Block Island Southeast Light
I took a long bike ride around the island this morning with the intention of stopping at the Southeast lighthouse.
It is now owned by a private foundation, and they offer brief tours for $10.00.
A very nice young woman by the name of Winter showed me around.
The building was built in the 1870s and shows signs of wear, but it is still a functioning lighthouse.
The lens is amazing and beautiful.
There are two bulbs; Winter thought the one on the left was a backup. It cycles on and off every 3.7 seconds. It is interesting how such a small bulb can produce so much illumination.
The hexagonal shapes in the floor are small glass skylights.
I usually photograph Nineteenth Century buildings that are not in use and are abandoned. It is lovely to be in one that is still used for its original purpose.
Jon Crispin's Notebook 
So lovely. My day is better for having seen this. Thank you for sharin, and especially for such wonderfully detailed photos…I love that crackleur finish on the steps and the iridescent refraction on the glass. Almost as good as visiting it myself:)
Gorgeous photos, Jon! You surely captured the essence of the place. I love how early functional architecture incorporated decorative design elements throughout, touches sorely lacking in so much of the buildings to follow…time and rust and peel only accentuate the care that clearly went into the originals. Beautiful images.
Nice shots!
It is beautiful. A shame it is not a home for someone.
For whatever reason, I love lighthouses!!! At my age, crawling to the top of some is quite a feat!! thanks for the picture and information!!!
As a child it was my dream to be a lighthouse keeper with two weeks of isolation on the lighthouse and two weeks off with friends and family. Sadly I don’t think there are any manned lighthouses left in the U.K