Admiralty Head Lighthouse
by Joan Carroll
Title
Admiralty Head Lighthouse
Artist
Joan Carroll
Medium
Photograph - Digital Photograph
Description
When I was in Port Townsend WA, it was a revelation to me that I could take a ferry to Whidbey Island and visit the Admiralty Head Lighthouse! I thought I would have to drive all the way around Puget Sound. So getting here was at least half the fun. Nothing says Seattle (and the Seattle area) like a ferry! Once on Whidbey island, the lighthouse is a 2 minute drive. Ships bound from the Pacific to Seattle must first pass along the Strait of San Juan de Fuca, which separates the Olympic Peninsula and Canada's Vancouver Island, and then turn south and navigate through Admiralty Inlet before reaching Puget Sound. Two points define the entrance to Admiralty Inlet from the Strait of San Juan de Fuca: Point Wilson on the west and Admiralty Head on the east. Lighthouses were eventually placed on both these points to guide shipping. Currently Admiralty Head Lighthouse is located in Fort Casey State Park near Coupeville on Whidbey Island, Washington. . In 1858 the United States purchased 10 acres (4.0 ha) of land costing $400 for the location of the lighthouse.[1] The original lighthouse was completed during the months just prior to the Civil War and was among the West's earliest navigational aids. It had a fourth order Fresnel lens, and the light could be seen sixteen miles away. In 1890, with construction of the fort to protect Admiralty Inlet, the light was relocated, relinquishing the building and site to the U.S. Army. The original Red Bluff wooden lighthouse was moved to make room for soldiers and guns in Fort Casey. The replacement lighthouse, constructed of brick and stucco, was built in 1903 but was discontinued in 1922 and the lantern moved to the New Dungeness Lighthouse in 1927. In 1990, the U.S. Postal Service issued a 25 cent stamp featuring the Admiralty Head Light.
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Uploaded
June 30th, 2014
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Viewed 4,563 Times - Last Visitor from Ottawa, ON - Canada on 04/19/2024 at 3:40 PM
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