Crews have spent the summer making repairs to the Middle Bay Lighthouse, the weathered screw-pile structure that has stood over Mobile Bay for 140 years and remains one of the coast’s most recognizable landmarks.
Since late June, crews have been working on the lighthouse’s roof, walkway and other parts of the unique structure, which the Alabama Historical Commission has protected as a historic property since 2003. Eleanor Cunningham, the lighthouse’s site director, previously said the commission solicited bids for the work in August and September 2025.
A Facebook post by the U.S. Coast Guard Auxiliary Flotilla of the Eastern Shore put the price of the repair work and paint job at $1.2 million.
A different kind of lighthouse
Middle Bay Light is the fifth and final beacon that was erected for Mobile Bay’s water traffic, perched a few miles south of Gaillard Island when it went into service in September 1885. It is built in the “screw-pile” style — a cottage-like structure raised on iron legs screwed into the bay bottom — a design far more common on the Chesapeake Bay than on the Gulf Coast, which makes the structure a rarity on this stretch of coastline.
The lighthouse is not open to the public, and the Alabama Historical Commission has periodically rehabilitated it over the years to repair the punishing effects of salt air, hurricanes and standing water on a wooden building that sits a few miles south of Gaillard Island.
From keepers to automation
The light’s white and red beam was automated by the U.S. Coast Guard in 1935, ending the era in which a keeper had to live at the station and tend the lamp each night. The lighthouse was fully removed from service in 1967, but it still serves working boaters as a local waypoint, and it appears on nautical charts and in countless photographs of the bay.
Previous restoration work was substantial: after decades of neglect, the lighthouse underwent renovations of nearly $350,000 under the guidance of the Alabama Historical Commission before the current campaign of work.
Why the upkeep matters
Historic preservation groups consider Middle Bay the last surviving example of its building type in Alabama waters, and each repair cycle is a race against the weather. Roofs and walkways that go unrepaired invite water intrusion that can gut a structure within a few storm seasons, which is why the commission has kept the lighthouse on its maintenance rotation even though the beacon no longer guides ships.
The lighthouse has also become a fixture of local art, photography and civic identity — a silhouette on the horizon for boaters running between Mobile and the Eastern Shore.
The current work is expected to extend the structure’s life for years to come, and the commission has not announced a completion date. Once crews finish the roof and walkway repairs, the plan will return the lighthouse to the role it has played since Grover Cleveland was president: standing watch over the middle of the bay.
More History of the Middle Bay Light
For generations of anglers, sailors and shippers, the sight of Middle Bay Light, as locals call it, has meant one thing: you are about halfway across Mobile Bay. The structure’s backstory, drawn from the Alabama Lighthouse Association and the lighthouse’s documented history, adds considerable detail to how it came to stand there and how it has survived.
Why the Bay Needed a Light
Mobile Bay is notoriously shallow, and before the lighthouse arrived, the shipping channel was marked with little more than wooden stakes and barrels. In the early 1880s, a 17-foot channel was dredged so larger vessels could reach the Port of Mobile, and a lighthouse was deemed necessary to mark it. Middle Bay Light was placed at the bend of that dog-leg-shaped channel, and its location near the middle of the bay gave it its nickname.
The house itself was prefabricated and built “up north” before arriving in Mobile in 1885. Crews erected the wooden hexagonal house, with a pyramidal roof sloping up to a lantern room, atop 48 fifty-foot screw piles sunk deep into the bay bottom. It was a feat of late-19th-century engineering with essentially one chance to get it right. Once in place, the entire structure settled 7 1/2 feet, yet the house ended up only about three inches from perfectly level.
Storms, a Shrimp Boat and a Cow
Over the decades, the lighthouse has endured hurricanes, tornadoes and electrical storms, and it was once struck by a shrimp boat. It even housed a cow: during World War I, the keeper and his wife had a baby, and the cow was kept at the station for its milk.
Saved From Demolition
No keeper tended the lighthouse from the mid-1930s until the late 1960s, and it fell into disrepair. In 1967, the General Services Administration granted the Coast Guard permission to demolish it, but several groups protested. When the Mobile Bay Pilots Association pointed out that the lighthouse showed up on ships’ radar far more easily than small modern buoys, the demolition plans were dropped.
In 1975, shortly after the lighthouse was added to the National Register of Historic Places, the Alabama Historical Commission took over its care. Ahead of the structure’s centennial, the Middle Bay Light Centennial Commission and volunteers with the Alabama Lighthouse Association raised money and restored the lighthouse, installing new decking, replacing doors and windows and repainting it. On Dec. 1, 1985, ships from around the world and smaller boats of every size gathered at the lighthouse to celebrate its 100th anniversary.
Decades of Repairs
- 2002: Thompson Engineering, under contract with the Alabama Historical Commission, installed a new slate roof, repaired damaged wood and replaced corroded metal tie rods. The flashing red light was replaced with a solar-powered one. The lighthouse’s original Fresnel lens is on display at the Fort Morgan Museum.
- 2009: The Alabama Lighthouse Association proposed moving the lighthouse onto land at Battleship Park in Mobile.
- Fall 2017: The Alabama Historical Commission, the Seamen’s Foundation and the Alabama Lighthouse Association completed a $50,000 project that repaired the roof, painted the exterior and handled needed carpentry work.
Alabama Lighthouse Association member Stephen Quinlivan explained the 2009 relocation idea. “The proposal in 2009 to move the light was based on a lack of funding to maintain the light in its place. We were worried about the long-term survival of the structure,” he said. “Our biggest struggle is raising funds to keep up with the rapid deterioration associated with a building standing in such an environment.”
After the 2017 work, Quinlivan noted that funding needs remain. “Many projects are still in need of funding to keep this local treasure in good shape. As you can imagine, the limited access makes repair work extremely costly.”
Seeing a Piece of It on Land
Because the lighthouse sits out in the bay and is not open to the public, those who cannot get out on the water can still get a feel for it in downtown Mobile. The GulfQuest Maritime Museum has an exhibit called “The Lantern Room,” located in the museum’s parking lot, which was donated by the Alabama Lighthouse Association.
Related coverage from South AL News
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- Mobile Bay Lighthouse Group Weighs New Funding Options After Years of Setbacks
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