St Augustine Lighthouse and Keepers Quarters
N 29° 53.132 W 081° 17.316
17R E 472133 N 3306136
The St. Augustine Lighthouse is on the north end of Anastasia Island, within the current city limits of St. Augustine, Florida. The tower, built in 1874, is owned by the St. Augustine Lighthouse & Museum, Inc. (SAL&M), a not-for-profit maritime museum and private aid-to-navigation. Open to the public, admissions support continued preservation of the Lighthouse and fund programs in maritime archaeology and education.
Waymark Code: WM302N
Location: Florida, United States
Date Posted: 01/18/2008
Views: 41
St. Augustine was the site of the first lighthouse established in Florida by the new, territorial, American Government in 1824. According to some archival records and maps, this "official" American lighthouse was placed on the site of an earlier watchtower built by the Spanish as early as the late 16th century.[2] The Map of St. Augustine depicting Sir Francis Drake's attack on the city by Baptista Boazio, 1589, shows an early wooden watch tower near the Spanish structure. By 1737, Spanish authorities built a more permanent tower from coquina taken from a nearby quarry on the island. Archival records are inconclusive as to whether the Spanish used the coquina tower as a lighthouse.
Early lamps in the first tower burned lard oil. Multiple lamps with silver reflectors were replaced by a fourth order Fresnel lens in 1855, greatly improving the lighthouse's range and eliminating some maintenance issues.
By 1870 beach erosion threatened the first lighthouse. Construction on a new light tower began in 1871 during Florida's reconstruction period. In the meantime a jetty of coquina and brush was built to protect the old tower. A trolley track brought building supplies from the ships at the dock.
The new tower was completed in 1874, and put into service with a new first order Fresnel lens. It was lit for the first time in October by keeper William Russell. Russell was the first lighthouse keeper in the new tower. He was the only keeper to have worked both towers. After many experiments with different types of oils, in 1885 the lamp was converted from lard oil to kerosene.
In 1907 indoor plumbing reached the light station, followed by electricity in the keeper's quarters in 1925. The light itself was electrified in 1936, and automated in 1955. As the light was automated, positions for three keepers slowly dwindled down to two and then one. No longer housing lighthouse families by the 1960s, the Keepers House was rented to local residents.
In 1980 a small group of 15 women in the Junior Service League of St. Augustine (JSL) signed a 99-year lease with the county for the keeper's house and surrounding grounds. The JSL literally turned back the bulldozers and began a massive restoration project. Shortly after the JSL adopted the restoration the League signed a 30-year lease with the Coast Guard to begin a restoration effort on the lighthouse tower itself. The lighthouse was subsequently placed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1981 by local preservationist and author Karen Harvey.***
*** quoted from web site
Street address:
81 Lighthouse Ave
St Augustine, Fla USA
32080
County / Borough / Parish: St Johns County
Year listed: 1981
Historic (Areas of) Significance: Architecture/Engineering, Event
Periods of significance: 1850-1949
Historic function: Domestic, Transportation
Current function: Transportation
Privately owned?: no
Primary Web Site: [Web Link]
Secondary Website 1: [Web Link]
Season start / Season finish: Not listed
Hours of operation: Not listed
Secondary Website 2: Not listed
National Historic Landmark Link: Not listed
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Visit Instructions:
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