Grand Turk Lighthouse, Historical lighthouse in Grand Turk, Turks and Caicos Islands.
The Grand Turk Lighthouse is a white-washed cast-iron tower 60 feet (18 m) tall, shipped in pieces from the United Kingdom and completed in 1852 to the design of British architect Alexander Gordon. It stands on a small limestone hill on Lighthouse Road, overlooking North Creek and the shallow reef off the island's northern end. An attached kerosene storage house and the keeper's house, with its small windows, stand beside it.
Built in 1852 by British architect Alexander Gordon, the lighthouse was constructed following multiple shipwrecks on the reefs surrounding the island. The structure arose directly from the need to address navigation hazards and maritime disasters that had made these waters treacherous for passing vessels.
The site is often called the Grand Turk Historic Lighthouse Park. The keeper's house has small windows, built so the keeper could sleep in daylight after a night refilling the oil and kerosene lamps. The original Fresnel lens is now displayed in the Turks and Caicos National Museum.
The lighthouse stands on Lighthouse Road on a limestone hill above North Creek, at the northern end of Grand Turk. Donkey trails lead from the site down to the beach beneath the bluff. The keeper's house has small windows, built to keep out daylight so the keeper could sleep.
The lighthouse was shipped from the United Kingdom in pieces and reassembled on a limestone hill above North Creek, a creek said to match Christopher Columbus's 1492 description of the first island he reached. Its original Fresnel lens is now displayed in the Turks and Caicos National Museum.
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