Little Cumberland Island GA. (Both photos, several years apart) The above photo is not sharp enough to print in a book or magazine. We only have a small file that is suitable for a website or email, etc.

This photo and the one below are available for sale.

Little Cumberland Island Lighthouse is one we thought we would never get up close and personal to. Some years back when we were researching how to get there and photograph it, we met several people who had tried to go on the Island. They told us we would probably never get on the Island. The lighthouse cannot be viewed from a boat. There is a big sand dune between the lighthouse and the water. Only the lantern room can be seen. So, we started making inquiries about how we could go there.

We met one man who landed there with a boat and was run off by the security guard. Little Cumberland Island is privately owned and the lighthouse is not open to the public. This man told us to write the Little Cumberland Island Association, and he said “good luck”. (They had turned him down.)

Well, they turned us down also. Rather than give up or trespass (and risk meeting that security guard), we chartered a small airplane in St. Mary’s Georgia and flew over and photographed it  (that is our first photo before it's restoration). Aerial shots are the least satisfying for us and we had always hoped somehow we could get closer.

One Spring,  several years ago, our friend, Lonice Barrett, Commissioner of Natural Resources for the State of Georgia, invited us to come to Sapelo Island to photograph that lighthouse before the restoration starts. We went back there after the restoration and reshot it.  You can find it under Georgia on this website.

 Mr. Barrett told us he was going to try to visit Little Cumberland Island Lighthouse, and wondered if we would like to accompany him. Well, WOULD WE!!
What a great opportunity!

The day after we went to Sapelo Island we went to Little Cumberland Island on their boat, with the Commissioner and several people who had a vacation home out there.

Going into their dock, we could see why it would be difficult to get there, if the lighthouse WAS open to the public. The channel in is long and curved, the dock is a long way from the lighthouse. Anyone visiting has to be transported quite a distance to the lighthouse and the homes. No cars or trucks are allowed on the Island, but they have several small vehicles to transport people and supplies to their cabins. I don’t remember what they called the vehicles, but they seemed to be slightly larger than golf carts or little jeeps. The roads are narrow, room for only one small vehicle, going one way. The folks there are working very hard to keep their Island as natural as possible and to take care of the environment.

Anyway, they took us in the little vehicles to the lighthouse. The Little Cumberland Island Association is restoring the lighthouse themselves. It’s not finished, but looking very good. It has been painted it’s original white color. (Which on a cloudy gray day made it very hard to photograph.) The lighthouse has the original wooden door yet, which gives the lighthouse an interesting character. We climbed the large sand dune that is on the sea side of the lighthouse. It protects it well, but also protects it from being viewed from boats.

We would very much like to go back some day and photograph the lovely white lighthouse with a blue sky behind it.

If you are a lighthouse “hunter”, please enjoy our photos, and if you must view it, do so from a boat. Do not trespass on private property or intrude on these peoples privacy.