|
|
Mobile, Alabama
All Photos © Tim N. Touchton
Each photograph
is available as an 8x10 for a cost of $ 12.00
plus $2.00 shipping. Check or money order only please.
For any 8x10's purchased of either one of these photographs, I will donate
$5.00 of the purchase price to the Sand Island Lighthouse Preservation Group.
I took this picture in August 1999 from a friends boat. Sam and his son Jonathan,
me and my son Richard, went for a nice Saturday boat ride in the bay. It was
a
pretty nice day for a boat ride and the waves were somewhat choppy, but not
too
bad. This was the same trip when we went to the Mobile
Middle Bay Lighthouse.
It was a nice day, even with the chopping seas, but the weather was nice.
He got as
close to this lighthouse as he could, the rocks from the washed away Sand
Island are
well out into the water away from the lighthouse. I really like both these
photographs,
the first one has a pelican to the right of the light and the second one is
one of the better
close ups of this lighthouse I have ever seen, especially since it was taken
from a boat on
choppy seas. I really want to "land" on this lighthouse island one
day and get up close to
the lighthouse and maybe be allowed inside it. The history of this lighthouse
is so great and
the lighthouse has struggled for so long for survival. It is in really bad
shape and some
people are trying to save it. Getting on the "land" is difficult
because you cannot get a boat
close, due to the rock, and you'd have to use a raft. The current is very
swift by this light due
to it's closeness to the shipping channel. I also will one day fly over this
light and take the very
popular aerial photograph that so many others have taken.
The island around the lighthouse has been completely washed away over
the past 100 plus years and most of the island washed away and long since
disappeared in the mid-1800's. Sand Island still exists but far away from
the lighthouse.
All the hurricanes and storms along the Gulf Coast and the Mobile area over
all the years
completely rearranges the sandy islands and shoreline all along this area.
That plus the shipping
channel in the area, along with the neglect, have all but killed this once
great sentinel.
A brief history:
The second lighthouse on Sand Island was built in 1859
and two years later is was blasted
into the Gulf by Confederate soldiers who saw Union troops using the tower
to spy on
Fort Morgan. The Confederate troops rolled a boat to the island at night and
dynamited
the mighty tower. The third and present lighthouse was built in 1873. A hurricane
struck the
island on September 27, 1906 and the lighthouse was out. When the island was
checked to
see why the lighthouse was not lit, they found that the keepers house was
missing. Three people
(including one of the two keepers) were missing. The other lighthouse keeper
had gone to shore
just prior to the hurricane striking the area. In 1919 another (of many to
come) hurricane hit the
island. Once again there was a party sent to see why the light was not on
after the storm.
The lighthouse station was empty, deserted and the log book had an entry stating
that the
keepers had gone to shore to pick up another person. The keepers were never
found.
Facts about the Sand Island Lighthouse:
First lighthouse on Sand Island established: 1838
First tower height: 55 feet
Tower removed due to being too short
Second lighthouse on Sand Island established: 1859
Second towers height: 150 feet
Second tower blown up by Confederate troops: 1861
Tower destroyed because Confederate troops saw Union troops
spying on Confederate Fort Morgan and Fort Gaines from the lighthouse
Third (and present) lighthouse on Sand Island established: 1872
Tower started operation: 09-01-1873
Tower automated: 1921
Tower deactivated: 1933
Lighthouse decommissioned: 1967
Deactivated reason: Land and buildings gone
Lens: Second Order Fresnel
Lens weight: 3 tons
Lens removed in 1971 and now on display at Fort Morgan Museum
Lens viewing distance: 17.5 miles, 10 second flash
Lens size: 10 feet by 5 feet
Tower height: 131 feet
Original materials: brownstone brick and iron
Current materials: brick and rusted iron
Current location: About 3 miles south of Dauphin Island, Alabama
Current condition: Extremely poor and in danger
Owner: General Service Administration
National Register Reference Number # 75000305
Special thanks to the Alabama Department of Conservation
and Natural Resources
Marine Resources Division
Old photographs of the Sand Island Lighthouse
photographers unknown
Sand Island Lighthouse circa 1859
Photographer unknown - Second lighthouse on island
Sand Island Lighthouse, circa unknown 
Photographer unknown. This is probably the late 1880's or 1890's. Notice the
steamer on the far right. The hotel is not in this photograph and the photograph
may have been taken from the opposite side as of those two below. If anyone
has any information about this photograph, please E-mail me. Click
on this photo
to see a larger version of this one. Behind the building is a small
wooden lighthouse
of about 50 feet in size, which makes me think it's the first lighthouse and
this photo
is actually that of the second lighthouse built to replace the first smaller
lighthouse.
Sand Island Lighthouse circa 1884
Photographer unknown - Present Lighthouse
Sand Island Lighthouse circa unknown 
Photographer unknown Third (Present) Lighthouse (late 1800's ?)
Sand Island Lighthouse circa unknown
Photographer unknown - Third and present lighthouse (1960's ?)
Notice the lens is still in the lantern room.
Sand Island Lighthouse circa unknown %20Button.jpg)
Photographer unknown - Third and present lighthouse
Notice the light is on and shining bright!
Possibly the mid-1960's.
A lot more information is coming for this page. Sand Island Lighthouse is
an awesome
lighthouse with a rich history. Please contact the Alabama
Historical Commission
and ask them to accept ownership of this wonderful and historical structure
so that
it may be eligible for the funding it needs so desperately.
A special thanks to Albert Laird.
This lighthouse has had a very similar history to that of the Morris Island
Lighthouse
near Charleston, South Carolina.
A reprint of a February 19, 2001 Mobile Press Register newspaper article
is coming soon.....
.Please go to the Sand Island Lighthouse Preservation Group link for
a great deal of information and why the lighthouse is in such
danger and how you can help.
Please visit the following links:
Sand
Island Lighthouse Preservation Group
Sand Island/Brown
Marine
COPYRIGHT INFORMATION - All
of the photographic images in this web
site as well as all of the written content in this web site are protected
by copyright and are not offered for commercial, public or personal use without
prior written consent. Please do not copy and/or distribute the images or
the written
content contained in this web site in print or digital form. Distributing
images
or the written content from this web site may put you or others at risk for
copyright violations.