Which lighthouses have sold?
The table lists 15 lighthouse sales and bids, from 2005 to 2026. Thirteen went through federal auction and two through private sale. GSA reports more than 150 lighthouses conveyed since 2000, so this is a sample that grows with each verified sale, not a full ledger.
We add a row only when a source gives the price. Where a bid did not close or a price is an asking price, the row says so in the label: sold, high bid or asking. Who owns US lighthouses summarizes the wider transfer counts.
What did each lighthouse sell for?
Federal auctions in the table closed from $23,250 (Skillagalee, 2015) to $860,000 (American Shoal, 2022). Private sales ran higher: Bristol Ferry sold for $805,000 in 2022, and Middle Ground listed at $995,000 in 2026. GSA’s own range across all auctions is $10,000 to $933,888.
The spread is wide. The $860,000 light is off the Florida Keys, and the $78,000 light is a 133-foot tower six miles off York, Maine (see lighthouses for sale in Maine). Every lighthouse is one of a kind, so a price on one is a reference point, not a valuation.
Which lighthouses resold, and for how much?
Four lighthouses in the table changed hands or were relisted after their first sale. Middle Ground went from $31,000 at auction in 2005 to a $995,000 listing in 2026. Smith Point went from $170,000 to a $450,000 asking price. Skillagalee sold for $23,250 in 2015 and now lists with Gravelly Shoal for $179,900.
Boon Island was also resold, to a Boston buyer. Part of the gap between auction and resale is restoration. Middle Ground’s owners rebuilt it over three to four years with volunteer help before the sale. See what a lighthouse costs to buy and keep.
Which high bids did not become confirmed sales?
Four rows in the table are high bids, not confirmed sales, and three of them are known problems. Cleveland West Pierhead’s $425,000 bid in 2023 never closed, and GSA offered the lighthouse free in 2026. Penfield Reef’s $360,000 bid in 2021 was not finalized by August 2022.
GSA relisted Penfield Reef in 2023 and 2025. Gravelly Shoal’s first $16,000 bid passed to the next bidder. The fourth, Carysfort Reef’s $415,000, is a top bid from local news that we could not confirm as closed. The Cleveland sale would have required a 25-year Army Corps lease and liability insurance, and Penfield Reef needs a Connecticut bottomlands lease. Read the terms before you bid, and treat a high bid as an offer that can still fall through.
How do you read the price column?
The label under each price says what it is: sold means a closed sale, high bid means an auction bid that did not close or was not confirmed, and asking means a listing price with no confirmed sale. Middle Ground shows its asking price because the MLS record lists two prices at closing.
Sources
Facts on this page were checked against these sources on September 30, 2026. Found an error? Tell us.