|
The current Sand Island Lighthouse is the third one built on the 400-acre island. During the Civil War, the North blew it up, thinking Confederate soldiers were using it to spy on Union forces. The island once had houses and buildings on it. That is all gone now.
In 2012, a $6-million-dollar monumental endeavor made the long-lost Sand Island at Alabama’s Sand Island Lighthouse a sand island. Engineers and scientists believed that the island would stay in place. Instead of dumping the sand that is dredged out of the Mobile Ship Channel in locations far off shore, as has been done previously, efforts in the future will be made to dump the sand nearer the island where the currents of Mother Nature will push the sand to the island.
They were unfortunately proven wrong. In just a few short years, the island has once again washed away, and now there are two cracks in the tower through which you can see daylight. Despite numerous efforts over the years to save the Sand Island Lighthouse, its future is uncertain, and it remains on the Doomsday List.
This story appeared in the
Jul/Aug 2024 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.
All contents copyright © 1995-2024 by Lighthouse Digest®, Inc. No story, photograph, or any other item on this website may be reprinted or reproduced without the express permission of Lighthouse Digest. For contact information, click here.
| 