Woody Island Lighthouses, Maritime heritage site at Great Sandy Strait, Queensland, Australia.
Woody Island Lighthouses are two timber towers, one at North Bluff and one at Middle Bluff, built in 1866 to designs by the Office of the Colonial Architect, Charles Tiffin. The North Bluff tower stands beside the original 1866 keeper's residence, while a second keeper's quarters was added at Middle Bluff in 1868. Both towers are inactive today.
The two towers were built between 1866 and 1870 to guide ships through Hervey Bay waters as Maryborough grew into a major port. The North Bluff lighthouse stopped operating in 1959, while the Middle Bluff lighthouse continued until 1987.
The two lights worked as a pair: entering Hervey Bay, a captain steered until the towers came into line, then followed the red buoy off Woody Island Spit. Portmaster George Poynter Heath set out these instructions in the 1867 Government Gazette. The keeper's boat crew hoisted the lenses and holophotes into the lanterns in 1867, a job of about ten days.
A boat trip from Hervey Bay is required to reach this site, as it sits on an island with no road access. Visitors should allow time for the boat journey both ways and for exploring the area once there.
The two lights were worked as a single unit: when lined up, they guided ships through the sandbanks of Hervey Bay, and Portmaster George Poynter Heath published steering directions in the 1867 Government Gazette. The keeper's quarters stood at North Bluff, while the main light was placed south at Middle Bluff, where a kerosene store was built on the beach.
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