Lighthouses of the United States: Kentucky and Tennessee

The U.S. states of Kentucky and Tennessee are located east of the Mississippi River and south of the Ohio River. The Coast Guard maintains hundreds of aids to navigation on those rivers and on the Cumberland and Tennessee Rivers as well, but with one known exception none of those aids 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. Tennessee Lighthouse Omohundro Waterworks Intake Crib 1889. Active; focal plane about 33 ft (10 m); two red flashes every 6 s. Approx. 12 m (39 ft) round brick tower with a wood pump room and a conical roof. The tower was originally painted white, but most of the paint has worn off; pump room painted red. The light is shown from a horizontal pole extended from one of the narrow windows of the pump room. Don Vansant has a closeup photo, the Nashville Daily has a photo (second large photo on the page), another photo is available, and Google has a satellite view. This historic tower stands in the Cumberland River just upstream from the Omohundro Waterworks of Nashville. The water intake remained in service until 1986, and in 1987 the tower was placed on the National Register of Historic Places. Sadly, it is in poor condition, with large holes in its roof. Located near the south bank of the river about 0.3 mi (500 m) east of the waterworks plant. Accessible only by boat; the best view is from Shelby Park on the north bank. Site open, tower closed. Owner/site manager: Nashville Metro Water Services. USCG 5-3785.

Lighthouse Landing Light, October 2008 anonymous Creative Commons photo

Kentucky Lighthouses
* Lighthouse Landing (Grand Rivers)

2003. Active; focal plane 40 ft (12 m); continuous white light. Approx. 26 ft. (8 m) square pyramidal wood tower with lantern. Lighthouse painted white, lantern red. A photo appears at right, another good photo and a third photo are available, and Google has a satellite view. This is one of only two known working lighthouses on the Tennessee River (see Alabama for the other one). The lighthouse marks the entrance to a marina on Kentucky Lake (Tennessee River) about one mile south of Kentucky Dam and Lock. Camping and rental cottages available on site. 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.

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. No photo available, but Google has a satellite view. The light marks the point where westbound vessels enter a narrow passage between the south bank of the Ohio River and Shippingport Island in downtown Louisville. Located at the end of a partially submerged jetty extending from the southeastern tip of Shippingport Island. 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.

* Captain's Quarters

1997. Active; focal plane 72 ft (22 m); continuous white light. 49 ft (15 m) lantern centered on a hexagonal wood 2-story house, built in the style of Chesapeake Bay cottage screwpile lighthouse. House painted white with a red pyramidal roof. No photo available, but Google has a satellite view. The lighthouse was for sale for $1.3 million in late 2011. Located on the south bank of the Ohio River across the street from the Captain's Quarter's Yacht Club at Harrod's Creek; this is directly across the river from Utica, Indiana. Site and tower closed (private residence), but the lighthouse can be seen easily from the street, the river, and the opposite shore. Owner/site manager: private.

Cincinnati Water Intake Pier

1907. Active; 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 distant view is available, and Google has a good 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.

* 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. A photo is available (second row of photos), and Google has an indistinct satellite view. 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.

Notable faux lighthouses:

• Carthage (date unknown), in Tennessee, has an approx. 36 ft (11 m) round masonry tower with gallery; a spiral stairway around the outside of the building provides access to the gallery. John Akers has a good photo, and Google has a satellite view. This is not an aid to navigation at present, and so far we haven't found any evidence that it was ever active. Located on the north side of the Cumberland River at the Carthage access ramp, about 1 mile (1.6 km) southeast of downtown Carthage. Site open, tower closed.
• 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. A photo shows one of the lighthouses in action, 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.

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Posted July 15, 2003. Checked and revised August 3, 2011. Lighthouses: 6. Site copyright 2011 Russ Rowlett and the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.