Lighthouses of the United States: Kentucky

The United States of America is a federal union of 50 states and a capital district. The state of Kentucky is located in the east central part of the country east of the Mississippi River and south of the Ohio River. Formerly part of Virginia, Kentucky was admitted to the Union (with Virginia's agreement) as the 15th state in 1792; it was the first state admitted from west of the Applachian Mountains. The U.S. Coast Guard Sector Ohio Valley, based in Louisville, maintains hundreds of aids to navigation on the Mississippi and Ohio Rivers and on the Cumberland River and Tennessee River as well, but only a few of those aids might qualify as lighthouses. To be listed here a lighthouse must actually serve as an aid to navigation. This means it must be located on a navigable lake or river and must be lit as a navigational aid at least during the local boating season. USCG numbers are from Volume 5 of the U.S. Coast Guard List of Lights. General Sources U.S. Coast Guard Navigation Center: Light Lists The USCG Light List can be downloaded in pdf format. GPSNauticalCharts Navigational chart information for Kentucky.

Lighthouse Landing Light, Grand Rivers, July 2019 Google Maps photo by Ben Childers

Tennessee River (Kentucky Lake) Lighthouse

* Lighthouse Landing (Grand Rivers) 2003. Active (unofficial); focal plane 30 ft (9 m); continuous white light. Approx. 20 ft. (6 m) square pyramidal wood tower with lantern. Lighthouse painted white with red trim, lantern red. A 2019 photo by Ben Childers is above, another good photo is available, Lighthouse Explorer has Nancy Rau's photo, Eri Gjergji has a street view, and Google has a satellite view. The lighthouse marks the entrance to a marina on the east side of Kentucky Lake (Tennessee River) about one mile south of Kentucky Dam and Lock. Camping and rental cottages are available on site. The resort also has a pier extending into the lake north of the marina entrance. There is a gazebo at the end of the pier and next to the gazebo is a post carrying the official Grand Rivers Landing Light (green flash every 4 s, maintained by the resort). Eri Gjergji has a street view of the gazebo and post light. Located on KY 453 about three miles (5 km) south of I-24 exit 31 in Grand Rivers. Site open, tower closed. Owner/site manager: Lighthouse Landing. Official light: USCG 5-32675. Ohio River Lighthouses Coast Guard Lifesaver Memorial 1976. Active; focal plane 29 ft (9 m); green flash every 4 s. 33 ft (10 m) round cylindrical caisson; the light is shown from a mast that also carries a square green daymark. The caisson is painted with diagonal black and white stripes in a "zebra" pattern. Andrew Lynch has the photo at right and Google has a street view and a satellite view. The light marks the point where westbound vessels enter the Louisville and Portland Canal, leading to the McAlpine Locks. Located at the end of a partially submerged jetty extending from the southeastern tip of Shippingport Island in downtown Louisville. Accessible only by boat but easily seen from the Louisville Riverwalk near the 9th street interchange of the I-64 expressway. Site status unknown. Owner/site manager: U.S. Coast Guard. USCG 5-26780.

Coast Guard Lifesaver Memorial Light, Louisville April 2013 Google Maps photo by Andrew Lynch

 

* Louisville Water Intake Date unknown. Active (privately maintained); focal plane about 25 ft (7.5 m); two red flashes every 6 s. Approx. 35 ft (11 m) masonry pumphouse connected to shore by a pedestrian bridge. The light is shown from a windowsill. A photo is available, Wikipedia has a view from the Indiana shore, and Google has a satellite view. A more distant view shows a tall white tower similar to a lighthouse; this is the Louisville Water Tower (1856), a 183 ft (56 m) water standpipe. The Water Tower is floodlit at night, its "lantern room" shows a continuous amber light, and the top of the tower carries a flashing red aircraft warning light. Completed in 1860, Louisville's Pump Station No. 1 is a well known landmark, and both the Water Tower and the Pump Station are on the National Register of Historic Places. Tours are available occasionally. Located on the Ohio River at the foot of Zorn Avenue, just off Exit 2 of the I-71 expressway. Site open (parking provided), tower closed. Owner/operator: Louisville Water Company. USCG 5-26685. Cincinnati Water Intake Pier 1907. Active (privately maintained); focal plane about 100 ft (30.5 m); two red flashes every 6 s. 100 ft (30.5 m) round stone tower with a "dunce cap" conical roof, attached to an oblong stone pump house and built atop a stone pier. The pier is connected to the Kentucky shore by a steel truss bridge. The light is displayed from a short mast next to the chimney of the building. The pump house, still in service, delivers water through a tunnel under the river to a purification plant on the Ohio shore. A photo by Dave Michaels is at right and Google has a satellite view. Located on the riverfront Mary Ingles Highway (KY 8) in Fort Thomas. Site and tower closed. Owner/site manager: Greater Cincinnati Water Works. USCG 5-25850. Lake Cumberland Lighthouse * Conley Bottom 1996. Active; focal plane about 100 ft (30 m); flashing white light. 55 ft (18 m) slender round cylindrical steel tower, painted in a black and white spiral pattern. An aerial photo is available and Google has a satellite view. Also at Conley Bottom the Lighthouse Café has a flashing amber light on a post mounted atop the building; Rob Ridgway has a photo. Located at the entrance to the Conley Bottom Marina, on the south side of Lake Cumberland in southeastern Kentucky, about 25 km (15 mi) north of Monticello. Site open, tower closed. Owner/site manager: Conley Bottom Resort.

Cincinnati Water Intake Light, Fort Thomas, January 2007 photo by Dave Michaels copyright HistoricBridges.org used by permission

Notable faux lighthouses:

• Louisville Waterfront Plaza (early 1990s), in Louisville, Kentucky, has twin 25-story buildings each crowned by a lighthouse. The lighthouses are active but do not function as aids to navigation. Andrew Duffin has a view showing both lighthouses, a closeup of one of the lighthouses is available and Google has a satellite view.
• Miller's (2006), near Brandenburg, Kentucky, is an active light but its location on a private lake means it is not a general aid to navigation. Google has a satellite view.

Adjoining pages: North: Indiana | Northeast: Ohio | South: Tennessee | Northwest: Illinois

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Posted July 15, 2003. Checked and revised October 16, 2024. Lighthouses: 5. Site copyright 2024 Russ Rowlett and the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.