Mary Island Light

Mary Island Light

Mary Island Light in 1937
Location	Mary Island, Revillagigedo Channel, Alaska
Coordinates	55°05′56″N 131°10′54″W / 55.09889°N 131.18167°W / 55.09889; -131.18167
Year first lit	1903
Automated	1969
Foundation	Concrete
Construction	Reinforced concrete
Tower shape	White art deco square tower
Height	61 ft (76 feet above sea level)
Original lens	Fourth order Fresnel lens, 1903
Range	6 nm
Characteristic	Flashing white 6s, Obscured from 341° to 150°.
Admiralty number	G6006
ARLHS number	ALK-009
USCG number	6-21940

The Mary Island Light Station is a lighthouse located on the northeastern part of Mary Island in southeastern Alaska, USA.

History

Mary Island Light Station was opened in 1903, and was one of a series of staffed lights established by the U.S. Government to guide ships through the treacherous waters of Southeast Alaska's Inside Passage. In 1937, a concrete lighthouse and fog signal building replaced the original wood tower. Situated behind the light were two lightkeeper houses which housed the Coast Guard Lightkeepers. One of the houses burned down in 1965(?); the other house was moved off the island to nearby Ketchikan, Alaska.

Original 1903 Lighthouse – USCG archive photo

In 1969 the station was automated and the radio beacon was removed. No other buildings and structures at the station stand today, other than an outhouse.

Actually, the northern of the two keepers dwellings was moved in 1964 while I was there. The southern dwelling was used by the 4 man crew until the station was decommissioned in 1969, and in 1970 the dwelling was moved.

External links

• "Historic Light Station Information and Photography: Alaska". United States Coast Guard Historian's Office. http://www.uscg.mil/history/weblighthouses/LHAK.asp. 
• Lighthouse Friends — Mary Island Lighthouse
• Rowlett, Russ. "Lighthouses of Alaska". The Lighthouse Directory. University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. http://www.unc.edu/~rowlett/lighthouse/ak.htm.