Locat­ed on How­land Island, a 648-acre unin­hab­it­ed island halfway between Hawaii and Aus­tralia, Earhart Light tru­ly stands alone in the mid­dle of nowhere. In 1937, a run­way was built on the island for Amelia Earhart to be able to refu­el while on her cir­cum­nav­i­ga­tion of the globe. Unfor­tu­nate­ly, she and Fred J. Noo­nan nev­er made it. The island was briefly occu­pied dur­ing WWII, but attacks by the Japan­ese air and naval armies led to an evac­u­a­tion and the par­tial destruc­tion of the light­house — though it was rebuilt in the 1960s. Earhart Light, named in mem­o­ry of the avi­a­tor and locat­ed on the west coast of the remote island, is used as a day bea­con, but it is in very poor con­di­tion. How­land Island is a Nation­al US Refuge and can only be accessed with a per­mit.