The Smith Island Light was a

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 ...

on Smith Island,

Island County, Washington Island County is a county located in the U.S. state of Washington. As of the 2020 census, its population was 86,857. Its county seat is Coupeville, while its largest city is Oak Harbor. The county's name reflects the fact that it is compose ...

History

The Smith Island Light was constructed in 1858 using the classic New England design of a 1-1/2 story keeper's house with a light tower centered on the roof. Electric power was provided by a bank of 18 lead-acid truck batteries connected in series and recharged by gasoline-powered generators. The structure stood about from the island's western edge. The

bluff Bluff or The Bluff may refer to: Places Australia * Bluff, Queensland, Australia, a town * The Bluff, Queensland (Ipswich), a rural locality in the city of Ipswich * The Bluff, Queensland (Toowoomba Region), a rural locality * Bluff River (New ...

began to

erode Erode () is a city in the Indian state of Tamil Nadu. Erode is the seventh largest urban agglomeration in the state, after Chennai, Coimbatore, Madurai, Tiruchirapalli, Tiruppur and Salem. It is also the administrative headquarters of the E ...

, and when the bluff reached the front door in the 1950s, the lighthouse was abandoned. It was added to the

National Register of Historic Places The National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) is the United States federal government's official list of districts, sites, buildings, structures and objects deemed worthy of preservation for their historical significance or "great artistic v ...

in 1978. The broken lighthouse could be seen clinging precariously to the bluff from the 1980s until the spring of 1998, when the last remains toppled into the sea. The lighthouse was replaced with an automated navigational light emanating on a focal plane from a skeletal tower constructed in 1957. The tower also houses a weather station operated by the United States

National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (abbreviated as NOAA ) is an United States scientific and regulatory agency within the United States Department of Commerce that forecasts weather, monitors oceanic and atmospheric conditio ...

. Before erosion toppled it into the sea, maritime author Jim Gibbs obtained permission from the Coast Guard to retrieve the lantern room. The lantern room is now part of the privately owned Skunk Bay Memorial Lighthouse located on northern tip of the

Kitsap Peninsula The Kitsap Peninsula () lies west of Seattle across Puget Sound, in Washington state in the Pacific Northwest. Hood Canal separates the peninsula from the Olympic Peninsula on its west side. The peninsula, a.k.a. "Kitsap", encompasses all of Kits ...

near Hansville.

References

{{authority control Lighthouses completed in 1858 Houses completed in 1858 Lighthouses on the National Register of Historic Places in Washington (state) Transportation buildings and structures in Island County, Washington National Register of Historic Places in Island County, Washington