Sentinel Island Light Station: Adapting to change over 124 years

Historic installation again a bright landmark in Lynn Canal after more than 25 years of restoration efforts

A sunny day view of the Sentinel Island Lighthouse taken in May of 2022 (Photo by Laurie Craig)

Normally life on an isolated Lynn Canal light station island is fairly quiet, but early on the morning of Aug. 5, 1910, a fleet of lifeboats delivered 80 passengers and 68 crew to the eight-year-old Sentinel Island station from the Canadian Pacific steamship Princess May. The ship had run aground on a long ridge of rocks that extend from the north end of the island about 25 miles north of Juneau. The incident occurred on a calm but dark summer night at about 2 a.m. 

There was some fumbling by the inexperienced crew, said a passenger interviewed by the Daily Alaska Dispatch in 1910. Plugs that prevent seawater from flooding into the lifeboats had been left out. A woman passenger used her handkerchief to plug a hole. Fortunately the lifeboat journey was a short one.

On Aug. 5, 1910, the Canadian Pacific steamship Princess May ran aground on the rocks that extend off the north end of Sentinel Island. Everyone was safely evacuated to the lighthouse. For a month, the ship perched at a steep angle with its hull barely touching the water at low tide until basic repairs could be made for a 50-foot-long gash that was 18 inches high. The ship was pulled off the rocks shortly before a strong storm struck days later. (Alaska Historical Library Collection P255-79-70. Colorized postcard by W.H. Case) 

Despite the island’s light illuminating the passage, the ship struck hard on the rocks. Perhaps the earlier fog had disoriented the crew. The bigger story became the embarrassment of the event: the Princess May perched on the rocks for a month with her bow pointing skyward and most of the hull out of the water at low tide in one of the West Coast’s most notorious shipwreck photographs.

Everyone survived the 1910 grounding after the lifeboats swung over the side of the Princess May and lowered people for a very brief ride to the lighthouse keeper’s three-story Victorian residence, where they awaited rescue. Within a month the Canadian Pacific steam ship had been patched, pulled off the rocks, paused at Juneau’s downtown dock and then towed south for full repairs. Once those were completed, the Princess May sailed for another nine years.

At the time, Sentinel Island Light Station (also known as a lighthouse) was already famous as the second lighthouse commissioned in Southeast Alaska on March 1, 1902. The first light at Five Finger Light Station, 50 miles south of Juneau, was illuminated the same day, but a few hours earlier than Sentinel Island. 

The original 1902 light station was a two-family Victorian keepers’ dwelling with the light atop a tower centered between the two units. The residence housed the primary lighthouse keeper and an assistant. At one time there were five children among the two families which warranted a school teacher. (Photo credit Alaska Historical Library P87-1788 by Winter and Pond)

Both lighthouses were constructed by public demand for safe ocean travel to the Klondike goldfields which lured thousands of people north in 1897-98 through the relatively protected Inside Passage from Seattle to Skagway and Dyea. Any luxury experienced on fine ships or shabby tubs disappeared at the end of the voyages when the stampeders had to pack a ton of supplies on their backs up the White Pass or the Chilkoot Pass before floating 500 miles down the Yukon River to Dawson City.

Many boats of questionable condition were pressed into gold fever service despite being unseaworthy. British Columbia and Alaska’s rock-strewn waterways were treacherous. One famous shipwreck in 1898 caused an outcry for more aids to navigation when the vessel Clara Nevada struck Eldred Rock (between Juneau and Haines). All souls were lost and an intriguing mystery ensued. Subsequently, a remarkable octagonal lighthouse — that still stands — was constructed there in 1906.

An aerial photo by the U.S. Navy taken in June of 1929 shows the layout of facilities on 6.5-acre Sentinel Island. It was the second Southeast Alaska lighthouse commissioned on March 1, 1902. The first was at Five Finger Island south of Juneau on the same day. (ASL U.S. Navy photo P01-4563)

After the drama of the Princess May wreck, Sentinel Island transitioned with upgrades to more powerful illumination. Then during 1933-35 the concrete lighthouse that voyagers see today was built. By 1966 automated equipment replaced human lighthouse keepers and the handsome Victorian residence began its decline. Considered a hazardous and attractive nuisance, the U.S. Coast Guard burned the original residence in 1971.

The essential part of the first lighthouse remains, however: the original glass-walled lantern room was moved on scaffolding from the old building to the 1935 Art Deco structure, keeping the light at its constant height of 82 feet above mean high water and 42 feet above the island surface.

As with many things that reach the end of their useful lives, Sentinel Island Lighthouse was threatened with destruction from the elements, expensive upkeep costs and modernization of light sources that no longer needed large structures. That’s when a group of Juneau historical advocates stepped in to preserve and restore the lighthouse.

A 1935 aerial photo shows both the completed concrete lighthouse and the original residence and support buildings. (U.S. Coast Guard photo)

One hundred years after the discovery of gold in the Klondike, the U.S. Coast Guard offered qualified nonprofit organizations the opportunity to lease some Alaskan lighthouses for preservation purposes. Gastineau Channel Historical Society was selected to care for — and eventually own — the Sentinel Island facilities which included the concrete lighthouse, support buildings, a railway tram to move heavy loads across the terrain, and a dock. Most of these elements were in poor condition. 

By 2000, Congress passed the National Historic Lighthouse Preservation Act which extended ownership of surplused lighthouses around the country to other entities. In subsequent years, nonprofits have restored — or are in the process of doing so — several area lighthouses: Five Finger, Point Retreat and Eldred Rock. Work is performed primarily by dedicated volunteers.

When a replacement concrete lighthouse was built in 1935, the lantern room was relocated from the original 1902 keepers’ residence to the new structure. This U.S. Coast Guard photo shows the scaffolding erected to slide the lantern room to its new location. The original glass-walled lantern room still holds the light — although now an LED with much greater illumination strength — atop Sentinel Island Lighthouse. (Photo by U.S. Coast Guard)

Before the Gastineau Channel Historical Society assumed control of Sentinel Island, the lighthouse was neglected. Only the compact functional light was needed and that was maintained by the Coast Guard, which continues to service the light today. Before restoration work, window openings were blocked with thick concrete fill, rainwater infiltrated the chimney causing damage, while doors and woodwork had deteriorated. Over the years, extensive repairs have been completed such as reconstructing the window openings and replacing doors to replicate period styles. 

To assist with the expenses of maintaining Sentinel Island facilities, Gastineau Channel Historical Society partnered with Juneau Lighthouse Tours in 2021. That required a sturdier dock and gangway for safe access. These components were constructed in 2022-23. The group also received grants for ongoing repairs and a recent full exterior painting of the 1935 concrete lighthouse.

The refreshed Department of Commerce crest  logo attached to the recently painted lighthouse. (Photo courtesy Gastineau Channel Historical Society)

Visitors touring the lighthouse can climb the tower, which offers broad vistas through the reconstructed windows. Inside the 1935 building, five interpretive panels tell the history of the lighthouse.

Such repairs are costly and time-consuming. The Gastineau Channel Historical Society has accomplished these feats with labor and financial support from volunteers, donors and funders such as the Alaska Office of History and Archeology, Rasmuson Foundation, U.S. Lighthouse Society, Alaska Applied Sciences and fundraising events.

“After 25-plus years of efforts by many dedicated volunteers, my wife Renee and myself, along with various grants and private contributions, it is especially rewarding to know we are preserving this significant maritime facility at Sentinel Island Light Station,” wrote architect Gary Gillette, president of the Gastineau Channel Historical Society, in an email on Wednesday, July 2.

“From the beginning of our involvement, we wanted to restore the historic buildings and share the history and place with locals and visitors,” Gillette added. “With the new paint job, the lighthouse is all dressed up to celebrate its 90th birthday.”

• Laurie Craig is a former naturalist and interpreter at the U.S. Forest Service’s Mendenhall Glacier Visitor Center, artist and historical writer.

In June, 2025 the Sentinel Island Lighthouse received extensive work that repaired concrete, scraped old paint, treatment with primer then two coats of fresh paint from a team of specialty painters. This photo shows the scaffolded lighthouse as it was being restored on June 5, 2025. (Courtesy John Coffer)

The completely repainted lighthouse in June of 2025. The restoration was funded by a Maritime Heritage Grant through the National Park Service and administered by the Alaska Office of History and Archeology with 50-50 matching funds from Gastineau Channel Historical Society. (Photo by John Coffer)