The U.S. purchased 10 acres of land from a Dr. Kellogg for $400 where the original lighthouse was built in 1861 and had a low square tower made of wood and painted white. It was located roughly one-half mile south of the above pictured lighthouse. In the early 1890's, Fort Casey, with a big-gun battery, was built to protect the waters of northern Puget Sound. Because the location of that first lighthouse also offered the best big-gun location, the original lighthouse was moved north of Red Bluff toward where the present lighthouse is today.
After the new lighthouse was built in 1903, the original wooden lighthouse was used as a non-commissioned officers quarters until 1928. The original lighthouse was dismantled and the materials used to build a Sergeants home on South Whidbey.
The above pictured lighthouse was built by the Army Corps of Engineers and has 18-inch thick brick walls which are covered with stucco. The lighthouse was believed to be the most comfortable home in the territory due to an indoor bathroom and laundry room. Its light operated from 1903 to 1922 and then was extinguished due to changes in the channel and shipping routes. Later, the lens was given to the New Dungeness Lighthouse. (Reference to the lens was also made in my previous post for New Dungeness.) I visited Admiralty Head Lighthouse in 1999.
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