Sand Island, AL (HL 297) has a barrel atop a stand attached to the tower to the left of the flag. There doesn't appear to be any access to the barrel or its contents. What would the barrel have contained and how were the contents removed?

Sandy

Hummm, Alabama Moon shine!

Good answer Christopher!

I don't think you are right... but a good answer anyway!!!

And around here... who knows you just might be right after all!

Doubt it's that--not accessible unless you had a very long straw!!

Sandy

This is a 1963 photo by the Coast Guard showing the barrel.
http://www.uscg.mil/history/weblighthouses/sandislandal1963_300.JPG

Harbour Lights got it right in their depiction, but that still doesn't explain what it was for and how it was accessed to get at the contents.

Sandy

I'll guess kerosene storage from the non-electric days Art

It was automated for 11 years before deactivation in 1933 so, I was thinking emergency generator fuel tank.

That's a good photo... it shows that the crack going up the tower was already there back in 1963. And she is still standing today after so many Hurricans, so there is still hope yet.

I went to a meeting of the Sand Island Lighthouse Association just last Sunday 12/7/08 on Dauphin Island. And that crack is one of the things, that was talked about. There are cracks on the inside as well, but they do not meet up evenly with the one's on the outside. So in no place can you see all the way through the cracks. Although it is nearly 3/4 of an inch wide in places. They want to try some kind of banding technic to pull the structure back together. Sort of like putting a big rubber band around it to hold it together.

I wish the above question had been asked before the meeting.... I would have asked about it! I will try to remember to ask next time.

Thanks Stephanie--will look for your response.

Sandy

My guess would be kerosene or oil tanks judging by the condition of the oil shed. There is also room for another tank wich eveidently has been removed. Not being able to see the other side and not knowing the year this was taken, there may have been 2 tanks connected with tubing and a valve for filling the normal oil buckets for taking up to the light. Another possibility is the tanks may have been used for heating oil for the residence. Maybe a Coast Guard historian could tell us what the tanks were used for originally.

oyster crackers! It's filled with oyster crackers!
Didn't those guys live off the oysters they
scraped off the rocks below!


whiskey was my choice