The Mukilteo Light is an operational

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 ...

aid located on the east side of Possession Sound at

Mukilteo Mukilteo ( ; ) is a city in Snohomish County, Washington, United States. It is located on Puget Sound between Edmonds and Everett, approximately north of Seattle. The city had a population of 20,254 at the 2010 census and an estimated 2019 ...

Snohomish County Snohomish County () is a county located in the U.S. state of Washington. With a population of 827,957 as of the 2020 census, it is the third-most populous county in Washington, after nearby King and Pierce counties, and the 72nd-most popul ...

Washington Washington most commonly refers to: * George Washington (1732–1799), the first president of the United States * Washington (state), a state in the Pacific Northwest of the United States * Washington, D.C., the capital of the United States ** A ...

, in the

United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...

. It is owned and operated by the City of Mukilteo as part of Mukilteo Lighthouse Park. The lighthouse is listed on the

Washington State Heritage Register The Washington Heritage Register is an official list of sites and properties found throughout Washington state, United States. The Washington Heritage Register is administered by the Washington State Department of Archaeology and Historic Preserva ...

and was placed on the

National Register of Historic Places The National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) is the Federal government of the United States, United States federal government's official United States National Register of Historic Places listings, list of sites, buildings, structures, Hist ...

in 1977.

History

Construction of the lighthouse began in 1905, using the Carl Leick design also seen in the second Ediz Hook lighthouse and

Oregon Oregon ( , ) is a U.S. state, state in the Pacific Northwest region of the United States. It is a part of the Western U.S., with the Columbia River delineating much of Oregon's northern boundary with Washington (state), Washington, while t ...

's Cape Arago lighthouse. It was built of wood, while most other lighthouses of the era were constructed using brick and concrete. The lighthouse became operational in 1906, using a revolving

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 manufactured in France in 1852. In 1927, the original lens was replaced with the fixed (non-rotating) fourth-order Fresnel lens which is still in use. The lighthouse and a modern fog signal were automated in 1979, and in 1981, a remote fog sensor was installed. The two Victorian-style homes on the property were used by Coast Guard personnel until 1996. The entire complex was renovated by the Mukilteo city government in the 1990s for use as a museum. On August 19, 2001, the U.S. Coast Guard turned over ownership of the lighthouse to the City of Mukilteo. It is the centerpiece of Mukilteo Lighthouse Park, with the grounds and interior open to the public. The Mukilteo Historical Society maintains the lighthouse and its associated museum exhibits.

References

External links

Lighthouse Park
City of Mukliteo
Mukilteo Lighthouse
Seattle and Sound {{authority control Lighthouses completed in 1906 Lighthouses on the National Register of Historic Places in Washington (state) Mukilteo, Washington Lighthouse museums in Washington (state) Museums in Snohomish County, Washington Transportation buildings and structures in Snohomish County, Washington National Register of Historic Places in Snohomish County, Washington 1906 establishments in Washington (state)