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Sapelo Island Front Range Lighthouse

Darien, GA

The Sapelo Island Range Front Light, also known as the Sapelo Island Range Beacon, is a lighthouse range light on Sapelo Island. It is located near the Sapelo Island Lighthouse.

In 1855, a wooden beacon light was built near the main lighthouse. It was restored in 1997 by the Georgia Department of Natural Resources, which manages most of Sapelo Island. It is thought to be the oldest surviving iron structure in Georgia.

The beacon that served as the front range light sustained heavy damage or was destroyed during the Civil War, as a new movable beacon was built following Union occupation of the island. After extensive repairs, the Sapelo Island Lighthouse and the new beacon, which was mounted on a fifty-foot frame metal tower just 600 feet from the lighthouse, were relit in 1868. The beacon’s tower was now placed on a 100-foot tramway so it could be easily moved as the offshore channel changed.