Patos Island Light

Last updated
Patos Island Lighthouse
Patos island light.JPG
Patos Island Light
Location San Juan Islands, Washington
Coordinates 48°47′20″N122°58′17″W / 48.789°N 122.9715°W / 48.789; -122.9715 Coordinates: 48°47′20″N122°58′17″W / 48.789°N 122.9715°W / 48.789; -122.9715 [1]
Tower
FoundationSurface
Construction Wood
Automated1974
Height38 feet (12 m)
ShapeSquare
HeritageNational Register of Historic Places listed place  OOjs UI icon edit-ltr-progressive.svg
Light
First lit1908
Focal height12 m (39 ft)  OOjs UI icon edit-ltr-progressive.svg
LensFourth order Fresnel lens
Range9 nmi (17 km; 10 mi) (white), 6 nmi (11 km; 6.9 mi) (red)  OOjs UI icon edit-ltr-progressive.svg
Characteristic White light every 6 s; two red sectors marking dangerous shoals
Patos Island Light Station
Nearest city Eastsound, Washington
Area1 acre
Built1893 (1893)
Architectural style Greek Revival-Victorian
NRHP reference No. 77001355 [2]
Added to NRHPOctober 21, 1977

Patos Island Lighthouse is an active aid to navigation overlooking the Strait of Georgia at Alden Point on the western tip of Patos Island in the San Juan Islands, San Juan County, Washington, in the United States. [3] The station is the northernmost in the San Juan Islands and marks the division point between the eastern and western passages into the Strait of Juan de Fuca. [4]

Contents

In 2013, Patos Island and its lighthouse were included in the US Presidential Proclamation [5] by Barack Obama creating San Juan Islands National Monument, [6] managed by the Bureau of Land Management, part of the US Department of Interior. Limited developments on the island are managed in partnership with Washington State Parks and volunteers with the nonprofit friends group Keeper of the Patos Light. [7] On some maps it is also referred to as Patos Island State Park. [8]

Access to Patos Island is challenging; no public ferry system serves the 200 acre island. Two offshore mooring buoys are available for private boats as permitted through the Washington State Parks. [9] Volunteer opportunities, however, offer regular summer access through the Keepers of the Patos Light. [7]

Through a Washington State Lighthouse Environmental Program (LEP) grant, the Keeper of the Patos Light are developing exhibits for the lighthouse.

History

The original light station was a post light and third-class Daboll trumpet fog signal. Beginning operation on November 30, 1893, the light was used as a navigational aid to steamships traveling to ports around Georgia Strait such as Vancouver, and up the Inside Passage to Alaska.

The lighthouse was improved in 1908 with a new fog signal and a 38-foot (12 m) tower, which housed a fourth-order Fresnel lens. [10] The light was automated in 1974. [11] Today, it has a modern lens which flashes a white light once every six seconds and has two red sectors marking dangerous shoals off the island. The original fourth-order Fresnel lens is now in private ownership in Oregon. [12]

The early years of the light were recorded in The Light on the Island , the childhood recollections of Helene Glidden, daughter of Edward Durgan who was lighthouse keeper from 1905-1913. [13]

Patos Island Lighthouse was listed on the U.S. National Register of Historic Places in 1977. Through federal funding from the U.S. Bureau of Land Management, the lighthouse was renovated in 2008 with a new roof, doors, windows, gutters and downspouts, and new paint inside and out. [14] The lighthouse is the last remaining structure at this site, but similar 1893 structures can be viewed at Turn Point Lighthouse, located on Stuart Island and also part of San Juan Islands National Monument.

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Yaquina Head Light</span> Lighthouse in Oregon

The Yaquina Head Light, also known early in its existence as the Cape Foulweather Lighthouse, is a lighthouse on the Oregon Coast of the United States, established in 1873. It is located in Lincoln County, near the mouth of the Yaquina River near Newport at Yaquina Head. The tower stands 93 feet (28 m) tall, and is the tallest lighthouse in Oregon.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">West Point Light</span> Lighthouse in Seattle, Washington, U.S.

The West Point Light, also known as the Discovery Park Lighthouse, is an active aid to navigation on Seattle, Washington's West Point, which juts into Puget Sound and marks the northern extent of Elliott Bay. The lighthouse is similar in design to the Point No Point Light and was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1977. It is a main feature of Seattle's Discovery Park.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">West Quoddy Head Light</span> Lighthouse in Maine, United States

West Quoddy Head, in Quoddy Head State Park, Lubec, Maine, is the easternmost point of the contiguous United States. In 1808 a lighthouse was constructed at the site to guide ships through the Quoddy Narrows. The current tower, with distinctive red-and-white stripes, was constructed in 1858 and is an active aid to navigation. The 3rd order Fresnel lens is the only 3rd order and one of only eight Fresnel lenses still in use on the Maine Coast.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Point Wilson Light</span> Lighthouse

The Point Wilson Light is an active aid to navigation located in Fort Worden State Park near Port Townsend, Jefferson County, Washington. It is one of the most important navigational aids in the state, overlooking the entrance to Admiralty Inlet, the waterway connecting the Strait of Juan de Fuca and Puget Sound. The lighthouse was listed on the Washington State Heritage Register and the National Register of Historic Places in 1971.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">East Brother Island Light</span> Lighthouse in California, United States

East Brother Island Lighthouse is a lighthouse located on East Brother Island in San Rafael Bay, near the tip of Point San Pablo in Richmond, California. It marks the entrance to San Pablo Bay from San Francisco Bay.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Old Point Loma Lighthouse</span> Lighthouse in California, United States

The original Point Loma Lighthouse is a historic lighthouse located on the Point Loma peninsula at the mouth of San Diego Bay in San Diego, California. It is situated in the Cabrillo National Monument. It is no longer in operation as a lighthouse but is open to the public as a museum. It is sometimes erroneously called the "Old Spanish Lighthouse", but in fact it was not built during San Diego's Spanish or Mexican eras; it was built in 1855 by the United States government after California's admission as a state.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Burrows Island Light</span> Lighthouse

The Burrows Island Light is a lighthouse on the western tip of Burrows Island, facing Rosario Strait, near Anacortes, in Skagit County, Washington.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Cattle Point Light</span> Lighthouse

Cattle Point Lighthouse is a lighthouse on the southeastern tip of San Juan Island overlooking the Strait of Juan de Fuca where the Haro Straits meet the San Juan Channel, in San Juan County, Washington. The light lies adjacent to the state's Cattle Point Natural Resources Conservation Area and, since 2013, is part of the San Juan Islands National Monument.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Lime Kiln Light</span> Lighthouse

The Lime Kiln Light is a functioning navigational aid located on Lime Kiln Point overlooking Dead Man's Bay on the western side of San Juan Island, San Juan County, Washington, in the United States. It guides ships through the Haro Straits and is part of Lime Kiln Point State Park, which offers tours during summer months.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">New Dungeness Light</span> Lighthouse

The New Dungeness Lighthouse is a functioning aid to navigation on the Strait of Juan de Fuca, located on the Dungeness Spit in the Dungeness National Wildlife Refuge near Sequim, Clallam County, in the U.S. state of Washington. It has been in continuous operation since 1857, although the current lighthouse tower is 26 feet (7.9 m) shorter than when first constructed.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Point No Point Light (Washington)</span> Lighthouse in Washington, United States

Point No Point Light is an operational aid to navigation on the northeastern tip of the Kitsap Peninsula on the west side of Puget Sound, at Point No Point where Admiralty Inlet joins Puget Sound, near the small community of Hansville, Kitsap County, in the U.S. state of Washington. Point No Point Light is considered the oldest lighthouse on Puget Sound and is listed on the National Register of Historic Places.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Point Robinson Light</span> Lighthouse

The Point Robinson Light is an operational aid to navigation and historic lighthouse on Puget Sound, located at Point Robinson, the easternmost point of Maury Island, King County, in the U.S. state of Washington. The site was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 2004.

Turn Point Light Station Lighthouse

The Turn Point Light Station is an active aid to navigation overlooking Haro Strait from the western tip of Stuart Island, San Juan County, Washington, in the northwest of the United States. The light marks a sharp turn in the shipping lanes at the transition between Haro Strait and Boundary Pass.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Alcatraz Island Lighthouse</span> Lighthouse in the San Francisco Bay, California

Alcatraz Island Lighthouse is a lighthouse—the first one built on the U.S. West Coast—located on Alcatraz Island in California's San Francisco Bay. It is located at the southern end of the island near the entrance to the prison. The first light house on the island was completed in 1854, and served the bay during its time as a Citadel and military prison. It was replaced by a taller concrete tower built in 1909 to the south of the original one which was demolished after it was damaged due to earthquake in 1906. The automation of the lighthouse with a modern beacon took place in 1963, the year Alcatraz closed as the Alcatraz Federal Penitentiary. It is the oldest light station on the island with a modern beacon and is part of the museum on the island. Although when viewed from afar it easily looks the tallest structure on Alcatraz, it is actually shorter than the Alcatraz Water Tower, but as it lies on higher ground it looks much taller.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Point Cabrillo Light</span> Lighthouse in northern California

Point Cabrillo Light is a lighthouse in northern California, United States, between Point Arena and Cape Mendocino, just south of the community of Caspar. It has been a federal aid to navigation since 1909. It is part of the California state park system as Point Cabrillo Light Station State Historic Park.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Point Fermin Light</span> Lighthouse in California, United States

Point Fermin Light is a lighthouse on Point Fermin in San Pedro, California.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Crossover Island Light</span> Lighthouse

Crossover Island Light is a lighthouse on the Saint Lawrence River in New York state near the Canada–United States border.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Patos Island</span>

Patos Island is a small island in the San Juan Islands of the U.S. state of Washington. Since 1893, it has been home to the Patos Island Lighthouse, guiding vessels through Boundary Pass between Canada and the United States. The name comes from the Spanish pato, meaning "duck," which was given to the island in 1792 by Commander Dionisio Alcalá Galiano of the Sutil and Captain Cayetano Valdés y Flores of the Mexicana.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Port Washington Light</span> Lighthouse

The Port Washington Light is a historical lighthouse in Port Washington, Wisconsin. Replaced by the Port Washington Breakwater Light and converted to a normal dwelling, it was restored with the assistance of the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg and currently serves as a museum.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Pigeon Point Lighthouse</span> Historic lighthouse in California, United States

Pigeon Point Light Station or Pigeon Point Lighthouse is a lighthouse built in 1871 to guide ships on the Pacific coast of California. It is the tallest lighthouse on the West Coast of the United States. It is still an active Coast Guard aid to navigation. Pigeon Point Light Station is located on the coastal highway, 5 miles (8 km) south of Pescadero, California, between Santa Cruz and San Francisco. The 115-foot (35 m), white masonry tower, resembles the typical New England structure.

References

  1. "Patos Light". Geographic Names Information System . United States Geological Survey, United States Department of the Interior.
  2. "National Register Information System". National Register of Historic Places . National Park Service. July 9, 2010.
  3. "Patos Island Light". Inventory of Historic Light Stations: Washington Lighthouses. National Park Service. Archived from the original on April 18, 2004. Retrieved May 8, 2015.
  4. "National Register of Historic Places Nomination Form". National Park Service. October 21, 1977. Retrieved May 8, 2015.
  5. "Presidential Proclamation -- San Juan Islands National Monument". whitehouse.gov. 2013-03-25. Retrieved 2017-03-07.
  6. "San Juan Islands National Monument Oregon/Washington BLM". www.blm.gov. Archived from the original on 2017-03-08. Retrieved 2017-03-07.
  7. 1 2 "Keepers of the Patos Light - Keepers of the Patos Light". Keepers of the Patos Light. Retrieved 2017-03-07.
  8. "Patos Island State Park". Washington State Parks and Recreation Commission. Archived from the original on April 19, 2015. Retrieved May 8, 2015.
  9. "Patos Island Marine State Park | Washington State Parks and Recreation Commission". parks.state.wa.us. Retrieved 2017-03-07.
  10. "Historic Light Station Information & Photography: Washington". U.S. Coast Guard. Retrieved May 8, 2015.
  11. Rowlett, Russ (October 19, 2014). "Lighthouses of the United States: Washington". The Lighthouse Directory. University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill . Retrieved May 8, 2015.
  12. "Light on the Island". Keepers of the Patos Light. Retrieved May 8, 2015.
  13. "Patos Island, WA". Lighthousefriends. Retrieved May 8, 2015.