Mary Island Light
Encyclopedia
The Mary Island Light Station is a lighthouse
located on the northeastern part of Mary Island in southeastern Alaska
, USA.
'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.
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.
Lighthouse
A lighthouse is a tower, building, or other type of structure designed to emit light from a system of lamps and lenses or, in older times, from a fire, and used as an aid to navigation for maritime pilots at sea or on inland waterways....
located on the northeastern part of Mary Island in southeastern Alaska
Alaska Panhandle
Southeast Alaska, sometimes referred to as the Alaska Panhandle, is the southeastern portion of the U.S. state of Alaska, which lies west of the northern half of the Canadian province of British Columbia. The majority of Southeast Alaska's area is part of the Tongass National Forest, the United...
, 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 AlaskaAlaska Panhandle
Southeast Alaska, sometimes referred to as the Alaska Panhandle, is the southeastern portion of the U.S. state of Alaska, which lies west of the northern half of the Canadian province of British Columbia. The majority of Southeast Alaska's area is part of the Tongass National Forest, the United...
's Inside Passage
Inside Passage
The Inside Passage is a coastal route for oceangoing vessels along a network of passages which weave through the islands on the Pacific coast of North America. The route extends from southeastern Alaska, in the United States, through western British Columbia, in Canada, to northwestern Washington...
. 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.
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.