Sunday, March 3, 2024

Lighthouse of the Week, March 3-9, 2024: Grand Turk Lighthouse, Turks and Caicos

 

First of all, because I had to clear this up for myself, Turks and Caicos are a British Overseas Territory. So while part of the UK, and the residents having full British citizenship, they have their own government, capital, flag, and currency (which happens to be the U.S. dollar).

Now that we've cleared that up, they have one major historical lighthouse, which is the one seen here, the Grand Turk lighthouse. It's historic both for being the only major lighthouse in the Turks and Caicos islands, and because it's made out of cast iron. And in some of the many pictures of it online, you can see that it rusts. But I found prettier pictures, after it was painted, I presume.

Here's where it is.

So here's more about it, from the Lighthouse Directory, where I get most of my information.

"1852 (Alexander Gordon). Reactivated (1998); focal plane 33 m (108 ft); white flash every 7.5 s. 18 m (60 ft) cast iron tower, painted white, attached to kerosene storage house. A 4th order Fresnel lens (1943) from the lighthouse is on display at the Turks and Caicos National Museum. The keeper's house and kitchen also survive. ... The lighthouse was prefabricated in London by Chance Brothers; it is a very rare example of this early design in cast iron. After many years of neglect, the lighthouse was partially restored in 1998. In 2006 Carnival Corp., the cruise line holding company, granted funds to repaint and refurbish the lighthouse, keeper's cottage, and other light station buildings." 

The Directory also says it was repainted in 2012.

The pictures I liked are below.

 








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