The Alki Point Light Station, built in 1913 celebrated 100 years on June 1 with a special exhibit at the Log House Museum and tours of the Lighthouse itself. The US Coast Guard held a special ceremony, open to invited guests, to commemorate the event. Speaking at the event were LT Jarrett Owens, Project Officer for the USCG, Lyn McClelland, daughter of the first Admiral at Alki Point and USCG Auxiliary member and Rear Admiral Keith Taylor, District 13 who lives on the property with his wife.

According to legend (and the U.S. Coast Guard) Hans Martin Hanson hung the first lantern to mark the hazardous Alki shoals and the southern entrance into Elliott Bay in the 1870's. The lighthouse was constructed in 1913 and has remained the same (but well maintained) ever since. It is on the National Register of Historic Places.

While no longer burning an oil lamp the facility is a functioning warning beacon for sailors during inclement weather though much of that is now handled by on board technology. The view from the top of the lighthouse itself extends all the way from downtown Seattle to well past Point Williams in Lincoln Park.

The U.S. Coast Guard page on the facility explains more about its history and current operation," On April 1, 1913, the new Alki Point Light Station was ready for operation. The Light House Service built a 37-foot-tall octagonal concrete and masonry tower with an attached fog signal building on the most exposed part of the point. Two large houses for the lighthouse keepers and their families were built behind the lighthouse. About 7,000 yards of sand and gravel were added to the point to protect the buildings in stormy weather from heavy swells and high tides.

The two lighthouse keepers were required to keep constant vigils in alternate 12-hour shifts, seven days a week. For this, they each received a salary of $800 a year plus housing.Up until the 1980s, all the operations at the Alki Point Lighthouse were manual. Coast Guardsmen assigned to the station, were standing eight-hour watches, 24 hours a day, seven days a week. The airway beacon was turned on one-half hour before sunset and was turned off one-half hour after sunrise by the duty lighthouse keeper. Also, the Commander of the 13th Coast Guard District and his family lived on the light station in the Chief Lighthouse Keeper’s house.

In October 1984, the lighthouse operation was fully automated, with photoelectric cells turning the airway beacon on at night and off in the morning. Today (2003), the signal, a modern VRB-25 marine rotating beacon, operates 24 hours a day, flashing once every five seconds. Burnt out bulbs are replaced automatically and if there is a power failure, there is an emergency light located on the outside of the tower operated by 12-volt batteries. When visibility drops below three miles, photoelectric cells activate two electric FA 232 foghorns powered by a 12-volt battery system. Coast Guardsmen assigned to lighthouse duty are relegated to facility maintenance."

Clay Eals, Executive Director of the Southwest Seattle Historical Society said, “Our mini-exhibit on the lighthouse, now in our small gallery, will expand to the main gallery and include newly displayed artifacts, rare vintage photos, artwork and other memorabilia to tell the inspiring story of how the lighthouse came to be, how it has operated as an aid to navigation over the years and how it continues to be a symbol of hope for all of West Seattle and beyond.”

The exhibit also covered the decades prior to the construction of the lighthouse, when a single lantern provided the same function of aiding the navigation of sailing ships and steering them away from danger.
The exhibit will run all summer long and will be enhanced over time with the addition of new items, activities and interpretive programs.

It was curated by Sarah Baylinson, museum manager, along with Southwest Seattle Historical Society collection/exhibit volunteers.

For more information on “Alki Centennial Summer: From Lantern to Lighthouse,” visit loghousemuseum.info or call the museum at 206-938-5293.