Welcome back to National Parks and other public lands with T!
The Kīlauea Lighthouse is in the Kīlauea Point National Wildlife Refuge in Kauai. It was built in 1913 as an aid to navigation for ships bound for Hawaii from the West. It was added the National Register of Historic Places in 1979.
The Kīlauea Point peninsula was chosen because its 180 foot elevation above the sea meant the lighthouse didn’t have to be too tall in order to be effective. The Fresnel lens, imported from France, cost $12,000 at a time when beach front property was $400 per lot.
There are three keepers houses at the park entrance because the light had three keepers who worked in shifts. In 1927, when Kīlauea’s light saved a disoriented pilot, it also became a beacon for aviation.
The beacon was automated in the seventies and in 1976, the Coast Guard shut it down, replacing it with more advanced navigational systems. Today the lamp is lit only for ceremonial purposes.
Kauai Posts:
- Wailua Falls
- Lihue Plantation Hanama‘ulu Ditch
- ʻŌpaekaʻa Falls
- Wailua River State Park
- Mount Waiʻaleʻale
- Fuji Beach
- Moloa’a Beach
- Kīlauea Point National Wildlife Refuge
- Kīlauea Lighthouse
- Hanalei National Wildlife Refuge
- Wai’oli Hui’ia Church
- NININI POINT LIGHTHOUSE
- Waimea Canyon State Park: Red Dirt Falls
- Waimea Canyon State Park: Waimea Canyon Lookout
- Waimea Canyon State Park: Waipo’o Falls
- Kōkeʻe State Park: Kalalau Lookout
- Kōkeʻe State Park: Pu’u O Kila Lookout
- Russian Fort Elizabeth State Historical Park
- Hanapepe Swinging Bridge
- Spouting Horn
- Koloa Heritage Trail: Spouting Horn
- Koloa Heritage Trail: Keoneloa Bay
- Nā Pali Coast State Wilderness Park
Location: 3580 Kilauea Rd, Kilauea, HI 96754
Designation: National Wildlife Refuge, NRHP
Date designated/established: October 18, 1979
Date of my visit: April 18, 2019
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