First lit on June 1, 1906 and one of the remotest lighthouses in North America, the Eldred Rock Lighthouse was built after some disastrous shipwrecks in the vicinity, especially during the 1898 Gold Rush, when the Lynn Canal was full of steamships bringing miners to Skagway for their climb over Chilkoot Pass.

Perhaps the most spectacular wreck of the time was during February of 1898, when the steamship Clara Nevada went down adjacent to the rock under suspicious circumstances.  As many as 75 lives and 850 bounds of gold were lost.  There were four survivors, and the gold has never been discovered or the mystery of the disaster solved.  This helped bring about the support in Washington D.C. to have navigational aides in Alaska.

The lighthouse keepers were supplied by ships and launches from Haines that brought food, movies, mail, fuel and fresh water.  Due to severe storms, keepers in the past were sometimes unable to leave the building, and in the 1930s a keeper died on the rock.  For ten days they could not even call for help.

Eldred Rock is home to diverse wildlife.  Otters and many seabirds, including oystercatchers, make their regular home there.  Whales are a common sight in the vicinity, and seals and endangered Stellar sea lions congregate there.

Eldred Rock Lighthouse was decommissioned in 1973 and has been operated remotely since then.  In recent years, the Coast Guard has only maintained the beacon, and the building has fallen into disrepair.

The Eldred Rock Lighthouse Committee, under the auspices of the Sheldon Museum & Cultural Center, is working to gain the lease of Eldred Rock from the Coast Guard in hopes of renovating the lighthouse and it's outbuildings.  Perhaps someday, the lighthouse will be restored to it's former glory, and open to the public.

The Eldred Rock Lighthouse Committee needs your help to restore the lighthouse to it's former glory.  They are a volunteer organization, and all donations go directly towards restoration efforts.

Please send donations to the Sheldon Museum & Cultural Center: Attention Eldred Rock Lighthouse Committee.  Click here.

The original lens (shown) was a third order Fresnel lens (2100 candle power), made in Paris, France.  It was first rotated by pulleys and lighted by kerosene.  We at the Sheldon Museum & Cultural Center now proudly display it in our collection.

UPDATE September, 2005

The major delay in conveying Eldred Rock was a land issue with the U. S. Forest Service. This issue has been resolved, wording agreed upon among agencies, and now, only legislation must be passed to legalize the agreement. We are also working through the Haines Borough lobbyist to possibly have it conveyed legislatively.

Thanks to Dave Seris, U. S. Coast Guard in Juneau, maintenance was completed on the lighthouse in August 2005. He worked diligently to find funding to send a five-person work crew to repaint building exteriors, repair and/or replace doors and windows, fix a roof leak and other minor repairs.