Lighthouses of Puget Sound #5: Alki Point Traditional Cache

Alki, the Washington State Motto, is a Chinook Indian word meaning "by and by." In November of 1851, twenty-four people from the schooner Exact, landed at present-day Alki Point and formed a settlement. The settlers called their colony New York, however, when its growth was markedly slower than that of its east coast counterpart, the name was changed to New York-Alki. Today, the community is known simply as Alki. A monument commemorating the landing of the original colonists, which led to the development of the Seattle area, is found at the intersection of Alki Avenue and 63rd Avenue.

Alki Point marks the southern entrance to Seattle's Elliott Bay. A 320-acre parcel of land including the point was sold to Hans Martin Hanson and his brother-in-law Knud Olson in 1868 for $450. At night, they reportedly would light a lamp on the point as a service to mariners. In 1887, the Lighthouse Service finally recognized the need for an official light and placed a lens-lantern atop a wooden post at the point. Hanson was hired to care for the light and was paid $15 a month for his efforts. A lighthouse tender would off-load several barrels of coal oil every six months to fuel the beacon. When Hans passes away in 1900, his son Edmund inherited the property at Alki Point along with the official job of lightkeeper. The family, however, had been sharing responsibility for the light for several years and would continue to do so for some time.

Several years later, the Lighthouse Service decided to upgrade the light and add a fog signal at the point. Accordingly, the government purchased a 1.5-acre, pie-shaped parcel at the tip of the point from Edumund Hanson in 1911 for a sum of $9,999. The present concrete fog signal building with attached, 37-foot octagonal tower was completed in 1913.

The fourth-order Fresnel lens used in the tower was manufactured in Paris by Sautter and Lemonier and contained multiple bull's-eyes. A clockwork mechanism, powered by suspended weights, was used to rotate the lens and produce a flashing light. To assist mariners in times of fog, two engines were used to fill a tank of compressed air, which was then directed over a reed found in trumpets mounted on the north, east, and south walls of the lighthouse.

One of the head keepers of Alki Point had an interesting hobby to which he devoted many hours while keeping an eye on the light. Charles N. Elliott was known as a "one-man reference library" as a result of the time he spent researching the works of Walt Whitman and collecting many original works and postcards written by the poet. In a newspaper article, Elliott commented "watching the light on long foggy nights leaves me plenty of time to sit in my library," and Elliott used that time to become an expert on Whitman. Eliott even published a collection of writings on Whitman made by the poet's friends entitled "Walt Whitman, as Man, Poet and Friend."

A sign in front of the lighthouse notes that the Alki Point Lighthouse is one of thirteen along the shores of Puget Sound, and that one of the last two civilian lighthouse keepers retired at the light in 1970. This keeper was Albert Anderson, who joined the Lighthouse Service in 1927 and was stationed first on the Columbia River Lightship. When the Coast Guard assumed control of lighthouses in 1939, the keepers could either join the Coast Guard or serve as civilian keepers. Anderson chose the latter option and served at Tillamook Rock and Cape Blanco before transferring to Alki Point in 1950.

After automation, one of the two keepers' dwellings was remodeled to house the Commandant of the 13th Coast Guard District, while the second dwelling housed a resident keeper. The Commandant has since moved elsewhere, and the two dwellings are now home to senior Coast Guard officers. The Fresnel lens used in the Alki Point Lighthouse is on display at the Admiralty Head Lighthouse.

The original lens-lantern used at Alki Point was on display in the lighthouse until the early 1970s, when a thief broke in and stole the lantern. Although law enforcement was notified, the perpetrator could not be tracked down. A few years later, a woman showed up in Seattle inquiring about the value of a lantern that her late husband had purchased from an antique dealer in Southern California. The dealer in Seattle had a suspicion that the lens might have come from Alki Point and notified the police. By contacting the dealer in Southern California, the seller of the lantern was identified and arrested. Amazingly, his fingerprints were still on the lantern, which helped lead to his conviction. The lens lantern is now safely displayed at the Coast Guard Museum in Seattle, and a replica is exhibited at the lighthouse.

The Cache

This is one of six caches hidden to complete the Lighthouses of Puget Sound series.You can find one or all of them.

The way to the cache does not require heavy bushwhacking. You might need to walk through some knee high low brush. If you are going to do heavy bushwhacking, perhaps going a bit farther down the trail will reveal an easy way in.

A paper map of the trails can be found here.