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Chris J LeBlanc Photography - Lighthouses
Providing details and historical information of lighthouse pictures taken during my travels
Lime Kiln Lighthouse
San Juan Island, Washington
© 2012 - Chris J LeBlanc Photographer
Location: Located in Lime Kiln State Park on the western side of San Juan Island.
Latitude: N 48.51584
Longitude: W 123.15263
Year Constructed: 1938 (station established 1914). Active
Tower Height: 38 feet Focal Plane: 55 feet
Octagonal cylindrical concrete tower with lantern and gallery, attached to the front of a 1-story concrete fog signal building. Lighthouse painted white, lantern and trim gray, roofs red.
Historical Information:
- Location: DEAD MANS BAY/SAN JUAN ISLAND
- Station Established: 1914
- Year Current Tower(s) First Lit: 1919
- Operational? YES
- Automated? YES 1962
- Foundation Materials: CONCRETE
- Construction Materials: CONCRETE
- Tower Shape: OCTAGONAL ON SOUND SIGNAL BUILDING
- Markings/Pattern: WHITE W/RED ROOF
- Original Lens: 375 MM
Beginning operations in 1914, it was the last major light established in Washington. The lighthouse was updated five years later with a 38-foot octagonal concrete tower rising from the fog signal building. A fourth-order Fresnel lens was first exhibited from the new tower on June 30, 1919.
Lime Kiln was also the last lighthouse to receive electricity, waiting until the 1940s, after World War II. The light was automated in 1962. The two original keeper's dwellings can be seen in the woods west of the lighthouse.
In 1985, the lighthouse and surrounding sea were dedicated as a whale sanctuary and research station for marine mammal scientists. Under the direction of the Whale Museum in Friday Harbor, scientists based in the lighthouse track the movements and behavior of the orca whales, which reside in the area.
