The Tybee Island Light Station, known as the Tybee Lighthouse has lit the entrance of the Savannah River since 1736. This coastal Georgia icon is perhaps the most identifiable landmark in all of northern coastal Georgia.
Located on Tybee Island, it is one of the oldest U.S. lighthouses still in existence, and one of only a handful of original lighthouses in full operation that still stands firmly in place on it’s original base. Renovation of the Tybee Island Light Station commenced in 1999. After the initial renovation moved along as well as it did, by 2002 the lighthouse was one of the first lighthouses transferred from federal to private ownership under the National Historic Lighthouse Preservation Act of 2000. It is now owned and managed by the Tybee Island Historical Society.
As the painstaking renovation continues to restore the Light Station to it’s historically correct glory of earlier years, there is a lot of thanks owed to the efforts of Cullen Chambers and the Tybee Island Historical Society in their ongoing labor of love. No expense has been spared in restoring every detail of the bygone era that has been lovingly recreated. Using a combination of old photos, shared memories of the Jackson family (the last lighthouse keeper), and important written records, the Lighthouse and Head Keepers Cottage
have been renovated to the way that these structures once appeared. Make it a point to track the renovation of this important icon on your next visit to coastal Georgia. You will be hard pressed to find a better restored lighthouse to visit anywhere on the eastern seaboard, so show up on terrific Tybee Island for that out of season weekend beach getaway.
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