The Department of the Interior on Wednesday announced the transfer of the historic Point No Point Light Station to Kitsap County under the National Historic Lighthouse Preservation Act. The lighthouse is near Hansville at the northern end of Kitsap Peninsula.
A second lighthouse on Lake Huron in Port Austin, Mich., was transferred to a private group.
“These lighthouses are a significant part of the maritime history of Puget Sound and Lake Huron,” Interior Secretary Ken Salazar said in a prepared statement. “I commend Kitsap County and the Port Austin Reef Lighthouse Association for their interest and ability to preserve and maintain these historic icons for the educational and cultural benefit of future generations.”
The act was enacted in 2000 as a means to transfer historic light stations no longer occupied by the Coast Guard to any federal, state or local agency, nonprofit or community-development organization that can best protect them and guarantee their preservation and continued public use. New owners must demonstrate that the lighthouse will be used for recreation or educational purposes. Since 2000, more than 60 historic light stations have been transferred to qualified entities.
The Point No Point Light Station is the oldest lighthouse on Puget Sound, and several of its original buildings are still intact. It features a square light tower, fog signal building, oil house and nearby keeper’s quarters.
Kitsap County has formed a partnership with the United States Lighthouse Society to maintain and interpret the site. The light station was recently rehabilitated with a grant from the National Trust for Historic Preservation and American Express. The Point No Point Light Station was listed in the National Register of Historic Places in 1978. It has been in continuous operation providing navigational aids since its completion in 1879.
Newly renovated
In the spring of 2010, Point No Point Lighthouse was one of 11 locations to receive a grant from the National Trust for Historic Preservation. The Point No Point Lighthouse received $100,000. The money was used to rehabilitate the oil house, install new shingles around the base of the lantern room, hang a new front door, run a new electrical line to the lighthouse, remove an inactive modern fog signal, replace the lantern room glass and strip, patch, prime and paint the exterior walls. A reopening celebration was held May 12.
Source: Lighthousefriends.com
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