Perched in the exposed waters of southeastern Alaska’s Clarence Strait, Lincoln Rock Lighthouse stands as a testament to the challenges of maritime navigation, human persistence, and nature’s unrelenting power. Although the structure itself is long gone, the story of this remote light station—its origins, struggle, operation, and ultimate decommissioning—provides a fascinating slice of Alaskan lighthouse history.

Plans for original Lincoln Rock Light Station Photograph courtesy National Archives

Lincoln Rock lies off the west coast of Etolin Island, in the channel between Etolin Island and Prince of Wales Island. This channel is part of Clarence Strait, a major thoroughfare for vessels choosing to navigate the more sheltered inland passage between Ketchikan and Wrangell rather than brave the open waters of the Pacific. The presence of rocks, reefs and small islands like Lincoln Rock make navigation hazardous. The rock, named in honor of Abraham Lincoln by Navy Lieutenant Commander A.S. Snow in 1886, has as its nearby neighbors Lincoln Island, Abraham Islands, and Abraham Islet, also named after the country’s sixteenth President. Lincoln Rock is submerged or nearly so at high tide, making it especially dangerous. In recognition of this hazard, the site was reserved for lighthouse purposes by executive order of President William McKinley on July 1, 1901.

After plans and specifications were prepared, proposals for constructing the station were opened on January 11, 1902. The only proposal received was accepted and a contract was signed on March 12, 1902. In taking material to the site, the contractor lost all his lumber, one small steamer, and a barge, but he finally managed to set up concrete forms and place about 280 cubic yards of cement in the foundation pier before stormy weather forced him to close down the work in August 1902.

The contractor resumed operations in March 1903 and had placed about fifty more cubic yards of cement when the site superintendent ordered the contractor to cease operations on his contract, as he persisted in using rejected material. The Lighthouse Board annulled the contract in June and had the station built using hired labor. A cutwater, shaped like the prow of a ship, was built on the south end of the pier to split the seas and prevent their breaking against the superstructure.

A Notice to Mariners published in September 1903 described the new lighthouse, which was staffed by a head keeper and two assistants.

Notice is hereby given that on or about December 1, 1903 a fixed white light of the fourth order, illuminating the entire horizon, will be established in the structure now being completed on Lincoln Rock (submerged at high water), easterly side of the northerly end of Clarence Strait, about ten miles east-southeasterly from Point Nesbitt.

The focal plane of the light will be 57 ¾ feet above the water and 41 ¼ feet above the base of the tower, and the light will be visible thirteen miles in clear weather, the eye of the observer fifteen feet above the sea. Vessels should not attempt to pass to the northeastward of the light.

Original Lincoln Rock Light Station Photograph courtesy National Archives

On the same date there will be established in the structure a Daboll trumpet, operated by compressed air, to sound, during thick or foggy weather, blasts of three seconds’ duration, separated by silent intervals of twenty-seven seconds, thus: Blast, 3 seconds; silent interval, 27 seconds; blast, 3 seconds; silent interval, 27 seconds.

The structure consists of a concrete pier surmounted by a white two-story wooden building, with a brown roof, a square tower rising from the roof at its southerly end, and the trumpet projecting from the westerly side near the northerly end of the building. The tower is surmounted by a circular lantern, gray, with black roof.

An oil house is located a few feet northerly of the lighthouse and a derrick at the extreme northerly end of the pier.

On the same date the temporary fixed white lens-lantern light, located on a small island northeasterly of Lincoln Rock, will be permanently discontinued.

Almost from the start, the station was battered by the sea. In a storm on November 28, 1909, waves swept over the lighthouse, smashed in the south wooden side, washed away supplies, coal, and the station’s two boats. The keepers signaled for help, but a passing vessel (the Jefferson) did not notice them. Eventually the Army ship Paterson rescued them and took them to Wrangell to report the damage. On April 4, 1910, another storm rolled seas into the lower floor, leaving the crew trapped on the second floor.

Because of repeated damage, in March 1911 Congress appropriated $25,000 for rebuilding and improving the station on the present or an adjacent site. Wisely, the new dwelling and fog-signal building were placed on nearby Lincoln Island, about 1,650 feet east of the original site, while just the light remained on the more exposed rock. The new station was activated on October 10, 1912, but the work continued into 1914 and cost $24,774. The new flashing acetylene light was shown from the top of a brown square, pyramidal, skeleton steel tower, surmounting a large concrete base.

Fog signal built on Lincoln Island Photograph courtesy National Archives

The keepers at Lincoln Rock didn’t just maintain life-saving navigational aids, they also were literal lifesavers at times. In December 1914, Keeper Norval S. Douglas and Gardner Tibbetts, assistant keeper, furnished food and assistance to R.S. Mowin and C. Gorden, who had wrecked their launch and were hungry and nearly frozen. Three days later, they gave supplies to C. Sands, a trapper who was without money or provisions.

On July 9, 1923, one of the keepers noted in the station’s logbook that the U.S.S. Henderson had passed Lincoln Rock at 3:20 a.m. with President Warren G. Harding aboard. The keeper wrote: “Did not put flag out as sun was not up yet and President would be asleep.” President Harding was the first sitting President to visit Alaska. The previous day, he had stopped at Ketchikan, where he addressed the residents and laid the cornerstone of the Masonic Temple. Harding embarked on his nearly two-month-long Voyage of Understanding to connect with voters across the country amidst looming scandals. The voyage ended prematurely when President Harding died of a heart attack in San Francisco on August 2.

In 1939, the United States Coast Guard took over navigational aids in Alaska. Four Coast Guard personnel were typically assigned to each lighthouse, and electricity began to replace acetylene or kerosene lighting. In 1947, a large generator replaced the earlier equipment, and a submarine cable was laid from Lincoln Island to Lincoln Rock, where the foghorn was now located along with the light. Unlike many other Alaskan lights, Lincoln Rock never had a radio beacon.

By the late 1960s, the Coast Guard decided to automate and destaff Lincoln Rock light. The lighthouse personnel were removed on March 20, 1968. The Coast Guard explained that one of the primary duties—reporting local weather—was no longer its responsibility. A battery-operated light was left on Lincoln Rock. The facilities on Lincoln Island were demolished, leaving just concrete foundations as reminders of the once inhabited station.

Keepers:

• Head: Carl E. Peterson (1903 – 1904), Rolf Foosness (1904 – 1908), Elmer J. Claboe (1908 – 1909), Anton Hovi (1909 – 1910), Carl E. Peterson (1910 – 1912), Norval S. Douglas (1912 – 1920), Willam E. Abbott (1920 – 1921), Norval S. Douglas (1921), Carl E. Peterson (1921 – 1922), Ellery A. Teeter (1922), Charles P. Mercer (1922 – 1923), Frank J. Woessner (1923 – 1924), Robert Kronmeier (1924 – 1930), Charles P. Mercer (1930 – 1931), Frank J. Woessner (1931 – 1941), John W. Tyacke (1941 – 1949), John D. Pollom (1960 – 1961), Amel D. Wood (1961 – 1962), Wiley E. Rediker (1962), Clarence W. Gough (1962 – 1963), Paul G. Antalik (1963 – 1964), Thomas R. Shutters (1964 – 1965), James P. Tabor (1965 – 1966), James O. Snyder (1966 – 1967), Benjamin D. O'Neal (1967 – 1968).
• First Assistant: Rolf Foosness (1903 – 1904), George L. Lonholt (1904 – 1905), Ole Olsen (1905 – 1907), Elmer J. Claboe (1907 – 1908), Anton Hovi (1908 – 1909), John Regan (1909), Gust J. Hall (1909 – 1911), Norval S. Douglas (1911 – 1912), Gardner Tibbetts (1912 – 1915), Alex Wiebe (1915), Samuel L. Atkinson (1915 – 1918), John C. Cocheran (1918 – 1919), Samuel Gowen (1919) John A. Copeland (1919 – 1922), Louis Pace (1922), Ellery A. Teeter (1922 – 1923), Frank J. Woessner (1923), Clarence J. Carriveau (1923 –1924), Tom M. Armstrong (1924), Harley Seldon (1924 – 1926), Rudolph C. Toman (1926), William S. Hamilton (1926 – 1927), John B. Bonnar (1927), Alexander Wiebe (1928), Cornelius Corneliusen (1928 – 1930), Frank J. Woessner (1930 – 1931), Harry W. Chambers (1931 – 1933), Charles Eltman (1933 – 1934), Cornelius Corneliusen (1934 – 1936), Arthur Osterberg (1937), William Gadsby (1937 – 1940), Johnny E. Elstad (1940), Paul Strand (1940), Harry W. Chambers (1943 – 1946).
• Second Assistant: George L. Lonholt (1903 – 1904), Martin O’Neill (1904 – 1905), Elmer J. Claboe (1905 – 1907), Anton Hovi (1906 – 1908), John Regan (1908 – 1909), Thomas Jones (1909 – 1910), Norval S. Douglas (1910 – 1911), Gardner Tibbetts (1911 – 1912), Charles W. Hanson (at least 1940), Harry A. Von Oven (at least 1942 – 1945).
• USCG: Leo Coffee, Jr. (at least 1942), George Kish (at least 1945), Richard F. Bowen (1961 – 1962), Samuel Capps (1961 – 1962), James Breeding (1961 – 1962), Ronnie E. Jansson (1962), George Ahart (1962 – 1963), Paul Barron (1962 – 1963), Windell W. Crane (1962 – 1963), James Fowler (1963), Franklin Forsythe (1963 – 1964), Michael Giddings (1963 – 1964), Kenneth R. Cason (1963 – 1964), Lawrence A. Heite (1964), Patrick J. McCabe (1964 – 1965), Jay Dee Knab (1964 – 1965), David R. Bond, Jr. (1964 – 1965), David E. Rapp (1965), John D. Spikes (1965 – 1966), James P. Walters (1965 – 1966), Robert C. Staley (1965 – 1966), Stephen J. Hamill (1966), Keith C. Quirolo (1966 – 1967), Thomas J. Johnston (1966 – 1967), Donald D. Zenger (1966 – 1967), Daniel Kahle (1967), Ronald L. Hinchcliff (1967 – 1968), Oscar J. Dean (1967 – 1968), Walter Berry (1967 – 1968), Richard A. Swift (1968), Stephen J. Osmundsen (1968).

References

1. Annual Report of the Lighthouse Board, various years.
2. “Lincoln Rock Lighthouse,” Pat Roppel, The Keeper’s Log, Winter, 2013.

The modern light is best seen by boat.

The tower is owned by the Coast Guard.

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