There are nearly 1000 lighthouses in America and almost 14,000 more spread around the globe. However, the lighthouse at the Elbow Reef Lighstation is the only remaining lighthouse in the world to be hand-cranked and kerosene-burning.

 

Although the Elbow Reef Lightstation's grounds include the light tower, keepers' quarters, store room, a kitchen building, and oil house, it seems the light tower itself captures our attention most.

 

The light tower consists of a concrete over brick tower topped with a two-story metal (iron/bronze and copper) section called the “lantern".

 

The following list of questions and answers includes general information about the Bahamian light stations as well as the light station at Elbow Reef and its lens and machinery.

 

Thank you to Keeper Jeffrey Forbes, Jr. for his assistance in supplying the answers to many of these questions. He and his fellow keeper, Elvis Parker, work hard to keep their historic light station active. They are among very few people in the world with the knowledge to do so.

 

I hope this handout helps give you a sense of the history you will be witnessing first-hand as you visit the light station, and encourages you to continue to do whatever you can to help keep the light on.

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General Information about Bahamian Lightstations

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Who ordered the major lighthouses in The Bahamas to be built?

The Imperial Lighthouse Service (ILS) commissioned their building and Trinity House in London hired the designers. The light stations were built between 1836-1887 when The Bahamas was still a colony of Great Britain.

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Why were the Lighthouses in the Bahamas built?

With the increase in shipping after the American Revolution and the amount of cargo now going back and forth between Great Britain, Europe, and the Americas, there were more sailing ships transiting the hazardous shallow banks and current-filled channels of The Bahamas.

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Ships were constantly stranding and men and cargo were lost. The British government built the Bahamian light stations to guide sailing ships safely through the deep water channels between the island groups within the Bahamian Archipelago.

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How many Bahamian ILS Lightstations are there?

There are eleven ILS lightstations in The Bahamas but only Elbow Reef Lightstation remains active, non-electrified, and hand-wound. Of the unmanned automated lights, few are currently working. Aside from Elbow Reef Lightstation, only San Salvador (Dixon Hill) and Great Inagua (Mathewtown) Lights have lightkeepers.

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Where are the other Bahamian ILS light stations?

The other lightstations in The Bahamas are at Hole in the Wall (Abaco); Gun Cay; Cay Sal; Great Isaac;| Cay Lobos; Great Stirrup; Castle Island (Acklins); Bird Rock(Crooked Island); Great Inagua; San Salvador.

The Lighthouse at Paradise (Hog) Island was built by the British in 1817 but it predates the ILS lights.

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What is the difference between a lighthouse and a light station?

A lighthouse usually refers to a single building which houses the lighting apparatus. A light station is a self-contained cluster of structures that is manned by keepers whose job is to keep the light on.

General Information for the Elbow Reef Lightstation

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When was the lighthouse first built?

1862-1864

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Why is the light station named the Elbow Reef Lightstation?

The Elbow Reef Lightstation earned its name because it was built to warn ships away from Elbow Reef which lies seaward of Elbow Cay. Elbow Cay juts out to the east further than other Abaco cays and is the most easterly land mass on the edge of the Little Bahama bank.

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Why did the British build a light station at this location?

The deep waters of the Atlantic roll westward unimpeded until they hit the fringe reef close to the cays of Great Abaco. In the 1880s one ship per month was stranding on the section of shallow water known as Elbow Reef. With a settlement nearby and as it was the easternmost land on the Little Bahama Bank, the British chose a protected high hill on the island of Elbow Cay (then known as "Little Guana Cay") as the site for this light station.

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How many lightkeepers are there at Elbow Reef Lightstation?

There are now 2 permanent keepers at the light station. Presently they are Jeffrey Forbes, Jr., and Elvis Parker. In the past, the standard system during the ILS days was to employ 3 keepers — a Principal Keeper (PK), an assistant Keeper (AK), and an occasional keeper (OK) for times when one of the other keepers needed vacation or sick leave.

Basic Specifications of the Elbow Reef Lighthouse Tower

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How tall is the light tower?

The Lighttower is 89 feet tall.

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How high above mean high water does the light shine?

The beam shines out 120ft. above mean high water (the average height of the sea level at high tide). 120 ft. equals the height of the tower plus the height of the hill on which the light tower sits.

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How far out to sea can the light's beam be seen?

The light can be seen 15 miles out to sea.

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How many steps are there between the ground floor and the watch room?

There are 101 steps between the entry at the ground floor and the watch room, the floor on which the lens-rotating machinery sits.

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What is the arrow on the top of the lighthouse for?

The arrow on the top of the lighthouse is a wind vane that points to the direction from which the wind is blowing. The vane is sheathed in copper and turns on small ball bearings. This vaned system is very common among British colonial lighthouses around the world but is rarely-if-ever seen on lighthouses in the United States.

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When was the lighthouse rebuilt for the first time?

In the 1920s and 1930s, all the lighthouses in The Bahamas had major rebuilds. At that time each received state-of-the-art pressure kerosene burners and lens-rotating machinery. The major rebuild of the Elbow Reef Light tower was completed between 1936-1938. The tower was then about 75 years old and smooth-sided and until this rebuild had a standing (fixed or non-rotating) lens and a concentric wicked burner that probably burned some type of vegetable oil. With this update, the old lantern was replaced with one with a wind vane and a better venting system. 

 

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Annie Potts ~ Elbow Reef Lighthouse Society ~ February 2015

ephemeral@bellsouth.net ~ ersbahamas@gmail.com

Elbow Reef Lighthouse Society © 2015 Annie Potts

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