The promontory known as Admiralty Head, on the west coast of Whidbey Island in Washington, juts out into the east side of the entrance to Admiralty Inlet, a busy passage that leads to Puget Sound. Admiralty Head’s light station went into service in January 1861. It was originally known as Red Bluff Lighthouse.
Because of the development of Fort Casey in the early 1900s, the lighthouse had be built in a different position in 1903. The new building’s striking architecture is often referred to as “Spanish-style.”
Photo by Jim Castaneda, Twisted Firs Photography
(Keepers of Admiralty Head Lighthouse)
With changes in the shipping lanes, the lighthouse was decommissioned in 1922. The lighthouse was opened as part of Fort Casey Historical State Park in the early 1960s.
Today, the nonprofit group Keepers of Admiralty Head Lighthouse and the Admiralty Head Docents Program preserve and interpret the lighthouse.
Wayne Clark is the president of Keepers of Admiralty Head Lighthouse, and last year he received a volunteer of the year award from Washington State Parks.
Patrick Hussey and Dick Malone are interpretive docents.
Left: Dick Malone (Whidbey News-Times)
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U.S. Lighthouse Society Historian Jeremy D’Entremont is the author of 24 books and hundreds of articles on lighthouses and maritime history. He is a past president of the American Lighthouse Foundation and founder of Friends of Portsmouth Harbor Lighthouses, and he has lectured and narrated cruises throughout the Northeast and in other regions. He is also the producer and host of the U.S. Lighthouse Society’s weekly podcast, “Light Hearted.” He can be emailed at Jeremy@uslhs.org