Hope Town - Elbow Cay Lighthouse

Elbow Cay Lighthouse

Elbow Cay
The red and white striped lighthouse in Hope Town is a noted local landmark.
Location Elbow Cay, port of Hope Town
Coordinates 26°32′22″N 76°57′32″W / 26.539421°N 76.958840°W / 26.539421; -76.958840Coordinates: 26°32′22″N 76°57′32″W / 26.539421°N 76.958840°W / 26.539421; -76.958840
Year first constructed 1862
Year first lit 1864
Construction Masonry
Tower shape Conical
Markings / pattern Red and white bands
Focal height 37 m (121 ft)
Original lens First order Fresnel
Range 23 nmi (43 km)
Characteristic Fl(5) 15s
Admiralty number J4572
NGA number 11800
ARLHS number BAH-010

Hope Town features one of the last operational kerosene-fueled lighthouses in the world. This lighthouse was built in 1862 and became operational two years later, it is striped horizontally red and white. Its light can be seen from 23 nmi (43 km) away.

The Hope Town Lighthouse is one of only three Manual Lighthouses left in the World. It has a spring mechanism that has to be hand cranked every several hours to maintain the sequence of five white flashes every 15 seconds. The lamp burns kerosene oil with a wick and mantle. The light is then focused as it passes through the optics of a first order Fresnel lens which floats on a bed of mercury.

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