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Managing Organization:
Sand Island Lighthouse Preservation Group, Inc.
Telephone: 334-653-1995
Website: http://www.sandislandlighthouse.com
Email:
Contact Address Information:
6148 Old Pascagoula Rd.
Theodore
Alabama, 36582, United States
Notes:
The 1859 tower was blown up by Confederate forces in 1863; a temporary wooden tower was erected in 1864. The lighthouse was devastated by a hurricane on September 27, 1906; Assistant Keeper Andrew Hansen, his wife and another keeper's wife were lost. The lighthouse was once on a 400-acre island but is now surrounded by water and riprap. The 1873 tower is considered the last great masonry lighthouse to be built on the Gulf Coast. The lighthouse is now owned by the town of Dauphin Island. Hurricane Ivan damaged the tower's foundation and brickwork in September 2004.
Tower Height: 131
Height of Focal Plane: 132
Description of Tower: Unpainted brownstone brick conical Gothic style tower with black cast iron lantern.
Listed on the Lighthouse Digest Doomsday List of endangered lighthouses.
This light is not operational
Other Buildings?
None; two story keeper's house was destroyed in 1906 hurricane.
Earlier Towers?
1838: 55-foot tower designed by Winslow Lewis (built for $8,899); 1859: brick tower (150'); 1864: temporary wooden tower.
Date Established: 1838
Date Present Tower Built: 1873 (activated 9/1/1873)
Date Deactivated: 1933
Date Automated: 1921?
Optics: 1838: 14 lamps with 16-inch reflectors; 1859: First order Fresnel lens; 1862-63: Fourth order Fresnel lens; 1873: Second order Fresnel lens, now at at the Fort Morgan Museum.
Current Use: Historic landmark.
Open To Public? No.
Directions:
Sand Island Light is accessible by boat from Dauphin Island. Captain Jim Hall will take you out on his boat "Let It Be" -- call 251-861-4499. (See www.gulfinfo.com/cruises/ ) The lighthouse can also be seen at a distance of about three miles from the Fort Morgan State Historical Site.
Mapquest URL: Click here to get a map to this lighthouse!
Listed on the National Register of Historic Places
Keepers: John McCloud (1838-?), Andrew Hansen (assistant, ?-1906, died in service)
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