Sand Island Light
SW of Fort Morgan off Mobile Point, Fort Morgan, ALConstructed in 1875, Sand Island Light is the older of the two remaining lighthouses in the state and is the third to have been erected orTthis location. A light at Sand Island has marked the entrance to Mobile Bay and the Mobile Ship Channel since 1838. This was the second navigational aid erected for the entrance to the port of Mobile, a light having been established at Mobile Point in 1822.
The first light was replaced in 1858 by a white light shown 152 feet above water from a brick tower. This light was destroyed by Confederate forces in 1862 to prevent its use as a lookout by Union forces, and was temporarily replaced by a small wooden tower with a forth order light.
Between 1867 and 1873, three separate appropriations totaling $175,000 were approved for the construction of the light, a keepers dwelling, and the range beacons used in connection with the light. Actual construction began in 1872 and the structure along with the keepers dwelling was completed the following year. The light was first exhibited on the night of September 1, 1873.
The island, originally 400 acres, had been eroding and by 1873 was reduced to less than 100. The erosion continued at a rapid pace and between 1873 and 1902 the keepers dwelling was twice removed to more stable ground and several thousand tons of rock were placed around the island and tower. During the hurricane of 1906 the keepers house was destroyed, the assistant keeper and his wife drowned, and the tower damaged. Much of the lantern glass had to be replaced, a new keepers house constructed and the entrance to the tower relocated.
In 1947 the light was fully automated and in 1966 the 60,000 candle power beam was dimmed to 8,000 when the new Mobile Point Light took over. The light was extinguished and the structure abandoned in 1971 and the lens was removed to the nearby Fort Morgan Museum. In 1973 the keepers house was burned.
Bibliography
Owen, T. M. History of Alabama, and Dictionary of Alabama Biography. Chicago: S. J. Clarke Publishing Co., 1921.
Ryan, Tony. Interview, August, 1975. (Last Keeper of the Sand Island Light)
Listed in National Register of Historic Places in 1975.
The National Register of Historic Places is the official list of the Nation’s historic places worthy of preservation. Authorized by the National Historic Preservation Act of 1966, the National Park Service’s National Register of Historic Places is part of a national program to coordinate and support public and private efforts to identify, evaluate, and protect America’s historic and archeological resources.