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Dreading your eventual return to the office? The federal government is making available — for free — some waterfront workspaces with killer views that are sure to entice. But there's a catch.

The General Services Administration says the U.S. Coast Guard has decided it no longer needs four picturesque lighthouses — including one in Duluth — and it's inviting certain types of organizations to take them over at no cost.

The GSA, which has been getting rid of its large inventory of obsolete lighthouses, said Thursday that the landmark 111-year-old Duluth Harbor North Pierhead Light is on the list.

So is Beavertail Lighthouse in Jamestown, Rhode Island — America's third-oldest lighthouse, and a beacon that defeated British forces torched out of spite in 1779 as they withdrew from the new nation.

Also on the list: Watch Hill Light in Westerly, Rhode Island, not far from Taylor Swift's beachside mansion; and Cleveland Harbor West Pierhead Light in Ohio.

Conditionally, that is: The government says it'll make the historic lighthouses and their outbuildings available free of charge to federal, state and local agencies; nonprofit organizations; educational and community development agencies; or groups devoted to parks, recreation, culture, or historic preservation.

Since 2000, the National Historic Lighthouse Preservation Act has allowed the U.S. General Services Administration and the U.S. Coast Guard to transfer or sell historic lighthouses the government no longer needs to own.

56 feet above Lake Superior, lighthouse buyer finds the beauty of life on the edge

GSA spokesperson Paul Hughes said the government is asking interested groups to formally express their interest in the next 60 days, and the National Park Service will review the applications.

If there isn't an eligible nonprofit or other group to take over a lighthouse, it may be sold to a private owner — 

as happened in 2019 with the Superior Entry Lighthouse

Beavertail Light has been listed in the National Register of Historic Places since 1977. The 64-foot granite lighthouse faces south where Narragansett Bay and Rhode Island Sound meet, offering drop-dead-gorgeous ocean vistas.

All that remains of the original lighthouse is its foundation; it was constructed in 1749 and burned down by British soldiers leaving the Newport area in 1779. The current lighthouse was built in 1856 along with six additional structures totaling 5,171 square feet.

Perched on a peninsula, Watch Hill Light is a three-story granite block tower with a cast iron and glass lantern on top. It's attached to a two-story brick keepers dwelling built in 1935. Outbuildings on the 4.5-acre complex include an oil house built in 1855-1856.

Cleveland Harbor West Pierhead Light, built in 1911 to guide ships in Lake Erie approaching the Port of Cleveland, housed a Coast Guard Station until 1976. It's best known for its annual transformation into a majestic ice castle when winter temperatures freeze the surf that sprays its facade. A sister lighthouse, Cleveland Harbor East Pierhead Light, was sold a few years ago for $10,000.

And the 43-foot-tall Duluth Harbor North Pierhead Light, built in 1910 and perched along the Duluth ship canal at the westernmost tip of Lake Superior, also is listed on the National Register of Historic Places.

Minnesota News

The Associated Press

Author

The General Services Administration says the U.S. Coast Guard has decided it no longer needs four picturesque lighthouses — including one in Duluth — and it's inviting certain types of organizations to take them over at no cost.


Free offices with a view: 4 lighthouses, courtesy of feds

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