Point Robinson Light

Last updated

Point Robinson Lighthouse
Point Robinson Lighthouse.JPG
Point Robinson Light
LocationNE end of Point Robinson,
Vashon, Washington, USA
Coordinates 47°23′17″N122°22′30″W / 47.3881°N 122.3750°W / 47.3881; -122.3750 [1]
Tower
Constructed1887  OOjs UI icon edit-ltr-progressive.svg
FoundationSurface
Construction Masonry and concrete
Automated1978
Height38 feet (12 m)
ShapeOctagonal with attached dwelling
HeritageNational Register of Historic Places listed place  OOjs UI icon edit-ltr-progressive.svg
Light
First lit1915 (current tower)
Focal height12 m (39 ft)  OOjs UI icon edit-ltr-progressive.svg
LensFifth order Fresnel lens
Range10 nautical miles; 19 kilometres (12 mi)
Characteristic Light Signal FI(2) W 12s.gif
FI(2) W 12s (White light, 3 s on, 1 s off, 3 s on, 5 s off)
Point Robinson Light Station
Point Robinson Light Station.JPG
Area12.9 acres (5.2 ha)
Built1884 [2] -1919 [3]
Built by U.S. Lighthouse Service, 13th Dist.; U.S. Lighthouse Board
Architectural style Classical Revival/Colonial Revival
MPS Light Stations of the United States MPS
NRHP reference No. 04000359 [4]
Added to NRHPApril 21, 2004

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. [5] The site was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 2004. [3]

Contents

History

Development of a navigational aid at Point Robinson began in 1884, when the Lighthouse Service purchased 24 acres there for $1,000. Construction of a fog signal station began that year with the facility seeing dedication on July 1, 1885. [2] The original boiler and 12-inch steam whistle came from Oregon's Point Adams Light. A one-and-a-half-story keeper's house was built nearby. [6] A second keeper's quarters was constructed in 1907. [2]

The point's first light arrived in 1887, when a lens lantern, shining persistent red, was attached to a 25-foot (7.6 m) post. In 1894, the post was replaced by an open wooden tower which held the light at 31 feet (9.4 m). [2] The current lighthouse was built in 1915, a twin of the Alki Point Lighthouse. With its 38-foot (12 m) tower and fifth-order Fresnel lens, the light could be seen 10 nautical miles; 19 kilometres (12 mi). The flashing pattern is on for three seconds, off for one second, on for another three seconds, and off for five seconds. [7] The light was automated in 1978, using the original fifth-order Fresnel lens. In 2008, the Coast Guard replaced the original Fresnel light with a replaceable plastic beacon mounted outside the lantern room. The original Fresnel lens remains in the lantern room where it can be viewed by visitors. [6]

A 100-foot radar tower was built at the point as part of the Puget Sound Vessel Traffic Control System at a cost of US$4 million in 1989. GPS facilities were added in the 1990s. [2]

Last uniformed keeper

The last Coast Guardsman stationed at Robinson Point Light Station was Jerry Bolstad in 1989. [2] He and his family occupied one of the lighthouse keeper's houses. In addition to the station's general maintenance, the last keeper restored the original Daboll three-trumpet fog signal, air compressor, and diesel engines as part of a historical display and conducted tours. One of the vintage Daboll trumpets was attached to a bottle of compressed air so visitors could experience its powerful sound. [8]

Park

In the early 1990s, local residents learned of plans to lease land for commercial purposes on Point Robinson. With the whiff of a potential seafood-processing plant in the air, the organization Keepers of Point Robinson was created and, coupled with the Vashon-Maury Island Park and Recreation District, negotiated a 15-year lease on the property with the Coast Guard. [6] The site is now a 10-acre (4.0 ha) shoreline park and historical and marine conservancy managed by Vashon Park District. The park district owns the upland part of the park, with the remainder on long-term lease from the Coast Guard. Keepers of Point Robinson work with the park district to maintain the site and offer the two keepers' dwellings as weekly rentals. [9]

Related Research Articles

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

Execution Rocks Light is a lighthouse in the middle of Long Island Sound on the border between New Rochelle and Sands Point, New York. It stands 55 feet (17 m) tall, with a white light flashing every 10 seconds. The granite tower is painted white with a brown band around the middle. It has an attached stone keeper's house which has not been inhabited since the light was automated in 1979.

<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">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">Goat Island Light</span> Lighthouse in Maine, US

Goat Island Light is a lighthouse located off Cape Porpoise near Kennebunkport in southern Maine. Goat Island Light was established in 1835 to guard the entrance to Cape Porpoise Harbor. The original station was upgraded in 1859 to the current brick tower with a fifth order Fresnel lens. Keeper's quarters were added to the island in 1860. The light station was automated by the United States Coast Guard in 1990 and is currently active. The keepers dwellings and tower are leased to the Kennebunkport Conservation Trust. Goat Island Light can be seen from shore in Cape Porpoise Harbor just off State Route 9 north of Kennebunkport or is viewable by boat. The island is currently closed to the public except by special arrangement.

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

Duxbury Pier lighthouse also called Duxbury Light is a lighthouse located in Plymouth Harbor, Massachusetts. Duxbury Pier Light was built in 1871 on the north side of the main channel in Plymouth Harbor to mark the dangerous shoal off Saquish Head. The unusual coffeepot-shaped lighthouse is locally known as "Bug Light" or simply "The Bug." It was the first so-called sparkplug lighthouse in the United States. Application was made to list the lighthouse on the National Register of Historic Places in 2014.

<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">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 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.

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">Concord Point Light</span> Lighthouse in Maryland, United States

Concord Point Light is a 36-foot (11 m) lighthouse in Havre de Grace, Maryland. It overlooks the point where Susquehanna River flows into the Chesapeake Bay, an area of increasing navigational traffic when it was constructed in 1827. It is the northernmost lighthouse and the second-oldest tower lighthouse still standing on the bay.

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

The Turkey Point Light is a historic lighthouse at the head of the Chesapeake Bay. Although only a 35-foot (11 m) tower, the 100-foot (30 m) height of the bluffs on which it stands makes it the third highest light off the water in the bay. It is also known for the large number of women who served as lightkeeper.

<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">Long Point Light</span> Lighthouse in Massachusetts, United States

Long Point Light Station is a historic lighthouse at the northeast tip of Long Point in Provincetown, Massachusetts. As a navigational aid, it marks the southwest edge of the entrance to Provincetown Harbor. The United States Coast Guard Light List describes it simply as a "white square tower". The light it casts is green, occulting every 4 seconds, and, at a focal height of 35.5 feet (10.8 m) above mean sea level, has a visible range of 8 nautical miles. When the weather affords low-visibility, one can hear the station's fog horn – sounding a single blast for two seconds, and repeating every 15 seconds – as it seems to call out for its nearly-identical closest neighbor, the Wood End Light.

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

The Whitlocks Mill Light is a lighthouse on the south bank of the St. Croix River in Calais, Maine. It is the northernmost lighthouse in the state of Maine, and was the last light to be built in the state.

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

Egg Rock Light is a lighthouse on Frenchman Bay, Maine. Built in 1875, it is one of coastal Maine's architecturally unique lighthouses, with a square tower projecting through the square keeper's house. Located on Egg Rock, midway between Mount Desert Island and the Schoodic Peninsula, it is an active aid to navigation, flashing red every 40 seconds. The light was listed on the National Register of Historic Places as Egg Rock Light Station in 1988.

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

Little River Light is a lighthouse on an island at the mouth of the Little River, in Cutler, Maine. A light station was first established at this site in 1846, and the present structure was built in 1876. It is one of the only iron lighthouses in the state, and was listed on the National Register of Historic Places as Little River Light Station on March 14, 1988. The light station is now owned by the American Lighthouse Foundation, which offers overnight stays in the keeper's house, and occasional tours of the property.

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

Petit Manan Light is a lighthouse on Petit Manan Island, Maine. The island is at the end of a series of ledges extending out from Petit Manan Point, between Dyer Bay and Pigeon Hill Bay, that projects into the Gulf of Maine.

<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. "Robinson Point Light". Geographic Names Information System . United States Geological Survey, United States Department of the Interior.
  2. 1 2 3 4 5 6 Haulman, Bruce; Donnelly, Terry. "Point Robinson Lighthouse" (PDF). Vashon History. Retrieved May 14, 2015.
  3. 1 2 "National Register of Historic Places Nomination Form". National Park Service. April 21, 2004. Retrieved May 14, 2015.
  4. "National Register Information System". National Register of Historic Places . National Park Service. July 9, 2010.
  5. "Point Robinson Light". Inventory of Historic Light Stations: Washington Lighthouses. National Park Service. Archived from the original on May 10, 2004. Retrieved May 14, 2015.
  6. 1 2 3 "Point Robinson, WA". Lighthousefriends. Retrieved May 14, 2015.
  7. 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.
  8. "Point Robinson". Vashon Park District. Retrieved May 14, 2015.