Cape St. Elias Light

Cape St. Elias Light on Kayak Island was built to guide shipping along the Gulf of Alaska for vessels bound from the contiguous United States and southeastern Alaska to ports including Cordova, Valdez, Seward, and Anchorage. Approved by Congress in October 1913, it was built beginning in 1915 and entered service in 1916 with a third-order Fresnel lens. It also had early radio capability, helping keepers report arriving ships as Southcentral Alaska developed. A radio beacon was added in 1927, it was automated by the United States Coast Guard in 1974, and its historic Fresnel lens is now preserved in Cordova.

Cordova, Alaska · United States