The Alki Point Light is an active aid to

navigation Navigation is a field of study that focuses on the process of monitoring and controlling the motion, movement of a craft or vehicle from one place to another.Bowditch, 2003:799. The field of navigation includes four general categories: land navig ...

located on

Puget Sound Puget Sound ( ; ) is a complex estuary, estuarine system of interconnected Marine habitat, marine waterways and basins located on the northwest coast of the U.S. state of Washington (state), Washington. As a part of the Salish Sea, the sound ...

's Alki Point, the southern entrance to

Seattle Seattle ( ) is the most populous city in the U.S. state of Washington and in the Pacific Northwest region of North America. With a population of 780,995 in 2024, it is the 18th-most populous city in the United States. The city is the cou ...

Elliott Bay Elliott Bay is a part of the Central Basin region of Puget Sound. It is in the U.S. state of Washington, extending southeastward between West Point in the north and Alki Point in the south. Seattle was founded on this body of water in the 1850s ...

King County, Washington King County is a County (United States), county located in the U.S. state of Washington (state), Washington. The population was 2,269,675 in the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, making it the List of counties in Washington, most populo ...

. It is listed as Alki Point Light number 16915 in the

USCG The United States Coast Guard (USCG) is the maritime security, search and rescue, and law enforcement service branch of the armed forces of the United States. It is one of the country's eight uniformed services. The service is a maritime, mi ...

light lists.

History

The first, unofficial, light established at Alki Point was a kerosene lantern said to have been hung on the side of a barn in the 1870s by farmer and property owner Hans Martin Hanson. In 1887, the

United States Lighthouse Board The United States Lighthouse Board was the second agency of the U.S. federal government, under the Department of Treasury, responsible for the construction and maintenance of all lighthouses and navigation aids in the United States, between 18 ...

recognized the need for an official light and placed a lens-lantern atop a wooden post at the point. As Hanson remained the property's owner, he was assigned to be lightkeeper at a salary of $15 per month. Hanson's son Edmund sold the point to the government in 1910. By 1913, the present structure comprising a octagonal brick tower with lantern and gallery, attached to a 1-story brick fog signal building, was complete. It is the twin of Point Robinson Lighthouse on Maury Island, built two years later. The tower held a fourth order

Fresnel lens A Fresnel lens ( ; ; or ) is a type of composite compact lens (optics), lens which reduces the amount of material required compared to a conventional lens by dividing the lens into a set of concentric annular sections. The simpler Dioptrics, d ...

that was visible at no less than . Other site improvements included two residences for the lighthouse keepers. In 1962, the original Fresnel lens was replaced by a modern optic device ( VRB-25 aerobeacon). The station was automated in 1984. Following modernization, the principal keeper's quarters became the home of the Commander of the Thirteenth Coast Guard District. The active light station remains in the hands of the U.S. Coast Guard. Tours are periodically offered by the U.S. Coast Guard Auxiliary.

References

External links

Alki Point Lighthouse Tours
U.S. Coast Guard Auxiliary {{authority control Lighthouses completed in 1913 Houses completed in 1913 Lighthouses in Seattle Tourist attractions in Seattle 1913 establishments in Washington (state) Buildings and structures in West Seattle, Seattle