12 Historic Lighthouses Offered by the General Services Administration

These are the 12 lighthouses that the General Services Administration (GSA) is offering to transfer through its surplus property program. Each structure is historic and distinct in design, setting and accessibility. Below is a concise, clear summary of each lighthouse, its location, construction details and how it can be accessed.

Ile aux Galets Light — Located on Skillagalee Island in northern Lake Michigan, about 7 miles north of Cross Village, Michigan. This 58-foot white octagonal brick tower was built in 1850. There is no keeper’s house on site; the light and island are reachable by boat only.

Port Austin Reef Light — Sited roughly 2.5 miles offshore from Port Austin, Michigan, in southwestern Lake Huron. This 60-foot octagonal brick tower includes keeper’s quarters and dates to 1878. It is accessible only by boat and is currently being restored by the Port Austin Reef Lighthouse Association.

Alpena Light — Standing on the northern breakwater at the entrance to the Thunder Bay River in Alpena, Michigan, at northwestern Lake Huron. The light is a 38-foot steel skeletal tower built in 1914. Unlike many offshore lights, it can be reached on foot from the breakwater.

Brandywine Shoal Light — Near the mouth of Delaware Bay, this 60-foot cast-iron cylindrical tower with keeper’s quarters was constructed in 1914 and continues to overlook the ship channel. An earlier structure erected on the site in 1850 was the nation’s first screwpile lighthouse. The current light is accessible only by boat.

Ship John Shoal Light — Located farther up Delaware Bay, about 2.8 miles south of the Cohansey River in New Jersey. This 45-foot cast-iron octagonal tower, built in 1877, features Victorian-style keeper’s quarters and commands views over the bay’s ship channel. Access is by boat only.

Miah Maull Shoal Light — Another Delaware Bay lighthouse, this 45-foot cast-iron cylindrical structure has a brick lining and stands along the east side of the bay’s ship channel. It is situated approximately 8 miles south of Fortescue, New Jersey, and is accessible only by boat.

Race Rock Light — Marking The Race at the eastern end of Long Island Sound near Fishers Island, New York, this is a 45-foot octagonal granite light built in a Gothic Revival style in 1879. It includes keeper’s quarters and is well known to local boaters and anglers. The light is reachable only by boat and includes a landing pier.

Orient Point Light — A conical cast-iron tower with a brick lining located about a half-mile offshore from Orient Point at the east end of Long Island, New York. Built in 1899, this lighthouse stands watch over the narrow passage known as Plum Gut and is accessible only by boat.

Point Tuna Light — Perched on a high, rocky promontory that extends into the Caribbean, this stone tower overlooks a quartz-rich sand beach on Puerto Rico’s southeast coast. The lighthouse sits about 110 feet above sea level and rests atop a two-unit stone keeper’s house, which is painted white.

Milwaukee Breakwater Lighthouse — Built in 1926 on the detached north breakwater outside Milwaukee’s harbor, this structure is a square art-deco style steel-plate building with keeper’s quarters and a 53-foot tower. The lighthouse is located on the breakwater and is accessible by boat only.

Fowey Rocks Light — The northernmost of six lights erected along the Florida Keys reef, located about six miles southeast of Cape Florida. Constructed in 1878 as a screwpile light, it features a steel skeletal framework supporting a platform with an octagonal iron two-story keeper’s house and a light positioned roughly 110 feet above the water. This offshore station is accessible by boat only.

Point Fermin Light — In San Pedro, California, this picturesque wood-frame lighthouse was built in 1874 of California redwood in Victorian style. The rectangular tower rises from the keeper’s quarters on a promontory overlooking the harbor. Renovated in the early 2000s at a reported cost of $2.6 million, it now serves as a museum and is the central attraction of Point Fermin Park.

Information about how surplus property lighthouses are offered and how to apply to take ownership is available on the General Services Administration website; search the site for the NLHPA (National Lighthouse Preservation Act) listings and details. Prospective applicants and preservation groups should consult the GSA resources for eligibility, application procedures and any preservation conditions that apply.

See related articles:

– Lighthouses you can call home

– Station acquired in 2006 is a work in progress

This article originally appeared in the December 2011 issue.