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Ship Island Lighthouse
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SHIP ISLAND LIGHTHOUSE MAY. 2000
Ship Island Lighthouse Ship Island, Mississippi
The lighthouse tower pictured is an exact replica of the 1886 lighthouse. The lighthouse rebuilding efforts were led by the "Friends of the Gulf Island National Seashore Parks". The comer beams for the new lighthouse were furnished by the United States Forest Service. As a condition for the rebuilding, the National Parks Service required that the lighthouse be built on the same foundation and same plan as the 1886 plans.
The original tower, a 45 ft. brick tower was completed in November, 1853 and lit on Christmas Day of the same year. Original old style reflectors were replaced, in 1856, with a fourth order Fresnel lens that was 51 feet above sea level. The lens is currently on display at the Maritime and Seafood Industry Museum in Biloxi, Mississippi.
In 1886 every building at the station was condemned as unsafe. A square, open frame lighthouse tower of 12 X 12 timbers was built and, using the old lens, was lit on September 26, 1886. It received protective weather boarding in 1887.
A steel skeleton tower, which still stands, was erected in 1971 to replace the wooden tower. In June of 1972, the wood tower burned to the ground when campers accidentally set it afire.
The lighthouse is located on West Ship Island, which is about 12 miles offshore from Gulfport, Mississippi. The island is part of the Gulf Island National Seashore Parks system and administered by the National Parks Service. Also located on the island is historic Fort Massachusetts. There are ferries to the island, leaving from Gulfport, Mississippi, operated by Ship Island Excursions.
Photo of skeletal tower Photo of lens in museum
http://www.coastlights.com/Miss/shipisland.html
5/17/2005