St. George Reef Light marks a hazardous line of rock outcrops that extend northwest from Crescent City to form Saint George Reef. The light was abandoned in 1975 and replaced with a navigational buoy to the west of its current location.

In 1865, the side-wheeler Brother Jonathan was lost at the reef with loss of 215 lives, making the case for a lighthouse to be built. The lighthouse, with its remote island location, is the most costly U.S. lighthouse ever built (the 1892 cost was $700,000, which today adjusts for inflation right at about $14 million).

The lighthouse was deemed too costly and was abandoned in 1975. A buoy now serves to mark Saint Georges reef just west of the island.

Use NOAA Chart 18603.

Characteristics: The light was abandoned in 1975, and flashing red whistle buoy “2SG” currently serves to mark the outer edge of Saint George Reef.

Local Notices to Mariners are now available exclusively online from the U.S. Coast Guard.

The lighthouse stands well offshore and is not easily accessible or viewable by the general public.