Goods Island Light is an active

lighthouse A lighthouse is a tower, building, or other type of physical structure designed to emit light from a system of lamps and lenses and to serve as a beacon for navigational aid, for maritime pilots at sea or on inland waterways. Lighthouses mar ...

located on the highest point of Goods Island (Palilag), an island in the

Torres Strait The Torres Strait (), also known as Zenadh Kes, is a strait between Australia and the Melanesian island of New Guinea. It is wide at its narrowest extent. To the south is Cape York Peninsula, the northernmost extremity of the Australian mai ...

, belonging to

Queensland ) , nickname = Sunshine State , image_map = Queensland in Australia.svg , map_caption = Location of Queensland in Australia , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name = Australia , established_title = Before federation , established_ ...

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a Sovereign state, sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous List of islands of Australia, sma ...

. It serves as the rear light of the Goods Island

Range Range may refer to: Geography * Range (geographic), a chain of hills or mountains; a somewhat linear, complex mountainous or hilly area (cordillera, sierra) ** Mountain range, a group of mountains bordered by lowlands * Range, a term used to i ...

, pointing out the entrance to Normanby Sound.

History

The first navigation aid on Goods Island was a signalling station, established in 1877. In 1882,

pearl fishers A pearl is a hard, glistening object produced within the soft tissue (specifically the mantle) of a living shelled mollusk or another animal, such as fossil conulariids. Just like the shell of a mollusk, a pearl is composed of calcium carb ...

operating in Torres Strait requested that a light be established at the western entrance to the straight. Their request was accepted by George Heath, chairman of the Queensland Marine Board, who dictated the location of Goods Island. A temporary light installed on the signalman's quarters was finally replaced by the lighthouse, constructed in 1886. It was the third in a group of eight lighthouses in Queensland made of

hardwood Hardwood is wood from dicot trees. These are usually found in broad-leaved temperate and tropical forests. In temperate and boreal latitudes they are mostly deciduous, but in tropics and subtropics mostly evergreen. Hardwood (which comes from ...

frame A frame is often a structural system that supports other components of a physical construction and/or steel frame that limits the construction's extent. Frame and FRAME may also refer to: Physical objects In building construction *Framing (con ...

clad with

corrugated iron Corrugated galvanised iron or steel, colloquially corrugated iron (near universal), wriggly tin (taken from UK military slang), pailing (in Caribbean English), corrugated sheet metal (in North America) and occasionally abbreviated CGI is a bu ...

, which includes, in order of establishment

Little Sea Hill Light Sea Hill Lighthouse, also known as Sea Hill Point Light or Little Sea Hill Light, is a lighthouse on the northwest point of Curtis Island, Gladstone Region, Queensland, Australia. Its purpose was to mark the east side of the entrance to Keppel ...

, Grassy Hill Light, itself,

Bay Rock Light Bay Rock Light is an inactive lighthouse which used to be located on Bay Rock, a rocky islet northwest of Magnetic Island, about north of Townsville, Queensland, Australia. First lit in 1886, it was automated in 1920 and deactivated in the 198 ...

Old Caloundra Light Old Caloundra Light, also known as Old Caloundra Head Light or Cape Caloundra Light, is an inactive lighthouse located in Caloundra on the Sunshine Coast in South East Queensland, Australia. It is the oldest surviving building in Caloundra. The ...

North Point Hummock Light North Point Light, also known as North Point Hummock Light, was located on North Point, the most northern point on Moreton Island. North Point Light was constructed in the early 1860s, carrying a large kerosene burner with a reflector. In 1899, ...

(demolished), Gatcombe Head Light (demolished) and

Bulwer Island Light Bulwer Island Light, also known as Bulwer Island Range Rear Light, is an inactive lighthouse that was on Bulwer Island, in the suburb of Pinkenba, City of Brisbane, Queensland, Australia. In 1983, it was moved to the Queensland Maritime Museum ...

. The lighthouse was constructed entirely by government workers, rather than a private contractor, and it is believed to be unique in this sense among Queensland lighthouses. The original apparatus was a fourth order

dioptric Dioptrics is the branch of optics dealing with refraction, similarly the branch dealing with mirror A mirror or looking glass is an object that Reflection (physics), reflects an image. Light that bounces off a mirror will show an image of ...

with a totally reflecting glass mirror. In 1894 telegraphic communication with

Thursday Island Thursday Island, colloquially known as TI, or in the Kawrareg dialect, Waiben or Waibene, is an island of the Torres Strait Islands, an archipelago of at least 274 small islands in the Torres Strait. TI is located approximately north of Cape ...

was established. Following the

Federation of Australia The Federation of Australia was the process by which the six separate British self-governing colonies of Queensland, New South Wales, Victoria, Tasmania, South Australia (which also governed what is now the Northern Territory), and Western A ...

, the station was transferred to the hands of the

Commonwealth of Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands. With an area of , Australia is the largest country by ...

. During

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

the island was taken over by the

Royal Australian Navy The Royal Australian Navy (RAN) is the principal naval force of the Australian Defence Force (ADF). The professional head of the RAN is Chief of Navy (CN) Vice Admiral Mark Hammond AM, RAN. CN is also jointly responsible to the Minister of ...

which constructed defensive batteries around the island. In 1973 the lighthouse was automated. In 1988 it was transferred to

solar power Solar power is the conversion of energy from sunlight into electricity, either directly using photovoltaics (PV) or indirectly using concentrated solar power. Photovoltaic cells convert light into an electric current using the photovoltaic e ...

Structure

The lighthouse is about high. It is conical in shape, made of

frame clad with white painted

. It is topped by a red zinc dome. Access to the tower is through concrete steps and a small corrugated iron entryway with a convex corrugated iron roof. Also part of the station is the front light, a white hut on a rock platform below. The lighthouse is located 505 meters at 199° from this front light. Also in the premises are a timber storage shed a timber fibro-cement clad

lighthouse keeper A lighthouse keeper or lightkeeper is a person responsible for tending and caring for a lighthouse, particularly the light and lens in the days when oil lamps and clockwork mechanisms were used. Lighthouse keepers were sometimes referred to as ...

's cottage, now in ruins. Both of them are white with green painted galvanized iron roofs.

Display

The light characteristic shown is a quick-flashing white light (Q.W.), visible 064°-238° and 290°-295° for . The front light shows white and red flashes every two and a half seconds (Fl.W.R. 2.5s). The red flashes are visible 085°-180° for . The white flashes are visible at 180°-085° for . The front light is obscured by Hammond Island and by Goods Islands itself.''List of Lights''

Operation and access

The site and the light are managed and operated by the

Australian Maritime Safety Authority Australian Maritime Safety Authority (AMSA) is an Australian statutory authority responsible for the regulation and safety oversight of Australia's shipping fleet and management of Australia's international maritime obligations. The authority ...

. The island is accessible only by boat, and both the site and the tower are closed to the public.

Notes

References

* * * * *, seems to use almost identical text as the above.

External links

* * {{Authority control Lighthouses completed in 1886 Lighthouses in Queensland Queensland places listed on the defunct Register of the National Estate Commonwealth Heritage List places in Queensland 1886 establishments in Australia Torres Strait Queensland in World War II