Howland Island - Earhart Light

Earhart Light

"Colonists", sent to the island to establish possession claims by the United States, built the Earhart Light (0°48′20.48″N 176°37′8.55″W / 0.8056889°N 176.6190417°W / 0.8056889; -176.6190417 (Earhart Light))—named after Amelia Earhart—as a day beacon or navigational landmark. It is shaped somewhat like a short lighthouse (with no illumination). Construction was of white sandstone with painted black bands and a black top meant to be seen from several miles out to sea during daylight hours. It is located near the boat landing at the middle of the west coast by the former site of Itascatown. The beacon was partially destroyed during early World War II by the Japanese attacks, but was rebuilt in the early 1960s by men from the U.S. Coast Guard ship Blackhaw. By 2000, the beacon was reported to be crumbling and it had not been painted in decades.

Howland Island was overflown in 1967 by Ann Dearing Holtgren Pellegreno and in 1997 by Linda Finch during memorial circumnavigation flights to commemorate Earhart's 1937 world flight. No landings were attempted but both Pellegreno and Finch flew low enough to drop a wreath on the island.