Tree Point Light

Tree Point Light

Current lighthouse, completed in 1935
Location	Revillagigedo Channel, Alaska
Coordinates	54°48′10″N 130°56′02″W
Tower
Constructed	1905 (first)
Foundation	concrete
Construction	reinforced concrete tower
Automated	1969
Height	58 feet (18 m)
Shape	square tower with lantern attached to oil house
Markings	art deco architecture, white tower, red lantern
Power source	solar power
Operator	United States Coast Guard
Heritage	National Register of Historic Places listed place
Light
First lit	1935 (current)
Focal height	86 feet (26 m)
Lens	Fourth order Fresnel lens (original), VRB-25 lens (current)
Range	9 nautical miles (17 km; 10 mi)
Characteristic	Fl W 6s. obscured from 158° to 318°
Tree Point Lighthouse
U.S. National Register of Historic Places
U.S. Historic district
Alaska Heritage Resources Survey
Nearest city	Ketchikan, Alaska
Area	76.5 acres (31.0 ha)
Built	1935
Architect	U.S. Lighthouse Service; D.A. Chase; Edwin Laird
Architectural style	Art Deco, Classical Revival, et al.
MPS	Light Stations of the United States MPS
NRHP reference No.	04001177
AHRS No.	XPR-006
Added to NRHP	October 27, 2004

The Tree Point Light is a lighthouse located adjacent to Revillagigedo Channel in Southeast Alaska, United States. It is located near the southernmost point of mainland Alaska.

History

Original 1904 Lighthouse – USCG archive photo

The Lighthouse Board approved the construction of the Tree Point Lighthouse on April 24, 1903, and just over a year later the light was activated on April 30, 1904. The lighthouse was the first, and only lighthouse, to be built on mainland Alaska. In the early 1930s, the Bureau of Lighthouses authorized reconstruction of the station with reinforced concrete. Work began in 1933 and was completed in 1935. The 1935 lighthouse was equipped with a fourth-order Fresnel lens, which is now displayed at the Tongass Historical Museum in Ketchikan, Alaska. In 1969 it was automated. The Fresnel lens was replaced with a lens mounted outside the lantern room. In the summer of 1977 the lens on the gallery was replaced with a modern, solar-powered VRB-25 Vega lens placed back inside the lantern room.

The lighthouse was listed on the National Register of Historic Places as an historic district in 2004. Its 2003 NRHP nomination stated that it was "the most intact [lighthouse] outpost in the southern section of Southeast Alaska. The listing includes the concrete light and fog-signal building built in 1935, one standing keeper residence, the two original oil houses, the later-period boathouse, and features of the water supply system. In addition, the tramway run is relatively intact." Additional features of a derrick and winch were deemed non-contributing, because they are relatively recent replacements.

See also

• List of lighthouses in the United States
• National Register of Historic Places listings in Ketchikan Gateway Borough, Alaska

External links

• "Historic Light Station Information and Photography: Alaska" (PDF). United States Coast Guard Historian's Office.
• Lighthouse Friends — Tree Point Lighthouse
• Rowlett, Russ. "Lighthouses of Alaska". The Lighthouse Directory. University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.