Bahamas
Elbow Reef Lighthouse on the $10 Banknote
Situated on the Abaco Islands in the Bahamas you will find the famous Elbow Reef Lighthouse in Hope Town. It was built in 1863 amid some consternation of the locals who feared that the lighthouse would ruin their income of scavenging the shipwrecks that occurred in the area. The light has since been a great boon the islands as it increased the safety of the shipping that helped to bring commerce to the area.
The light is 89-feet (27 meters) tall and has 101 steps to the top. It is a stepped construction with each step alternating from red to white for added visibility to ships at sea. Elbow Reef Lighthouse is the last manned kerosene burning light in the world. The rotating light must be wound by a hand-crank 427 times every two hours to maintain the tension on the winding mechanism that spins the beacon of light which can be seen at a distance of 20 miles.
Elbow Reef Lighthouse is open to the public Mondays through Saturdays from 9:00 AM to 5:00 PM
Sir Stafford Lofthouse Sands was born on September 23, 1913. He served as the Bahamas Minister of Finance from 1964 – 1967 and also served as the Minister of Tourism and also served on several other boards and committees. Sir Sands is well remembered as the father of tourism in the Bahamas, as a part of which also established casinos in both Nasau and Grand Bahama. The Royal Commission of Inquiry reported in 1967 the Sir Sands and his political party received large sums of money from casino companies for what was described as ‘consulting’ fees. Along with other allegations that he had allowed organized criminal activities to develop offshore banking for money laundering purposes, Sir Sands left the Bahamas to live in Spain where he died on January 25, 1972.
Sir Sands has been commemorated on the Bahamian 10 Dollars bills issued in 2000, 2016 and 2022.
