Cape St. Elias Light

Cape St. Elias Light

Top of Cape St. Elias light
Location	Cape St. Elias Kayak Island Alaska United States
Coordinates	59°47′54″N 144°35′56″W
Tower
Foundation	rock
Construction	concrete tower
Automated	1974
Height	55 feet (17 m)
Shape	square parallelepiped tower at one corner of fog signal building.
Markings	art deco architecture white tower, red lantern
Power source	solar power
Operator	Cape St. Elias Lighthouse Keepers Association
Cape St. Elias Lighthouse
U.S. National Register of Historic Places
Nearest city	Katalla, Alaska
Area	0.1 acres (0.040 ha)
Built	1915
NRHP reference No.	75002157
Added to NRHP	December 18, 1975
Heritage	National Register of Historic Places listed place
Light
First lit	1916
Lens	Third-order Fresnel lens (Now on display)
Light source	solar power
Range	17 nautical miles (31 km; 20 mi)
Characteristic	Fl W 10s. obscured from 160° to 287° and from 018.5 to 027° emergency light (Fl W 6s) of reduced intensity when main light is extinguished.

The Cape St. Elias Light is a lighthouse on Kayak Island in Alaska.

History

Congress approved the construction of a light station at Cape St. Elias in October 1913, appropriating $115,000 for the construction. construction began in 1915 and a third order Fresnel lens was installed. In 1927 the station was equipped with radio beacon facilities, which was the second such facility in Alaska. The light was automated by the United States Coast Guard in 1974. In 1998 a solar powered Vega optic was installed, replacing the original lens, which is in the Cordova Museum in Cordova, Alaska. Cape St. Elias Lighthouse was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1975. It is now being leased by the Cape St. Elias Lightkeepers Association, a non-profit organization dedicated to preserving, restoring and sharing the lighthouse.

It began operations in 1916, which was the year that the Alaska Engineering Commission started building the Alaska Railroad "which eventually established Southcentral Alaska as the economic hub of all Alaska". This lighthouse "proved to be an indispensable navigational aid along the shipping lanes from the contiguous American states and Southeastern Alaska to Cordova, Valdez, Seward, and Anchorage." Those ports could be notified of ships arriving, by station keeper radio that also was installed in 1916.

See also

• List of lighthouses in the United States
• National Register of Historic Places listings in Valdez-Cordova Census Area, Alaska

External links

• United States Coast Guard
• Lighthouse Friends — Cape St. Elias Lighthouse
• Rowlett, Russ. "Lighthouses of Alaska". The Lighthouse Directory. University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.
• Picture of Cape St. Elias Light