Lime Kiln Light Station - San Juan Island WA
N 48° 30.953 W 123° 09.142
10U E 488747 N 5373651
The Lime Kiln lighthouse sits on Dead Man's Bay at the west end of San Juan Island.
Waymark Code: WMGR62
Location: Washington, United States
Date Posted: 04/03/2013
Views: 12
The Lime Kiln Light Station was built on solid rock on the west end of San Juan Island, Washington in 1919 overlooking the Haro Strait, a major shipping route that links Puget Sound to the Gulf of Georgia. It was the last major lighthouse to be established in the state. The 38' concrete tower originally had a fourth-order Fresnel lens with an incandescent oil-vapor lamp. It revolved on a float and flashed three times every ten seconds. The kerosene for the lamp was stored in a tank at the foot of the tower and forced up by compressed air.
The tower was part of the building that housed the fog signal. The first signal was a third-class reed horn operated by compressed air and it blasted twice every twenty seconds.
Operation of Lime Kiln required two keepers who kept round-the-clock vigilance. They and their families were housed in two residences built on a bluff above the lighthouse.
The Lime Kiln Light Station also holds the distinction of being the last lighthouse to receive electricity because of the logistical nightmare of setting utility poles in solid rock. It was not until the 1950s when a submarine power cable was run from Anacortes to the San Juan Islands, that the light station got power. The Fresnel lens was replaced with a non-rotating, 375-mm drum lens that used an electric bulb. Two electric foghorns were also installed.
The US Coast Guard automated the lighthouse in 1962. Photoelectric cells turns the light on at dusk and off at daylight. They also activate the foghorns when visibility drops to less than three miles. A 12-volt battery system power the foghorns and the emergency light.
The drum lens was replaced in 1998 with a VRB-25 aerobeacon which flashes every 10 seconds.
In 1983, the Coast Guard leased the light station to the Moclips Cetological Society, a whale watching organization. So while the lighthouse still helps to keep ships off the rocks, it serves double duty as a research center.
The Lime Kiln Light Station is on the National Register of Historic Places.
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