Alki Point Light, Integral lighthouse in West Seattle, US
Alki Point Light is a white octagonal brick tower with a red dome situated at the southern entrance to Elliott Bay in Seattle, Washington. The structure stands approximately 11 meters tall and functions as an integral lighthouse that guides vessels through these busy waters.
Hans Martin Hanson maintained a kerosene lamp on his property during the 1870s before the United States Lighthouse Board established an official light station in 1887. This transition reflected Seattle's growing importance as a shipping hub and the need for reliable navigation aids in the bay.
The station's keepers lived on site in two residences built with the 1913 tower; after automation the principal keeper's quarters became the home of the Commander of the Thirteenth Coast Guard District. The U.S. Coast Guard Auxiliary periodically offers tours of the active station.
The station is an active U.S. Coast Guard light and is not open to the public on a daily basis; tours are offered periodically by the U.S. Coast Guard Auxiliary. The light shows a brief white flash every five seconds, with a white isophase emergency light on a six-second cycle. The site sits at Alki Point, the southern entrance to Elliott Bay.
The station's 1962 replacement optic was a VRB-25 aerobeacon, and the original fourth-order Fresnel lens was later moved to SentinA Island lighthouse in Alaska. The light shows a brief white flash every five seconds, with a white isophase emergency light on a six-second cycle. Its focal height is 12 metres and the white light reaches 15 nautical miles.
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