Eldred Rock is a small island and site of a historic lighthouse situated adjacent to Sullivan Island in Lynn Canal, between the Chilkat Range to the west and the Kakuhan Range to the east, about 55 miles (89 km) northwest of Juneau and 20 miles (32 km) south-southeast of Haines, Alaska. The island was named in 1880 by Marcus Baker for his wife, Sarah ‘Sadie’ Eldred. The Tlingit name for the rock is ‘Nechraje’ according to Dr. Aurel Krause, a German geographer known today for his ethnography of the Tlingit people in 1885. Eldred Rock is one of a string of islands extending south in Lynn Canal from the Chilkat Peninsula that are all composed of volcanic rocks, mostly rhyolite and basalt, that developed during the Triassic. Lynn Canal is a fjord 81 miles (130 km) long and 6 to 12 miles (10–20 km) wide, roughly aligned with the Chatham Strait Fault, that extends northward from the confluence of Chatham Strait and Icy Strait. During the Last Glacial Maximum, Lynn Canal and Chatham Strait were completely filled by a large valley glacier, which presumably scoured an irregular bedrock surface that was subsequently blanketed by glaciomarine outwash during ice retreat beginning around 14,000 years ago.
In 1867, the American schooner Louisa Downs was wrecked near Eldred Rock and six crew were rescued on Sullivan Island at Rescue Bay by the U.S.S. Saginaw, under the command of Richard W. Meade. In February 1898, near the peak of the Klondike Gold Rush, the three-masted passenger vessel Clara Nevada, formerly the U.S. Coast and Geodetic survey ship Hassler, departed Skagway for Seattle with between 25 and 40 passengers. The ship was built in 1870 and decommissioned in 1895, mostly because of high maintenance costs associated with deterioration of the old iron hull. Within a few hours of departure, storm-force winds out of the north developed in Lynn Canal, which is notorious for accelerating wind velocities. Sometime during the night, the southbound steamer struck an uncharted submerged pinnacle and sank with no survivors. Subsequent reports of an explosion prompted speculation of sabotage, a boiler explosion, a cargo of dynamite, and a shipment of gold, but none of these have been substantiated. In 2007, a survey team from the NOAA National Marine Sanctuary Program, University of Alaska Fairbanks, University of Rhode Island, and Alaska Department of Natural Resources found the propeller shaft, pieces of machinery, and iron plates from the hull on a reef just north of Eldred Rock.
Eldred Rock Light was activated on June 1, 1906, making it the last of the 12 lighthouses constructed in Alaska between 1902 and 1906. The lighthouse structure combined the keepers’ quarters with the light and fog-signal apparatus in a two-story structure with a pyramid roof on a concrete foundation. The structure was 56 feet (17 m) high and 52 feet (16 m) in diameter. The lower story of the structure was concrete and the second floor wood-framed. The fog-signal was an automatic, compressed-air siren probably located on the first story; and the keepers’ quarters were on the second floor. The structure was painted white with a black roof. The apex of the roof held a wooden, octagonal tower and lantern with square glass panes that displayed a light 91 feet (28 m) above mean high water, amplified by a 4th-order Fresnel Lens that was visible for 15 miles (24 km). Other structures on Eldred Rock included a boathouse, tramway, and derrick. During the 1920s and 1930s, several wooden buildings were constructed between the lighthouse and boathouse, and were probably used as storehouses and repair shops. Electrical generators were installed in the late 1930s, along with a radio tower. In later years, a landing pad for helicopters was constructed north of the boathouse. Due mostly to technological advances, Eldred Rock Light Station was unmanned and downgraded to a minor light in 1973. Read more here and here. Explore more of Eldred Rock and Lynn Canal here:
