This summer, volunteers are working to restore Eldred Rock Lighthouse, Alaska’s oldest original lighthouse building.
Eldred Rock Lighthouse was built in 1906 in response to marine freight traffic and shipwrecks in North Lynn Canal in the years following the Klondike Gold Rush. Photographed on June 8.
Humphrey is one of several trained volunteers and contractors hustling to make improvements as part of an effort organized by the. By hefting supplies up and down the island’s bluff, working long days and sheltering inside the old quarters, the team hopes to breathe new life into the oldest lighthouse in Alaska that has never been rebuilt.
The dash is on to make the most of a nine-week season. Volunteers and contractors are cycling in and out from May through July to remediate lead paint and asbestos, repair the lantern room and halt degradation caused by decades of water intrusion and harsh conditions. The lighthouse hasn’t been manned since 1973.
That it still stands today is a testament to its builders, who constructed its first floor from concrete. But time, weather and leaks have taken a toll. York said one of the association’s early tasks was to clean up a mess left behind by sea otters. “They climbed all the way up into the attic and spent the winter there,” York said. “And so that was our first time having to actually don hazmat suits, to clean up otter crap.
More than a century later, the Eldred Rock draws the eyes of many thousands each year who pass aboard cruise ships or Alaska Marine Highway System ferries. It has also drawn adventurers who come by boat or sea kayak, although the island is currently closed to visitors due in part to the presence of lead, asbestos and soil contamination.
On a Saturday morning in early June, John Hollingsworth nosed a 32-landing craft into a small cove on the island’s east side to facilitate a weekly shift change. Hollingsworth said his time, the use of the boat and its fuel are all donated by Marine Exchange of Alaska, a Juneau-based nonprofit that distributes vessel tracking information and other data to promote safe maritime operations.
“There was a lot of different pitches and angles, and everything had to line up …,” he said. “When you do this for a long time, the complicated and weird stuff is the most fun.”A sign on Eldred Rock Lighthouse notes the year it was supposed to have been built, though because of delays it was completed in 1906. U.S.L.H.E. stands for United States Lighthouse Establishment, the federal agency that oversaw its creation at the time. The adventure of remote work was also part of the draw.
Robbie Jensen, an instructor of construction at University of Alaska Southeast, spent a week at Eldred Rock Lighthouse to rehabilitate a water-damaged interior window. He looks out from the lantern room at the lighthouse on June 8.
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