Makapuu Point Light
Makapuu Point Light (USCG) undated archival photograph (note the men in the picture)
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 Hawaii
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| Location | southeast point of Oahu |
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| Coordinates | 21°18′36″N 157°38′59″W / 21.309889°N 157.649748°WCoordinates: 21°18′36″N 157°38′59″W / 21.309889°N 157.649748°W |
| Year first constructed | 1909 |
| Year first lit | 1909 |
| Automated | 1974 |
| Foundation | masonry basement |
| Construction | brick tower |
| Tower shape | cylindrical tower with balcony and lantern |
| Markings / pattern | white tower, red lantern roof and grey trim and parapet. |
| Height | 46 feet (14 m) |
| Focal height | 420 feet (130 m) |
| Original lens | hyperradiant Fresnel lens |
| Intensity | 115,000 candlepower white |
| Range | 17 nautical miles; 31 kilometres (19 mi) |
| Characteristic | Oc W 10s, |
| Admiralty number | G7326 |
| ARLHS number | HAW-005. |
| USCG number | 6-28925 |
| Managing agent |
United States Coast Guard |
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U.S. Coast Guard Makapuu Point Light
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| Nearest city | Waimanalo, Hawaii |
| Architect | U.S. Coast Guard |
| NRHP reference # | 77000447 |
| Added to NRHP | December 7, 1977 |
| Heritage | place listed on the National Register of Historic Places 
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United States Coast Guard
The Makapuu Point Light on the island of Oahu has the largest lens of any lighthouse in the United States. It was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1977.
Before this light was constructed, the location was considered to be of vital importance to maritime commerce, and greatly in need of a navigational aid.
Makapu'u Point is the southeastern most point of Oahu (in the Makapuʻu region) and the landfall for all traffic from the American west coast to Honolulu. With the 1887 Constitution of the Kingdom of Hawaii, which began definite steps towards annexation, shipping interests began to clamor for a lighthouse at the point, beginning with an 1888 petition. In 1890 Lorrin A. Thurston, minister of the interior for the kingdom, directed that inquiries be made with a British firm for a lens and other equipment. The light remained stuck in the planning stage, however, until after annexation, and indeed until 1906, when the United States House of Representatives passed a bill with an appropriation for construction.
In the interim, the size of the planned optic grew considerably. Thurston's original request was met with a specification for a third-order Fresnel lens, but as time passed plans were upgraded to use a second-order, and then a first-order lens.
At the 1893 World's Columbian Exposition in Chicago (or "Chicago World's Fair"), the United States Lighthouse Board prominently displayed "its 'state of the art' wares and engineering achievements." Prominently featured was "the engineering marvel" of Spectacle Reef Light and a 111-foot-tall (34 m) skeletal cast iron lighthouse tower (reassembled as the Waackaack Rear Range Light off the shore of Keansburg, New Jersey after the exposition).
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Wikipedia