I'm a bit intimidated by all the wonderful pictures that Dennis and other people are posting, but I'm going to go ahead and put up the pictures I took last winter when we stayed at Gulf Shores and then later Pensacola.

From Gulf Shores, we visited Fort Morgan which is on one side of Mobile Bay. From Pensacola, we visited Dauphin Island which is on the other side of Mobile Bay.

From Fort Gaines (on the Dauphin Island side - it was too foggy to see anything when we were at Ft. Morgan) I saw that Sand Island lighthouse was out in the middle of the bay,



but I couldn't think of any way to get closer to it without chartering a boat.

I thought I might possibly get out close if I took the ferry across

But it was not yet back in operation after the hurricanes of 2005 when we visited Ft. Morgan, although the pier looked like it had been reconstructed. It seemed like the ferry would have to dodge the offshore oil platforms.



The ferry was running when we visited Dauphin Island in March but this picture was taken as we had just missed it.




In various museums (Fort Morgan and Fort Gaines) I saw pictures of the lighthouse. The first two at Fort Gaines on Dauphin Island



And these at Fort Morgan




It is hard to take pictures of photos which are framed with glass because you can' use flash, and sometimes it is too dark to get a good picture without it. Plus there are going to be reflections even without flash.

And at the Fort Morgan museum they had the 2nd order lens from Sand Island Light


The sign says Sand Key 2nd order lens 1873-1971

The first lighthouse, an iron spindle, was authorized by Congress in 1828. The first actual Sand Island lighthouse, built by Winslow Lewis, rose to a height of fifty-five feet and was fitted with fourteen lamps backed by sixteen-inch reflector. But it was outshown by the Mobile Point Lighthouse, so was considered a second class lighthouse.

In 1858, under the direction of Army Engineer Danville Leadbetter, a conical brick tower with a height of nearly 200 feet was constructed on the island - the tallest to ever be built on the Gulf Coast and displayed a first-order Fresnel lens. The Confederates removed the nine-foot-tall lens and placed it in storage at the beginning of the war. Because the Union was using the lighthouse to spy on the Confederate positions, a Confederate by the name of John W. Glenn placed 70 lbs of gunpowder next to the tower and blew it up.

The third 125 foot tall Sand Island lighthouse was constructed by the US Lighthouse Service starting in 1871, but by 1890, the lighthouse was already being threatened by erosion. By July 1901, the 400 acre island had been reduced to a small amount of land surrounding the lighthouse. The keeper's house with the keeper and his wife were swept away in the Hurricane of 1906. In 1921, the lighthouse was automated, and the light was deactivated eleven years later. The second-order Fresnel lens was removed from the tower in 1971, and then placed on exhibit at the Fort Morgan museum the following year.

Now Sand Island has been reduced to a few granite blocks, and the Sand Island Preservation Group, Inc. is desperately trying to get the lighthouse into private hands so restoration work can be done. In 2001, the Alabama Historical Commission rejected a federal offer of the lighthouse, reasoning that it would cost too much to save.

This is the same view as first picture only taken a little bit later cropped to be the right size for 3:1 (if it had been a better picture)

Rosalie,

The city of Dauphin Island now has ownership of the Sand Island Lighthouse. And although a very slow process the newly formed Alabama Lighthouse Association are working to restore both Sand Island and Middle Bay Lighthouses. They are working with Thompson Engineering who has just completed some major evaluations and proposals to restore Sand Island. The first step will be to build a dock so that workers and equipment can get on the Island to work. As you can see from your pictures there is no Island there anymore. The Lighthouse is just sitting on a large pile of rubble.

Stephanie, do you belong to the Alabama Lighthouse Association?
If you do, can you keep us informed of any progress?
I emailed them about a year ago and never got a responce of any kind.

In that one photo of a photo it seems there are two lighthouses. Could that small one be the "iron spindle"???

Thanks for posting these Rosalie.

Stephanie, that's good to hear. I was most impressed with the Fort Gaines restoration, and most UNimpressed with Fort Morgan.


At Dauphin Island, the sign outside said that the fort was established in 1821 for the defense of Mobile and that it was named for General Gaines who, as commandant of Ft. Stoddard, captured Aaron Burr fourteen years previously. (It wasn't actually completed and named until 1853 after the death of General Gaines.) We looked at the entrance fee - it was only $5. (I later found a coupon which would have given us $1 off the price but Bob said they probably could really use the money.) So we went in.

You could go across the Sally Port without paying, but to see inside the fort itself, you had to enter through the gift shop and pay - it was much more controlled than at Fort Morgan.



The attendant gave us an excellent pamphlet which showed the history of the fort, a description of the "Damn the torpedoes - Full speed ahead" battle (Fort Gaines is opposite Fort Morgan and was the other side of the equation), and a self guided tour with numbered locations and explanations.

First we both used the bathrooms, which were in the former Orderly room. There was a sign over the sink asking that we not wash dishes there.

This is me inside the ladies room.

We could see Fort Morgan, and also the lighthouses and the ships in the harbor.

This is toward the Fort Morgan side from Fort Gaines


Bob and I had an argument about which of the boats was the ferry, but he was correct.



This was what I thought was the ferry, but the ferry is double ended. The ferry seemed to be almost stationary at the point we saw it, and I thought it was anchored. We could also see what looked like it had been a fairly new fishing pier which since the hurricanes is just a bunch of pilings.



Then we went up the gun ramp (that was what I had cautiously inched down in Fort Morgan although I did not know that was what it was at the time) and walked around the top of the fort walls. The fort was modified several times and during World War I was extensively modified to fit the disappearing guns. There was still one original bastion which has been preserved in original condition.

This is looking down into the Fort Gaines kitchen courtyard


And this is toward the buildings that are now being used as bathrooms.

When we went down into the courtyard, a daschund took great exception to our being there and barked and growled from the end of the tunnel



to the Bastion Magazine.


In spite of him, we visited the Bakery



and the Latrine (a ten seater flushed twice a day by the tide)


and then went to the Blacksmith Shop.

Here there was a actual blacksmith making things our of iron and explaining the process as he went along. The dog was his. He said that they'd gotten the dog as a puppy and Hurricane Ivan had come along when he was only a few weeks old. After the hurricane the fort was closed while the volunteers worked to restore it and he wasn't accustomed to having people he didn't know be on site.


After we finished the tour, I asked the entrance attendant whether this was a federal or state site. He said neither, which was why this fort was in so much better shape than Fort Morgan. Because everything here was ship-shape. Apparently the US sold the fort to Mobile in 1926, and Mobile then gave it to the Alabama Department of Conservation which then deeded it to the Dauphin Island Park and Beach Board.

The guy there told us that the oversight of Fort Morgan was under a guy who was a friend of someone in power and was paid an enormous salary and given a house in Gulf Shores. So now there was no money left in the budget to maintain the fort. He said that the state board in charge was considering selling or giving the fort to Baldwin County or to the city of Mobile or possibly the US Park Service.

You are welcome. No I'm pretty sure that the iron spindle is long gone. The other thing out there is a sailboat mast. You can see in the second picture (the long thin one) that the sailboat has moved and is farther away from the lighthouse.

We went to Fort Morgan earlier just before New Years Eve. - it was quite foggy in the morning.

About 3, I decided we'd better go out to Fort Morgan.

The signs that point to the ferry that is (or was) at Fort Morgan say that the ferry is not running (suspended or something like that) while the ferry dock is being rebuilt.

The road out to Fort Morgan (Alabama 180) is relatively deserted - a two lane road through the pine trees. Every now and then there will be a sign to the right (toward the bay side) with a travel trailer outline pointing to a campground with a name like "Ezy Breezy RV" or "Bay Breeze RV on the Bay".



Eventually we got to the ferry landing. This was also one of Alabama's Birding Trail sites. I got out and took pictures of the area, which included the two oil drilling platforms that I could see



in the bay. The sun was low in the sky and in the lingering fog it cast a golden glow over the landscape.

We went past some fort-like structures and though the gates to the main Fort - it is a state park. There was a sign saying to pay at the visitor's center - there was no one at the little entrance kiosk. But there was nothing to prevent someone just passing up the visitor's center and going



directly to the fort except that when I asked, the lady in the visitor's center said she would put a curse on them. This is Bob going to the Visitor's Center



It was 4 pm and the park closed at 5, so after some discussion about whether we were going to see the fort today or come back, we got $1 off our tickets and got in for $3 each (senior price). I thought we'd better go ahead an see it because it took us about a hour to drive the 20 some miles out there, and I didn't think I wanted to do it again even though the fog was now closing in again.

The Visitor's Center had some exhibits on the various local lighthouses including two fresnel lenses



This was the smaller of the lenses, along with a display about hurricanes.

The other lighthouse - Mobile Bay light - was severely damaged during the Civil War by Union shelling. There was a furnace next to it for heating cannon balls to use against the wooden ships of the day.



This was a photo which was out in the fort and it shows the lighthouse after the shelling in the distance.




The rest of the information was about the Civil War. The fort was the source of the famous Admiral Farragut quote, "Damn the torpedoes, full speed ahead". The Mobile harbor was mined, and in those days, mines were called torpedoes. One of the first ships in the Union fleet to attempt to enter Mobile Bay was severely damaged by a mine. The admiral's decision was to try to get past the guns of the two forts guarding the bay entrance as quickly as possible regardless of the mines.

There was also a "Discovery Cove" area for children which had a interesting mural depicting various local history and landmarks (including the original lighthouse).

This was the fog when we went into the museum.



While Bob was still reading the signs in the museum, I went out and saw a family all climbing on a big cannon for a picture.


There were no signs prohibiting this although there are in most of the federal parks like Fort Sumter.

I saw some folks coming down the stairs from the top section of the fort, so I climbed up. The fort had numbered information points, and I discovered that I was going backwards from at Battery Schenck (1899-1923) and Battery Thomas. It was still somewhat foggy (although not as much as before), so I couldn't see much.


When I was high up on the walls, I could see the beach in front of the fort the present skeleton tower lighthouse and the parking lot of the Visitor's Center, but not across the bay to the other fort and I couldn't really see even to the top of the tower very well.





Now, I couldn't figure out how to get down.


Apparently I missed a turn somewhere. I saw Bob cross the dry moat (photo below) and called to him, and he said



just to come down the brick gun ramp. But it was quite steep - I'm not sure it was really meant for people to climb up and down it - and I thought I might slip and fall, so I was cautious.

I caught up to Bob on the parade ground in front of a sign about the Citadel (1821-1865) which had housed up to 400 soldiers at this spot. It burned at the end of 1864 and no longer exists except in photographs.

Fort Morgan was built in 1832, but it wasn't named until 1833. The handrails on the edges of some areas were bent, and wiggly with sharp rusted edges. They not only provided no support,



but I think could injure someone. The bricks had great amounts of efflorescence (some is to be expected, but I thought it was excessive here)


and some areas like the stonework above the sally port were stained with black - probably mold.



Not damage that I would attribute to the hurricanes (although the lady at the visitor's center told us that the fort was partly under water after the last hurricane)- more to general neglect.

Bob went on up to the walls of the fort where I had been (only he went the correct way to go up - not the way I came down and it had cleared a little and he said he could see the light at the top of the tower), and I looked at the reconstructed commissary and ammunition stores.



The Mobile Point lighthouse is on the edge of Fort Morgan. The first structure which was a 40 foot brick tower was completed in 1822. A soldier from the fort was assigned to tend the light but the military proved to be inefficient lighthouse keepers. Although the light could be seen for 10 miles, the reefs were also 10 miles offshore. When the Sand Island light was built, Mobile Point was downgraded to a harbor light. The lighthouse stood on a bluff near the southwest corner of the star-shaped fort, adjacent to a hotshot furnace. Cannon balls could be heated in the furnace until they were white hot and then fired at invading wooden ships to set their hulls afire. During the famous battle (where Farragut gave his famous order “Damn the torpedoes, full speed ahead”), the lighthouse was struck multiple times, severely damaging one side of the tower. A modern steel skeletal tower was erected at the point in 1963.



We had been warned that the park gates would be padlocked at 5 pm. We exited the fort about 4:42, and drove out of the park grounds at 4:47.

Eric,
Yes and Yes.

Also I understand your frustrations of no response! I too have so many times emailed the so-called leaders of the Alabama Lighthouse Association and got no response. I've been trying to get information out of them on how I could get involved with the group. I have offered my services in anyway that they could use me and my labors. And still no response.

However, I think (I hope) things are beginning to change. I went to my first Association meeting last Monday night. I have paid my Association Membership Fees for the last two years and this was the first meeting that I was informed of. It went well, and although the group is very small they are heading in the right direction towards getting things done. I guess it was just a matter of getting their ducks in a row. At least that's what I hope!

But yes, I will keep all informed of any new news as I learn of it. Hopefuly I will be a part of it.

Wow! That was quite a workload to get all those pics and commentary into this topic. I found it all very interesting. Thank you for sharing your adventure with all of us, Rosalie!

Bob

Thank you Bob, and Stephanie it is good to hear that the Sand Island lighthouse is on the way to recovery. I was unhappy that I could not get closer to it. It probably would have been more visible from Fort Morgan if it had not been so foggy when we were there, but since we just missed the ferry it would have been a good hour before we could have gotten another one.

After we had lunch on Dauphin Island, we went to visit Bellingrath Gardens. We have been revisiting places that Bob was stationed when we were first married, and I remembered visiting there at that time. I was somewhat disappointed in the gardens BTW, so maybe it would have been better to go back and get the ferry. Hindsight is always 20/20

I've only posted a few of the more relevant photos (I have many more of the forts). The narrative was cut and pasted from emails I wrote to my mom at the time.

Is there any way to post pictures that are not already on the internet someplace? - that is can I upload photos to this site.

I have lots more pictures and narratives because we've been traveling each winter for the past 6 years.

The view is better from Fort Morgan on a clear date, but only a little bit better. I was suppose to go on a boat tour of it, but it got canceled.

Thanks, Rosalie, for your photos. It is all new info to me so I enjoyed learning about it.
Judy

Collector Forums Upload Page - for pictures used here on the Forums.

Pictures may be no larger than 600 pixels on the longest side (I think 550 or so is fine) and please do apply some compression to them so they don't make for slow uploads for dial-up users. Your pictures pretty much do both these things.

Be consistent in things - "your" upload space will be a directory using your email address, so always type it the same way - I suggest always using all lowercase.

OK I forgot about that. But I was thinking primarily of uploading directly to the post. I think it will be quicker just to do what I'm doing now.

Are you saying that my pictures are too big and take too much time load for dial-up users, or are they OK?

I can resize (and the site I post them to automatically does that for me I think), but I'm unfamiliar with applying compression.

Sorry for the poor wording - what I intended was that your pictures do adhere to these guidelines, so thanks.

There is no way to upload directly to a posting. You can only link to or call up something that is already stored somewhere on the interenet.

UPDATE MADE TO A NEW POST
See: Lighthouse Duty Forum