Tybee Island Lighthouse

Tybee Island, Georgia

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.

These photographs of the Tybee Island Lighthouse were taken during Labor Day weekend
on Saturday September 5, 1998. I particularly like the top middle photograph and the lower
right one of the lighthouse shadow. The top middle picture was taken from Fort Screven and
it takes in the entire Tybee Island Lighthouse with each support building. This lighthouse is
one of the most intact Light Stations in the country by having all of it's historic support buildings
still on it's large 5 acre site. You have to visit this lighthouse, it is simply awesome!

I took my youngest son Rich, and one of his school friends Neil, on a 3 day excursion from
Mobile, Alabama to the Georgia and South Carolina coasts to see St. Simons Island, Tybee
Island, Cockspur, Haig Point, Harbour Town, Hunting Island and Morris Island Lighthouses.
I'll have some good stories about these other lighthouses and some really cool places we visited
along the way. This was one of the best times I've ever had in my life.

We had climbed the St. Simon's Island Lighthouse earlier in the day and I was feeling a little
sore and stiff in the legs. After we climbed that lighthouse I just sat and drove to Tybee Island
and my legs got stiff. Rich and Neil just "leaped" up Tybee Island Lighthouse stairs (which is
taller than St. Simon's Lighthouse, at 154 feet). When I tried to catch up to them it felt like my
legs did not work. My mind said to climb the stairs, but my legs decided to take a vacation of
their own. Needless to say, I finally did make it up to the top and I'm glad I did because the view
is glorious from the top. However, going back down was very painful and I really didn't think I'd
make it. Remember, this is the second lighthouse I climbed in the same day and I was doing this
with basically no prior stretching or exercise, while simply driving for hours. Rich and Neil flew down
the tower. We spent several hours here and walked all around the grounds and to Fort Screven just
across from the lighthouse grounds. The fort is a great place to visit and simply full of history of it's own.
Battery Garland is now a museum and is a must visit for anyone in the area while visiting the lighthouse.

I did wear Rich and Neil out though, while I visited the fort and took more photographs, they waited in
the shade by the van and drank water. They also played some around the lighthouse grounds and did
some exploring, but they got really hot and we cranked on the A/C once we left. A great time for sure.
There were many people there, including a tour group, which made it difficult for a nice photograph of
the lighthouse without people in it. Be prepared for this. I've been to some lighthouses where people were
not a problem and then I've been to others, such as Tybee Island, that were a problem with lots of people.

Specifics about the Tybee Island Lighthouse:

First lighthouse: Built in 1733 and was the tallest structure in America at the time
In 1741 it was destroyed by a storm since it was too close to the water

Second lighthouse: Finished being built in 1742
Second tower height: 124 feet (30 feet of which was a flag pole)
New third tower: Completed in 1773 because second tower was also too close to the water

Third lighthouse: Established in 1773
Partially destroyed: in 1862 by Confederate troops

Present tower established 1866
Present tower is the fourth lighthouse on Tybee Island
Tower height: 154 feet
Lens: First-Order Fresnel Lens
Lens visibility: 18 miles
Lens fuel: Kerosene until 1933
then changed to electricity
Tower materials: brick and cast iron

Directions:

From Savannah, Georgia go 18 miles east to Tybee Island. Take Victory Drive
which later becomes Hwy 80 East. Hwy 80 ends on Tybee Island and it's a beautiful
place. You can see the lighthouse from a good distance away. Anyway, once you are
on the island take a left at Campbell, which later dead ends at Van Horne. Go left on
Van Horne and then take a right on Meddin and you will go right past the lighthouse.
Public parking is available in the area by Battery Garland, now the Tybee museum.

Please visit the following link for the best information on the Tybee Island Lighthouse:
Tybee Island Lighthouse Official Site

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