Point Sherman is a low cape on the eastern shore of Lynn Canal, about 1 mile (1.6 km) southwest of the Kensington Mine facility at the mouth of Sweeny Creek, and 46 miles (74 km) northwest of Juneau and 30 miles (48 km) south-southeast of Haines, Alaska. The point was named in 1869 by Commander R.W. Meade of the U.S. Navy for General William Tecumseh Sherman who was a U.S. Army General during the American Civil War.

Point Sherman Light Station was constructed during the summer of 1904 using hired labor and was first lit on October 18 of that year, making it the eleventh lighthouse built by the United States in Alaska. The light was similar to those constructed on Fairway Island and Point Retreat and was displayed from a black hexagonal lantern room situated atop a white, hexagonal tower. A one-and-one-half story keeper’s dwelling and a boathouse were located just east of the light.

On September 1, 1911, the original fixed white oil light was replaced by an acetylene light that produced a white flash every three seconds and raised the light’s focal plane from 38 feet (11.6 m) to 42 feet (12.8 m) above high water. With this change, the light was also automated, and the last resident lighthouse keeper was withdrawn. Similar lights at Point Retreat and Fairway Island were also converted to acetylene lights and automated at the same time. In 1932, the station was transferred to the U.S. Forest Service and replaced by a nearby buoy. In 1981, a day marker and a light were placed on the site of the original lighthouse. Read more here and here. Explore more of Point Sherman here: