St. Simons Island Light

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St. Simons Island Light

Location:	Saint Simons Island, Georgia
Coordinates WGS-84 (GPS)	31.1334° N 81.3933° W
Year first constructed:	1811
Year first lit:	1872
Automated:	1954
Foundation:	Tabby
Construction:	Iron and Brick
Tower shape:	Conical
Markings/Pattern:	White tower attached to a two-story brick dwelling with red roof
Height:	104 ft
Original lens:	Third order Fresnel lens
Characteristic:	continuous white light with a more intense flash every 60 s.

The St. Simons Island Light is a lighthouse in Georgia, United States, on the southern tip of Saint Simons Island, marking the entrance into St. Simons Sound. It uses a 1000-watt electrical light to transmit a beam visible for eighteen miles.

[edit] Original structure

The original St. Simons Island lighthouse was built in 1810, which was a seventy-five foot tall early federal octagonal lighthouse topped by a ten foot oil-burning lamp. During the American Civil War, U.S. military forces employed a Naval blockade of the coast. An invasion by U.S. troops in 1862 forced Confederate soldiers to abandon the area. The retreating troops destroyed the lighthouse to prevent it from being an aid to the navigation of U.S. warships.

[edit] Current structure

The U.S. government built a replacement for the original lighthouse to the west of the first. It is a 104-foot structure completed in 1872 and was outfitted with a third-order, biconvex Fresnel lens. A cast iron spiral stairway with 129 steps leads to the top. In 1876 the lighthouse was overhauled. In 1934 the kerosene-burning lamp was replaced by a 1000-watt electrical light. In 1939 the lighthouse was placed under the jurisdiction of the US Coast Guard. About 1953 the lighthouse was fully automated. The tower underwent restoration in 1989-91 and again in 1997-98. In 2004, ownership of the lighthouse was transferred to the Coastal Georgia Historical Society under the National Historic Lighthouse Preservation Act.

As of 2007 the lighthouse is still in use. The lighthouse keeper's residence has been turned into a museum and the public can go up to the top of the lighthouse.