Smith Island (Washington)
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Smith Island is a island located in the eastern Strait of Juan de Fuca, Washington, about mid-way between Admiralty Inlet and Lopez Island. It is connected to the smaller Minor Island, to its east, by a low spit that covers at high tide. The low, grassy islands have a few trees and are important habitat for seabirds, and the beaches are a resting site for sea lions. The islands are part of the San Juan Islands National Wildlife Refuge, and are usually closed to the public.
A lighthouse was constructed on the island in 1858. Originally, the Smith Island Lighthouse stood about 200 feet away from the island's western edge. The bluff began to erode, and when the bluff reached the front door in the 1950s, the lighthouse was abandoned. During the 1980s until the spring of 1998, the last part of the broken lighthouse clung precariously to the bluff.
The lighthouse was replaced with an automated navigational light 97 feet (30 meters) high. Minor Island also has a light. The island is also the site of a weather station operated by the United States National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.
[edit] Sources
- http://www.lhdepot.com/Digest/Photopage.cfm?Photo=564
- http://www.mobilegeographics.com
- Smith Island, WA weather station - National Data Buoy Center, NOAA.
