The United States Coast Guard has indicated that they want to remove the historic Fresnel lens from Washington State’s famous Mukilteo Lighthouse, a statement that has upset most lighthouse preservationists.
The Coast Guard sites maintenance problems in keeping the historic lens in working order. Installed in the lighthouse in the 1920s, the lens is showing wear in the epoxy holding the glass in the brass framework and the mechanism that operates the lens has needed ongoing adjustment.
However, the Mukilteo Historical Society wants to keep then lens in the tower and is willing to step forward to raise the money to make any necessary repairs and maintain the lens in its place in the lantern room of the lighthouse, something that is not uncommon and has taken place at a number of other lighthouses around the nation.
This is not the first time the lens at Mukilteo has been threatened. In the early 1960s the Coast Guard tried to removed the 4th order Fresnel lens and replace it with a airport style beacon, a decision they reversed after strong protests from the historical society at that time.
Hopefully, the legal maneuvers can be worked out and the lens will stay in the tower at Mukilteo Lighthouse where it belongs.
This story appeared in the
November 2008 edition of Lighthouse Digest Magazine. The print edition contains more stories than our internet edition, and each story generally contains more photographs - often many more - in the print edition. For subscription information about the print edition, click here.
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