References

1. Guard Island 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. March 13, 2009.
4. Robert M. Weaver (June 16, 2003). "National Register of Historic Places Registration: Guard Island Lighthouse / Guard Island Light Station (AHRS Site No. KET-025)". National Park Service. and accompanying photos (historic and from 2002)

External links

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