Wednesday, September 19, 2012

Sand Island Lighthouse to Get It's Island Back-- Part 2

A 1962 picture in Wikipedia shows the home still standing, but a greatlt reduced island.

The latest of four lighthouses is on the Ligthouse Doomsday List.  It has been seriously damaged by Hurricane Ivan in 2004 and Katrina in 2005 and the 132-foot high structure is located 3 miles offshore.

An earlier lighthouse on the island was destroyed during the Civil War.


From Lighthouse Friends.

The very first lighthouse on Sand Island was built in 1830.  It proved inadequate and in 1839, another 55-foot one was built by Winslow Lewis for $10,000.  Then, in 1858, a new first-class tower was built with a 1st Order Fresnel Lens and operated for two years when the Civil War broke out.

Confederates removed the 9-foot lens and placed it in storage before Union forces took the island.  They reinstalled a 4th Order Lens and also used the tower to spy on Confederate activity by the harbor entrance.  A force under John W. Glenn rowed from Fort Gaines on Dauphin Island to Sand Island and burned several buildings near the lighthouse before being chased off by the USS Pembina.

More to Come.  --DaCoot

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