Five Finger Islands Light

Five Finger Islands Light

Five Finger Islands Light in 2003
Alaska
Location Five Finger Island
Frederick Sound
Alaska
United States
Coordinates 57°16′13″N 133°37′53″W / 57.27028°N 133.63139°W / 57.27028; -133.63139Coordinates: 57°16′13″N 133°37′53″W / 57.27028°N 133.63139°W / 57.27028; -133.63139
Year first constructed 1902 (first)
Year first lit 1935 (current)
Automated 1984
Foundation concrete pier
Construction reinforced ccncrete tower
Tower shape square parallelepiped tower with lantern centered on the roof of keeper's house
Markings / pattern art deco architecture
white tower, black lantern
Height 68 feet (21 m)
Focal height 81 feet (25 m)
Original lens Fourth order Fresnel lens
Range 18 nautical miles (33 km; 21 mi)
Characteristic Fl W 10s.
emergency light Fl W 6s of reduced intensity when main light is extinguished
Admiralty number G6342
ARLHS number ALK-007
USCG number 6-23280
Managing agent

Juneau Lighthouse Association[1] [2]

Five Finger Light Station
Nearest city Petersburg, Alaska
Area less than one acre
Architect U.S. Lighthouse Service; U.S. Lighthouse Board
Architectural style Modern Movement, Art Deco
MPS Light Stations of the United States MPS
NRHP Reference # 04000416[3]
Added to NRHP May 12, 2004

The Five Finger Islands Light is a lighthouse located on a small island that lies between Stephens Passage and Frederick Sound in southeastern Alaska. It and Sentinel Island Light Station were the first U.S. government lighthouses opened in Alaska, lit first on March 21, 1902.[4]

It became the last lighthouse in Alaska to be automated on August 14, 1984.

History

In 1901, a contract of $22,500 was awarded to construct a lighthouse on the southernmost of the Five Finger Islands. Completed in 1902, it was a rectangular lighthouse with a square tower, elevated several feet above the surrounding hipped roof. Atop the tower sat a lantern room from which a fourth-order Fresnel lens produced a fixed beam of white light at a focal plane of 68 feet (21 m). The original structure burned down in December 1933. The tower was rebuilt using public works appropriations. The current structure is made of concrete, which was completed and relit in 1935. It was automated by the United States Coast Guard in 1984.

It was listed on the National Register of Historic Places as Five Finger Light Station in 2004. The listing was as a historic district including four contributing buildings and one other contributing structure.[3]

The original lighthouse burned. The replacement, built in 1935, "is a good example of Modern Movement architecture, popular in the 1930s for concrete buildings, and adapted by the U.S. Lighthouse Service as the agency replaced the original wood frame lighthouse buildings at many of its sixteen staffed stations in Alaska."[4]

The light station was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 2004.[3]

See also


References

  1. ↑ Five Finger Islands 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. 1 2 3 National Park Service (2010-07-09). "National Register Information System". National Register of Historic Places. National Park Service.
  4. 1 2 Valerie O'Hare and Jennifer Klein (March 23, 2004). "National Register of Historic Places Registration: Five Finger Light Station / Five Finger Lighthouse / AHRS Site No. SUM-00009" (PDF). National Park Service. and accompanying photos


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