Cape Decision Light

Cape Decision Light

Location	Kuiu Island, Alaska
Coordinates	56.0014°N 134.1369°W / 56.0014; -134.1369
Tower
Foundation	Rock
Construction	Concrete
Automated	1974
Height	75 ft (96 feet above sea level)
Shape	square
Heritage	National Register of Historic Places listed place
Light
First lit	1932
Focal height	23 m (75 ft)
Lens	Third order Fresnel lens
Range	18 nm
Characteristic	White art deco marking, flashing White 5s, Obscured from 134° to 245°. Emergency light (Fl W 5s) of reduced intensity if main light is extinguished.

Cape Decision is a lighthouse located on Kuiu Island adjacent to Sumner Strait in Southeast Alaska.

History

The first attempt to light these waters was an acetylene lantern placed on the Spanish Islands, just off the southern end of Kuiu Island. The lantern was proved ineffective and consequently Congress appropriated $59,400 in 1929 for a lighthouse and construction began in September of that year. However, weather and inadequate funds delayed the completion of the station until it finally became active in March 1932. The total cost ended up in excess of $150,000. The lighthouse became automated in 1974 and in 1989 fire damaged the tram, dock, boathouse, hoist house, paint shed, and helipad. The original third order Fresnel lens was replaced in 1996 with solar powered aero beacon. The lens is on display in Clausen Museum in the nearby community of Petersburg.

The lighthouse was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 2005.

It is currently an active aid to navigation.

External links

• "Historic Light Station Information and Photography: Alaska" (PDF). United States Coast Guard Historian's Office.
• Lighthouse Friends — Cape Decision Lighthouse
• Rowlett, Russ. "Lighthouses of Alaska". The Lighthouse Directory. University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.