The Battery Gladden Light was a lighthouse in Mobile Bay which marked a turn in the old ship channel. It was deactivated in 1913 and no longer exists.
 | |
| Location | Mobile Bay |
|---|---|
| Coordinates | 30°40′3″N 88°1′22″W / 30.66750°N 88.02278°W |
| Tower | |
| Foundation | iron screw-pile |
| Construction | wood frame |
| Shape | square house with lantern on roof |
| Light | |
| First lit | 1872 |
| Deactivated | 1913 |
| Focal height | 45 feet (14 m)[1] |
| Lens | lens lantern[1] |
History
editBattery Gladden was constructed on an artificial island as part of the defenses set up in the Civil War.[2][3] Dredging operations after the war established a ship channel which ran towards the light and turned to the west just south of the island.[4] In order to direct ships through the channel a square screw-pile house was built in 1872 on the old fortification and equipped with a fourth order Fresnel lens.[2][3] Channel dredging continued and a new channel was dug to the west, bypassing the portion marked by this light, which was extinguished in 1913.[5] The house remained standing as a daymark, finally succumbing to the elements around 1950.[2][3]
References
edit- ^ a b List of Lights and Fog Signals on the Atlantic and Gulf Coasts of the United States. Government Printing Office. March 1, 1907. p. 234. Retrieved 2014-01-25.
- ^ a b c "Lighthouses of Alabama". Encyclopedia of Alabama. Archived from the original on 2013-05-17. Retrieved 2014-01-25.
- ^ a b c Harrison, Tim; Jones, Ray (1999). Lost Lighthouses: Stories and Images of America's Vanished Lighthouses. Globe Pequot. p. 101. ISBN 9780762704439. Retrieved 2014-01-25.
Battery Gladden mobile.
- ^ see for example on Chart 188: Mobile Bay (Map). US Coast and Geodetic Survey. 1877. Retrieved 2014-01-25.[permanent dead link]
- ^ Addenda to the Hydrographic Office Publication No. 64 of 1907. Government Printing Office. 1914. p. 23. Retrieved 2014-01-25.