- The US General Services Administration (GSA) is offering a record number of lighthouses to the public.
- The GSA will give away six to nonprofits and government entities, and sell another four via public auction.
- The lighthouses are being offered as part of the National Historic Lighthouse Preservation Act.
For the federal government, April marks the end of tax season, and May marks the start of "Lighthouse Season"
The US General Services Administration (GSA) offers lighthouses to the public under the National Historic Lighthouse Preservation Act (NHLPA) every May. This year, the GSA said it will offer a "record number" of ten lighthouses.
Six of these lighthouses — located in five states across the East Coast — will be offered at no cost to federal agencies, state and local governments, nonprofits, educational agencies, and community development organizations, the GSA said.
Another four — in four states across the East Coast and Midwest — will be offered to the public via auction. The GSA added that if the six lighthouses cannot be transferred to owners, they will also be put up for online auction.
Lighthouses were once essential to helping those at sea navigate across dangerous coastlines, avoid underwater hazards, and find safe entry points inland. Since the advent of GPS technology, though, these structures have become less consequential to seafarers.
Congress passed the NHLPA in 2000 in order to protect lighthouses, and deliver value and savings to taxpayers in the form of federal real estate, according to the GSA.
Since its inception, over 150 lighthouses have circulated through the NHLPA program, the GSA said. Approximately 81 of these have been given away through "no-cost" transfers while another 70 have been sold through auction, with sales ranging from $10,000 to close to $1 million.
In a discussion with Time, John Kelly, a representative of the GSA, said that lighthouses remain popular tourist attractions because the public sees them as relics of the past.
"People really appreciate the heroic role of the solitary lighthouse keeper," Kelly told Time. "They were really the instruments to provide safe passage into some of these perilous harbors which afforded communities great opportunities for commerce, and they're often located in prominent locations that offer breathtaking views."
The GSA did not immediately respond to Insider's request for a comment.
See the six lighthouses that GSA is giving away for free this year: