Point Retreat

Point Retreat, at the north tip of Admiralty Island seventeen miles northwest of Juneau, was first lighted on Sept. 15, 1904. Its original wooden light tower was only 6 feet tall, but because of the slope of the site it stood 19 feet above the water, with two frame houses for keepers to the south. Around 1911, keepers were recalled and the beacon was reduced to a minor light. In 1923-24, a new reinforced concrete lighthouse was completed, the light was upgraded to a fourth order Fresnel lens, and two new keepers houses were built. The Coast Guard assigned six men there, and the commander could bring his family; after each year a man served at an Alaska lighthouse, he was entitled to 90 days' leave. The light was automated in 1973, and the Point Retreat lighthouse is owned by the Alaska Lighthouse Association of Juneau and is listed on the National Register of Historic Places.

Juneau, Alaska · United States