Navassa Island is an uninhabited Caribbean island located in the Jamaica Channel about forty miles (65 km) west of Anse d'Hainault, the southwestern tip of Haiti. The island was occupied by the U.S. in 1857 for its guano deposits, which were actively mined until 1901. Lighthouse keepers lived on the island from 1917 to 1929 and there was a U.S. Navy observation post during World War II. Permanent settlement is not possible because there is no reliable source of fresh water. Since 1999 the island has been administered by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service as the Navassa Island National Wildlife Refuge. Haiti has always claimed the island, a claim the U.S. does not recognize. ARLHS numbers are from the ARLHS World List of Lights. Admiralty numbers are from Volume J of the Admiralty List of Lights & Fog Signals.
Adjoining pages: East: Haiti | West: Jamaica Return to the Lighthouse Directory index Posted May 5, 2002. Checked and revised January 9, 2025. Site copyright 2025 Russ Rowlett and the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. |
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