Trips Places Foods Stories Newsletters

Take your next trip with Atlas Obscura!

Our small-group adventures are inspired by our Atlas of the world's most fascinating places, the stories behind them, and the people who bring them to life.

Visit Adventures
Trips Highlight
Borneo orangutan
Malaysia • 12 days, 11 nights
Wild Borneo: Secrets of an Ancient Rainforest
from
Pastel de nata
Portugal • 8 days, 7 nights
Portugal: A Culinary Adventure from Porto to Lisbon
from
View all trips
Top Destinations
Latest Places
Most Popular Places Random Place Lists Itineraries
Add a Place
Download the App
Top Destinations
View All Destinations »

Countries

  • Australia
  • Canada
  • China
  • France
  • Germany
  • India
  • Italy
  • Japan

Cities

  • Amsterdam
  • Barcelona
  • Beijing
  • Berlin
  • Boston
  • Budapest
  • Chicago
  • London
  • Los Angeles
  • Mexico City
  • Montreal
  • Moscow
  • New Orleans
  • New York City
  • Paris
  • Philadelphia
  • Rome
  • San Francisco
  • Seattle
  • Stockholm
  • Tokyo
  • Toronto
  • Vienna
  • Washington, D.C.
Latest Places
View All Places »
Goa's Daugim Cross
The two 36-inch refracting lenses in the Lick Observatory telescope are among the largest ever built.
James Lick’s Grave
The Lagoda
Human figures at Miculla Petroglyphs
Miculla Petroglyphs
Loading...
Recent Stories
All Stories Video Podcast
Most Recent Stories
View All Stories »
Pigeons were included in a series of 1891 illustrations entitled “Household Pets.”
What Makes a Pest a Pest?
Burros Alfa and Beto, seen here with Luis Soriano in 2008, have been helping the teacher deliver books for more than 20 years.
How One Man and His ‘Biblioburro’ Spreads Literacy in Rural Colombia
Price Tower
What Happened to Price Tower, Frank Lloyd Wright’s Only Skyscraper?
Jeremy Bentham’s Auto-Icon in its new location in 2020
The Jeremy Bentham Auto-Icon: Why This Legendary Philosopher Put His Own Body on Display

No search results found for
“”

Make sure words are spelled correctly.

Try searching for a travel destination.

Places near me Random place

Popular Destinations

  • Paris
  • London
  • New York
  • Berlin
  • Rome
  • Los Angeles
Trips Places Foods Stories Newsletters
Sign In Join
Places near me Random place
All Howland Island Earhart Light

Earhart Light

The ruins of a lighthouse on the island Amelia Earhart never reached.

Howland Island

Added By
Annetta Black
Email
Been Here
Want to go
Added to list
CAPTION
  Wikimedia
Earhart Light in 2008   Wikimedia
The light station as it appeared in 1939   http://www.uscg.mil/history/weblighthouses...
Damage from WWII   Wikimedia
Ruins of Itascatown, American settlement on the island in the 1930s   Wikimedia
  Wikimedia
  Wikimedia
Been Here
Want to go
Added to list

About

On July 2, 1937, Amelia Earhart was expected to arrive for a refueling stop on a tiny remote island in the Pacific Ocean known as Howland Island. Although her radio broadcasts were heard on Howland, her plane never arrived.

The 450-acre uninhabited coral island is located in an extremely remote part of the Pacific Ocean, almost halfway between Hawaii and Australia. Mostly known to sailors as a navigational hazard, it may have once been populated by Polynesian people, but was abandoned long ago for lack of resources. It was acquired by the United States in 1856 as part of the country's massive guano harvesting projects. Since that time it has been briefly occupied by American guano harvesting companies and British and American colonists, but has never been permanently settled.

In the mid-1930s land was cleared as a landing strip, intended to be used as a midway point in transpacific air routes. These unpaved landing strips were specially improved in anticipation of Earhart's scheduled refueling stop on the island in 1937.

The small lighthouse was also built in 1937 but was doomed to a short life.

Sadly, history had other plans for Earhart, and she never reached the island. It is thought that she most likely crashed in the waters just north of Howland Island.

The island's short history as a settled colony ended with heavy bombing from Japanese aircraft during WWII. The station has been inactive since 1942 - the structure is now considered a "day beacon". The island is now a national wildlife refuge.

Related Tags

Amelia Earhart Ruins Lighthouses Islands Monuments

Community Contributors

Added By

Annetta Black

Edited By

BrianDunning, Blindcolour, aribrown

  • BrianDunning
  • Blindcolour
  • aribrown

Published

July 23, 2013

Edit this listing

Make an Edit
Add Photos
Sources
  • http://www.unc.edu/~rowlett/lighthouse/umi.htm
  • https://skeptoid.com/episodes/4580
  • http://coastguard.dodlive.mil/2012/07/itasca-the-search-for-amelia-earhart/
Earhart Light
Howland Island
0.805689, -176.619042

Related Stories and Lists

When the Lights Go Out: 8 of the World's Loneliest Lighthouses

ruins

By Eric Grundhauser

Chasing Amelia Earhart: A Tour Through the Relics of the Lost Pilot

amelia earhart

By Allison Meier

Related Places

  • Isle of May Beacon

    Isle of May, Scotland

    Isle of May Beacon

    This short white tower is all that's left of Scotland's first permanently manned lighthouse.

  • Saint-Pierre, Martinique

    The Prison Cell of Ludger Sylbaris

    The cell which saved the life of Ludger Sylbaris, "the man who lived through Doomsday."

  • Lengkuas Island

    Simpang Renggiang, Indonesia

    Lengkuas Island

    A hundred and twenty year old twelve story lighthouse located on a beautiful Indonesian island.

  • View from the water.

    Bahamas

    Great Isaac Cay

    Bermuda triangle lighthouse, site of mysterious disappearances, left to crumble into the Atlantic.

  • The island is sometimes accessible on foot at low tide.

    Kamakura, Japan

    Wakae Island Ruins

    The ruins of the oldest artificial island in Japan, still used for mooring today at 800 years old.

  • Ruins of a tower, destroyed during the Battle of Bomarsund

    Bomarsund, Åland Islands

    Bomarsund Fortress

    This impressive coastal fortress was destroyed before it was finished.

  • Porphyry Point Lighthouse at the entrance to Black Bay, Lake Superior

    Thunder Bay, Ontario

    Porphyry Point Lighthouse

    Live your lighthouse keeper dreams at this unique lodging on a Canadian island.

  • Seguin Light Station, the highest off of Maine’s coast, was established in 1795.

    Phippsburg, Maine

    Seguin Island Light Station

    George Washington commissioned this centuries-old lighthouse off the coast of Maine.

Aerial image of Vietnam, displaying the picturesque rice terraces, characterized by their layered, verdant fields.
Atlas Obscura Membership

Become an Atlas Obscura Member


Join our community of curious explorers.

Become a Member

Get Our Email Newsletter

Follow Us

Facebook YouTube TikTok Instagram Pinterest RSS Feed

Get the app

Download the App
Download on the Apple App Store Get it on Google Play
  • All Places
  • Latest Places
  • Most Popular
  • Places to Eat
  • Random
  • Nearby
  • Add a Place
  • Stories
  • Food & Drink
  • Itineraries
  • Lists
  • Video
  • Podcast
  • Newsletters
  • All Trips
  • Family Trip
  • Food & Drink
  • History & Culture
  • Wildlife & Nature
  • FAQ
  • Membership
  • Feedback & Ideas
  • Community Guidelines
  • Product Blog
  • Unique Gifts
  • Work With Us
  • About
  • FAQ
  • Advertise With Us
  • Advertising Guidelines
  • Privacy Policy
  • Cookie Policy
  • Terms of Use
Atlas Obscura

© 2025 Atlas Obscura. All Rights Reserved.