Point No Point Light (Washington)

Last updated
Point No Point Light
Point No Point Lighthouse wa.jpg
Point No Point Light (Washington)
Location Hansville, Washington
Coordinates 47°54′44″N122°31′36″W / 47.9123°N 122.5268°W / 47.9123; -122.5268 [1]
Tower
Constructed1879
FoundationMasonry
Construction Brick and stucco
Automated1977
Height30 feet (9.1 m)
ShapeSquare
HeritageNational Register of Historic Places listed place  OOjs UI icon edit-ltr-progressive.svg
Light
First lit1880
Focal height27 feet (8.2 m)
LensFifth order Fresnel lens (1880); Fourth order Fresnel lens (1898)
Range14 nmi (26 km; 16 mi)  OOjs UI icon edit-ltr-progressive.svg
Characteristic 3 white flashes every 10 s [2]
Point No Point Light Station
Point No Point Boat Landing, Dwelling and Tower, looking southwest, July 1944, ca. 1943 - ca. 1953 - NARA - 298207.jpg
Nearest city Hansville, Washington
Area3 acres (1.2 ha)
Built1879-80 (1879-80)
NRHP reference No. 78002758 [3]
Added to NRHPAugust 10, 1978

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. [4] Point No Point Light is considered the oldest lighthouse on Puget Sound [5] and is listed on the National Register of Historic Places. [6]

Contents

History

Local authorities first proposed to locate the lighthouse further north on Foulweather Bluff. [5] [7] When the Point No Point location was agreed upon, the owners of the land were very reluctant to sell. [5] [8] The terms of the final sales agreement have been variously reported as 10 acres (4.0 ha) for $1,000, [8] 40 acres (16 ha) for $1,000, [7] and 40 acres (16 ha) for $1,800. [5]

Construction of the lighthouse began in April 1879. The first light used was a kerosene lamp. As 1879 drew to a close, the lens and glass for the lantern had not arrived, so the first lighthouse keeper, J.S. Maggs, a Seattle dentist, hung a canvas over the south window openings to break the wind and keep the kerosene lamp from blowing out. [5] [7]

Upon completion of the light station in February 1880, the lantern room held a fifth-order Fresnel lens. The original masonry structure was 27 feet (8.2 m) high. The present 30-foot (9.1 m) brick and stucco tower is square and situated between the office and fog signal building. A fog signal, formerly used at New Dungeness Lighthouse, was installed in April 1880. [8] In 1900, the fog bell was replaced by a Daboll trumpet. With no roads to the lighthouse for its first 40 years, supplies had to be brought in by boat. [5]

In 1898, the original lens was replaced with a fourth-order fresnel lens, [9] which is still in place although it is no longer in use. [8] Popular history holds that when lightning struck in 1931, it caused the lens to crack. However, according to McClary, records indicate "the damage occurred when a faulty oil vaporizer tube allowed explosive vapors to build up in the light chamber." [5] The tower was also damaged which required patching and replacing the copper tubing.

In 1975, a 90-foot (27 m) radar tower was built on the west side of the lighthouse. The tower is used for the Vessel Traffic Service (VTS). In 1977, the lighthouse became fully automated and only required one keeper to be assigned to the station. The Coast Guard replaced the light in 2006 with a low-maintenance, post-mounted, rotating beacon. [5]

Park and headquarters

In 1997, the last Coast Guard personnel left Point No Point and it stood empty until it was leased to Kitsap County Parks and Recreation. The county purchased adjoining parcels and created 60-acre (24 ha) Point No Point Lighthouse and Park. [2] [10] In 2012, the Department of the Interior announced the transfer of ownership of the lighthouse to Kitsap County. [11]

Since 2008, the station's keeper's quarters has been the national headquarters of the United States Lighthouse Society, a nonprofit preservation and educational organization. [12]

Related Research Articles

<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">Admiralty Head Light</span> Lighthouse on Whidbey Island, Washington, U.S.

The Admiralty Head Light is a deactivated aid to navigation located on Whidbey Island near Coupeville, Island County, Washington, on the grounds of Fort Casey State Park. The restored lighthouse overlooks Admiralty Inlet. It was the companion to the Point Wilson Light, which sits four miles away on Admiralty Inlet's western shore.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Marblehead Light (Ohio)</span> Lighthouse in Ohio, US

Marblehead Lighthouse in Marblehead, Ohio, United States, is the oldest lighthouse in continuous operation on the American side of the Great Lakes. It has guided sailors safely along the rocky shores of Marblehead Peninsula since 1822, and is an active aid to navigation.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Split Rock Lighthouse</span> Lighthouse

Split Rock Lighthouse is a lighthouse located southwest of Silver Bay, Minnesota, US on the North Shore of Lake Superior. The structure was designed by lighthouse engineer Ralph Russell Tinkham and was completed in 1910 by the United States Lighthouse Service for $75,000, including the buildings and the land. It is considered one of the most picturesque lighthouses in the United States.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Cape Elizabeth Light</span> Lighthouse in Maine, US

Cape Elizabeth Light is a lighthouse in Cape Elizabeth, at the southwestern entrance to Casco Bay in Maine.

<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">Mukilteo Light</span> Lighthouse

The Mukilteo Light is an operational navigation aid located on the east side of Possession Sound at Mukilteo, Snohomish County, Washington, in the United States. It is owned and operated by the City of Mukilteo as part of Mukilteo Lighthouse Park. The lighthouse is listed on the Washington State Heritage Register and was placed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1977.

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

The Alki Point Light is an active aid to navigation located on Puget Sound's Alki Point, the southern entrance to Seattle's Elliott Bay, King County, Washington. It is listed as Alki Point Light number 16915 in the USCG light lists.

<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">Dofflemyer Point Light</span> Lighthouse

The Dofflemyer Point Lighthouse is a U.S. lighthouse in Boston Harbor, Washington, and was one of the first in the state of Washington to be automated. It sits at the northeastern entrance to Budd Inlet north of Olympia. It is the southernmost light in Puget Sound and is listed on the National Register of Historic Places.

<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">Patos Island Light</span> Lighthouse

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. 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.

<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.

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

The Lynde Point Light or Lynde Point Lighthouse, also known as Saybrook Inner Lighthouse, is a lighthouse in Connecticut, United States, on the west side of the mouth of the Connecticut River on the Long Island Sound, Old Saybrook, Connecticut. The first light was a 35 feet (11 m) wooden tower constructed by Abisha Woodward for $2,200 and it was completed in 1803. A new lighthouse was eventually needed and a total of $7,500 was appropriated on July 7, 1838. Jonathan Scranton, Volney Pierce, and John Wilcox were contracted to build the new 65-foot (20 m) octagonal brownstone tower. It was constructed in 1838 and lit in 1839. The lighthouse was renovated in 1867 and had its keeper's house from 1833 replaced in 1858 with a Gothic Revival gambrel-roofed wood-frame house. In 1966, the house was torn down and replaced by a duplex house. The original ten lamps were replaced in 1852 with a fourth-order Fresnel lens, and with a fifth-order Fresnel lens in 1890. Lynde Point Lighthouse used whale oil until 1879 when it switched to kerosene. It was electrified in 1955 and fully automated by the United States Coast Guard in 1978. In 1990, it was added to the National Register of Historic Places and is significant for its "superior stone work in the tapering brownstone walls".

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

The Highland Light is an active lighthouse on the Cape Cod National Seashore in North Truro, Massachusetts. The current tower was erected in 1857, replacing two earlier towers that had been built in 1797 and 1831. It is the oldest and tallest lighthouse on Cape Cod.

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

Point Sur Lighthouse is a lightstation at Point Sur 24.6 miles (39.6 km) south of Monterey, California at the peak of the 361-foot (110 m) rock at the head of the point. It was established in 1889 and is part of Point Sur State Historic Park. The light house is 40 feet (12 m) tall and 270 feet (82 m) above sea level. As of 2016, and for the foreseeable future the light is still in operation as an essential aid to navigation.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Fort Point Light (Maine)</span> Lighthouse in Maine, US

The Fort Point Light, or Fort Point Light Station, is located in Fort Point State Park, in Stockton Springs, Maine. A lighthouse at this point has served as an active aid to navigation since 1835; the present lighthouse dates to 1857, and is listed on the National Register of Historic Places.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Marshall Point Light</span> Lighthouse in Maine, US

Marshall Point Light Station is a lighthouse at the entrance of Port Clyde Harbor in Port Clyde, Maine. The light station was established in 1832.

<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. "Point No Point Light". Geographic Names Information System . United States Geological Survey, United States Department of the Interior.
  2. 1 2 Rowlett, Russ (October 19, 2014). "Lighthouses of the United States: Washington". The Lighthouse Directory. University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill . Retrieved May 7, 2015.
  3. "National Register Information System". National Register of Historic Places . National Park Service. July 9, 2010.
  4. "Point No Point Light". Inventory of Historic Light Stations: Washington Lighthouses. National Park Service. Archived from the original on April 18, 2004. Retrieved May 12, 2015.
  5. "National Register of Historic Places Nomination Form". National Park Service. August 10, 1978. Retrieved May 12, 2015.
  6. 1 2 3 "History: The light station is established". Friends of Point No Point Lighthouse. Archived from the original on May 13, 2015. Retrieved May 12, 2015.
  7. 1 2 3 4 "Point No Point, WA". Lighthousefriends. Retrieved May 12, 2015.
  8. "Historic Light Station Information & Photography: Washington". U.S. Coast Guard. Retrieved May 12, 2015.
  9. "Point No Point Lighthouse and Park". Kitsap County. Archived from the original on May 12, 2015. Retrieved May 12, 2015.
  10. "Secretary Salazar Announces Transfer of Lighthouses in Washington and Michigan to Local Ownership" (Press release). National Park Service. July 18, 2012. Retrieved May 12, 2015.
  11. "Society History". United States Lighthouse Society. Retrieved May 12, 2015.

More reading