Eldred Rock Lighthouse, a lone figure in the middle of the Lynn Canal, has been officially out of commission since 1975.
Now 120 years old, the lighthouse is being restored by a non-profit, the Eldred Rock Lighthouse Preservation Association (ERLPA), who hope to open it to the public next summer. For now, the visitors to the island are largely volunteers doing restoration and maintenance work.
This past weekend saw the last maintenance trip of the 2025 season, where volunteers replaced storm windows and winterized the buildings. Volunteers included Haines residents Gina St. Clair and Dan Humphrey, and former Haines resident Jonathan Wood, now of Juneau.
Restoring the buildings is detailed work, which must follow National Register of Historic Places standards ERLPA president Ed Page said. For instance, only using one main shade of paint: Idaho White.
“In 100 years, our office might be a Chipotle Grill,” Page said, of his day-job workplace at Marine Exchange of Alaska. “This lighthouse is something that will last.”
The lighthouse isn’t a perfect replica of what it used to be. Volunteers sleep better than the old lighthouse keepers, who dealt with a foghorn sounding through the night whenever inclement weather rolled. That noise, keepers said, would shake the building.
Now, on a calm night, the loudest sounds are the sea-lions that make their home on the island’s northern rocks.
But aside from the absent foghorn, the lighthouse — which until recently required protective equipment to enter — is nearly ready to reopen. And future visitors can be assured it’s exactly the right shade of white.
