Tree Point

Tree Point, Alaska's southernmost lighthouse in the Southeast, marked the first landfall for northbound ships crossing Queen Charlotte Sound, 30 miles of coastal water open to the Pacific, and guided mariners into the protection of Revillagigedo Channel. First lighted on April 30, 1904, it went into operation only two weeks before a flash fire disrupted full service, reflecting the constant danger of fire at lighthouses before electrification. The original lighthouse was an octagonal wooden building with a tall light tower rising from a pyramid-shaped roof, with two keepers' houses nearby. In 1935, the main building was replaced with a reinforced concrete structure, and the original lantern room was moved onto the new building, which housed all equipment and a keepers office on the ground floor. By then one of the two original dwellings had been demolished, but the light keepers continued to live in the remaining house. Tree Point's original fourth-order Fresnel lens is now at Ketchikan's Tongass Historical Museum, and the Coast Guard maintains the site.

Juneau, Alaska · United States