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Lighthouse Accommodations in AlaskaSentinel Island Light Station
Whale watching is at its best from your lighthouse accommodations in Alaska on Sentinel Island, a small island 25 miles northwest of Juneau.
The Sentinel Island Light Station was first established in 1902. It is one of the first two lighthouses established in Alaska. As more and more people began using the Inside Passage from Seattle to Skagway, courtesy of a major gold rush, there became a real need for lighthouses along the Inside Passage. At the time of the gold rush, waterways in Alaska were marked by an occasional buoy. No lighthouses yet. Shipwrecks were common in the twisting waterway lined by rocky shores. In 1898 alone, over 300 maritime accidents were reported in the Inside Passage. Something needed to be done! In 1900, the Lighthouse Board requested money for several lighthouses in Alaska. They received a meager $100,000, they’d requested $500,000, so the money went to only two lighthouses. One was at Five Finger Islands at the entrance to Stephens Passage, 80-plus miles south of Juneau. The other was the Sentinel Island Lighthouse. They both began service on the same day, March 1, 1902.
In the 1930s, many of the original wooden lighthouses in Alaska were replaced by sturdy concrete lighthouses built in an Art Deco style.
For more information contact the Gastineau Channel Historical Society at phone number: (907)586-5338.
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