Our lighthouse tour continued after another 45 minutes arriving at the tilted Sharps Island Lighthouse. It is the same type of lighthouse as Bloody Point Bar. This lighthouse is the 3rd Sharps Island Lighthouse. The first was on Sharps Island but was lost to erosion. The second built in the bay broke away in moving ice fields on February 10, 1881. The two keepers stayed in the toppled lighthouse for sixteen-and-a-half-hours until it grounded on an island five miles away.
This final lighthouse was built and became operational in 1882. The Lighthouse lost its last resident keepers in 1951 when is was automated. In 1970 during an especially heavy winter ice the Sharps Island Lighthouse got its tilt. The list was about fifteen to twenty degrees at that time and although it appeared quite precarious, it was found fundamentally sound. The Fresnel lens were replaced and the new plastic beacon was mounted on a leveling plate apparatus so the light stays level inside the lighthouse. In 2008 this lighthouse was also put up for auction and bought for $80,000. Looks like once again even though the new owners are suppose to take care and restore them nothing has been done to this one either. A few of the photographers on the boat have visited this lighthouse before and commented that they believe it is leaning even more. It really makes some interesting photos, especially if you straighten the lighthouse in-camera and it tilts the horizon. I put that photo in my extra album.
