Central Whidbey Island Historic District; Also known as See Also: Ebey's Landing National Historic Reserve, Coupeville, Washington
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Rose Red
N 48° 09.646 W 122° 40.868
10U E 523712 N 5334218
Central Whidbey Island Historic District; Also known as See Also: Ebey's Landing National Historic Reserve
South of Oak Harbor, roughly six miles either side of Coupeville, Oak Harbor. Admiralty Head Lighthouse is my token waymark in this historic district.
Waymark Code: WMTAB
Location: Washington, United States
Date Posted: 10/05/2006
Views: 76
Central Whidbey Island Historic District; Also known as See Also: Ebey's Landing National Historic Reserve
South of Oak Harbor, roughly six miles either side of Coupeville, Oak Harbor. Admiralty Head Lighthouse is my token waymark in this historic district.
Admiralty Head Lighthouse is located in Fort Casey State Park near Coupeville on Whidbey Island in the Straits of Juan de Fuca/Puget Sound. The Red Bluff Lighthouse station was established in 1860. It was a square tower on the roof of a two-story wooden Cape Cod style house. About 1897, the Red Bluff Lighthouse was moved it several hundred feet north of its original location.
In 1903, the Army Corps of Engineers built a new lighthouse on Admiralty Head close to the old, relocated lighthouse. Architectural Style: California Spanish. Architect: Carl W. Leick (1854-1939). The tower, 30 feet high and 108 feet above sea level, was outfitted with a fixed fourth-order Fresnel lens. The fixed white light was visible for more than 16 miles, from any point along a sweeping 270 degrees of horizon. The beacon was an important navigational aid, especially for sailing ships entering Admiralty Inlet from the Strait of Juan de Fuca. It was deactivated in 1922. The iron and glass lantern was removed in July 1927 and transferred to the New Dungeness Lighthouse near Sequim. The original fixed fourth-order Fresnel lens was also removed and went missing.
The decommissioned station was transferred to the State of Washington in 1950. The iron and glass lantern was reconstructed by Island County Historical Society and Washington State Parks. This light is not operational. Admiralty Head Lighthouse is now opened to the public as Fort Casey’s interpretive center and historical museum.
In 1973, the National Park Service listed Central Whidbey Island (also known as Ebey’s Landing National Historic Reserve) on the National Register as an Historic District (listing No. 73001869). The Washington State Advisory Council on Historic Preservation also listed the district on the Washington Heritage Register (listing No. 004). In 1980, Fort Casey State Park, including the Admiralty Head Lighthouse, was incorporated into the listings. Today, the Central Whidbey Island Historic District, stretching roughly six miles on either side of Coupeville, and encompassing approximately 25 square miles, is one of the largest historic districts in the country, and has nearly 100 structures listed on the National Register of Historic Places.
In July 2003, the Coast Guard loaned the museum an original fixed fourth-order Fresnel lens identical to (and possibly) the missing Admiralty Head lens. It had been found in storage at the Coast Guard Station in Port Angeles.
Instructions for logging waymark: a photograph is required that shows you (or your GPS receiver, if you are waymarking solo) and the place.