Five Finger Islands Light
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| Location | Frederick Sound, Alaska |
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| Coordinates | 57°16′13″N 133°37′53″W / 57.27028°N 133.63139°W |
| Year first constructed | 1902 |
| Year first lit | 1935 (current tower) |
| Automated | 1984 |
| Foundation | Concrete pier |
| Construction | Concrete |
| Tower shape | Square |
| Height | 68 feet (21 m) (81 feet (25 m) above sea level) |
| Original lens | Fourth order Fresnel lens |
| Range | 18 nautical miles (33 km; 21 mi) |
| Characteristic | White art deco markings, flashing white 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 |
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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[1] |
| 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.[2]
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.[1]
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."[2]
The light station was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 2004.[1]
Gallery
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Original 1902 Lighthouse – USCG archive photo
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1992
External links
- 2007 U.S. postage stamp featuring Five Finger Islands Light
- "Historic Light Station Information and Photography: Alaska". United States Coast Guard Historian's Office.
- Lighthouse Friends — Five Finger Islands Lighthouse
- Rowlett, Russ. "Lighthouses of Alaska". The Lighthouse Directory. University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.
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Wikimedia Commons has media related to Five Fingers Light. |
References
- 1 2 3 Staff (2010-07-09). "National Register Information System". National Register of Historic Places. National Park Service.
- 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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