Florida's Tallest Lighthouses

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 Tower Height: 150'

Elevation of Beacon: 190' above sea level

The Pensacola Light does not have the tallest tower in the state.  (That distinction belongs to the Ponce Inlet Light.) But it is the highest, owing to the fact that it sits atop a forty foot bluff.   Add those forty feet to the 150' height of the tower, and you have a beacon that shines at an elevation of 190 feet above sea level, making this light the state's highest. 

The current tower, first lit in 1859, is actually Pensacola's second tower, and its third lighthouse.  The first wasn't a tower, but a lightship named the Aurora Borealis, which served from 1823, until the first tower was built in 1825. In 1858, it was decided that, because the beacon from the 40' lighthouse wasn't always visible, it should be relocated from the south to the north side of the bay.   So it was, that the structure that we see there today began operation on New Year's Day in 1859.  

With some exception, notably for a time during the civil war, the tower has remained lit with one type of light or another, providing safe guidance to mariners, right through until today.

This lighthouse has a well documented history, with some very interesting times. Here are several of the highlights:

• In 1885, the lantern was damaged by wild ducks flying through the lens room.
• For a time during World War II, the keepers had to live elsewhere, because Coast Guard personnel used their quarters as a lookout, watching for German U boats in Pensacola Harbor.
• When the beacon was automated in 1965, the U.S. Navy picked up some pocket money by renting out rooms in the keepers quarters.

To see more, visit the Pensacola Lighthouse and Museum's Time Line Page, where you'll find beautifully done and fun to read of highlights in the lighthouse's history, blended chronologically with important world and national events.  It's well worth a few minutes of your time, and a great educational resource, too!

The Pensacola Lighthouse and Museum is located on the grounds of the Naval Air Station, Pensacola.

Hours of operation are from 10:00 am to 5:30 pm Monday through Saturday, and Noon until 5:30 pm on Sundays, with extended hours in the summer and on holidays.

Admission is $6.00 for adults.  If you're under 12, or over 64, or are on active military duty, you get a $2.00 discount.

Special guided tours, available by reservation, are:

• Blue Angels Practice
• Toast of the Top Sunset Tour
• Ghost Hunt 

Image: Photo by Ebyabe, CC

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Tower Height: 175'

Its tower is the tallest lighthouse tower in the sunshine state, and the third tallest in the nation.  It's designated as a National Historic Landmark.  It's the Ponce de Leon Inlet Lighthouse, often referred to as the Ponce Inlet Light.

But that wasn't always its name.  When first lit, in November of 1887, it was called the Mosquito Inlet Lighthouse, and sailors could see its kerosene powered beacon from 20 miles away.  In 1927, enterprising souls developing the area concluded that a place named after an annoying insect might not sound very enticing to potential visitors and buyers.  So, they changed the name of the inlet and surrounding area to the historically significant and more high minded sounding Ponce de Leon, and the beacon's name changed with it.

Like with most historic beacons, the source of the light changed over time. In 1909, an incandescent oil vapor  lamp was installed.  In 1933, electricity came to the tower, along with a new 3rd order Fresnel lens that was equipped to revolve and flash.  This eliminated the need for both a head keeper and assistant keeper. But, one assistant was retained as a 'relief' keeper. 

Finally, automation eliminated the need for any full time keepers at all.  That was in 1953.  Sadly, the property was abandoned in 1970, and vandalism began to take its toll.

But, there's a happy ending here.  After a public outcry, the city of Ponce Inlet took over the light station property, and a newly formed  Ponce de Leon Inlet Lighthouse Preservation Association undertook the task of restoration.

Today, under the protection of the preservation organization the Ponce de Leon Inlight Lighthouse and Museum still operates as a mariners' beacon, and is considered one of the finest and most well preserved lighthouse examples in the United States. 

And that story is for real.  Crane was aboard the SS Commodore, which wrecked off the Florida coast in January, 1897.  He and three others spent 30 miserable hours in a 10 foot dinghy before making it to shore.  The short story is based on that true life experience.

If you missed out on it in school, you can read The Open Boat on line.

Still functioning as a private aid to navigation, you can climb the tower, where you'll be treated to a magnificent view of the Florida coastline from Daytona southward towards New Smyrna Beach and Cape Canaveral.  

Stroll the grounds and browse the restored keepers quarters, find fascinating exhibits on the history of lighthouses, Fresnel lens exhibits, and even some Florida history. Explore the oil storage building, pump house, and boatyard... even the privy exhibit. There's a gift shop for souvenir hounds, too!

WHEN YOU CAN GO

Visit any day of the year, except Thanksgiving Day and Christmas Day.

Hours are 10 am to 6 pm from around Labor Day through Memorial Day, and 10 am to 9 pm the rest of the year. (Last admission time is one hour prior to closing.)

HOW TO GET THERE

Ponce Inlet is about ten miles south of Daytona Beach, Florida.  The preservation association's website gives detailed directions to get there from the north, south, or from Orlando.

ADMISSION

The price of admission is $5.00 for adults and $1.50 for children ages 2 through 11. 

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St. Augustine Lignt, Image courtesy James Francis

Tower Height: 165'

Some 65 miles to the north of the Ponce Inlet Lighthouse, in a city that has been inhabited since 1565, stands the  St. Augustine Light, second highest in Florida, and still an active aid to private navigation. (As well as a center for research & education, and a NOAA weather station.) 

You can visit it between the hours of 9:00 am and 6:00 pm daily, except Christmas and Thanksgiving.  You can climb the tower, and do a self guided tour.  Special tours are also available, including guided paranormal, 'lost ship' archeology, and sunset tours.

I've written a little about the St. Augustine light, it's history, how it was almost lost, and the happy ending that allows us to enjoy it today.  There, you find not only information about the light, but also several throw pillows with the iconic beacon on them.  

Dry Tortugas Light, seen from Ft. Jefferson Image by Acroterion

Tower Height: 157'

You'll have to sail waaaay down south, into the Dry Tortugas, to find number three on the tallest towers list. It's about 70 miles west of Key West, on tiny Loggerhead Key, which is less than a quarter of a mile wide and not quite three quarters of a mile long.

The beacon was first lit in 1858, with a 1st Order Fresnel Lens, after nearly two years of construction. Since it's in such a remote location, it had to be built strong and tough.  The walls at the base are six feet thick, and they're four feet thick at the top.  The Dry Tortugas have no source of fresh water, so building cisterns to collect rainwater was an absolute necessity, if the keepers there were to survive.

Still, a hurricane in 1873 did some major damage to the tower.  The repaired structure proved so sound, that plans to build a new replacement were cancelled, and it still stands today. 

It was this same structure that housed Florida's very first radiobeacon, which was installed in 1927, and when the beacon was first electrified, just four years later, its light was the most powerful in the entire country!

Having been automated since 1987, it no longer needs a keeper for the light.  However, it has't been left to fend for itself out on that lonely little key.  Volunteers live in an original building, and when the USCG makes regular maintenance visits, they have housing there that dates back to 1922, when a fire destroyed one of the other original dwellings.

The Dry Tortugas Light is still on duty today. 

You can take a ferry (adult fare is $170.00 round trip) to  Dry Tortugas National Park on Garden Key, where you spend a fascinating few hours touring Fort Jefferson, snorkeling, and hanging out in one of the most remote beaches Florida has to offer.

Loggerhead Key, with its Dry Torgugas Light is three miles to the west, so you can see it from there.   (The picture of it shown above was actually taken from the fort.)

Bonus:  The fort has its own lighthouse, the Garden Key Light.  Interestingly, these two beacons were the only two on the Gulf coast that stayed lit for the duration of the Civil War.  

Photo by Joe Parks,  CC

Is it possible to get to Loggerhead Key to see the third tallest tower up close?  Technically, yes.  You might be able to charter a boat or seaplane from Key West, though there are no bargain prices.  

Alternately, you could arrange (in advance) to take your own Kayak along on the ferry, and paddle the three miles over to Loggerhead.  Personally, I'd only recommend this if everyone in your group (don't do it alone) is a skilled kayaker, an expert long distance swimmer, good navigator, and a certified lifeguard.  Wear life jackets, take shark repellent, check the weather forecast, and avoid planning to do this during peak hurricane season.  

Tower Height: 142'

The Sombrero Key Lighthouse isn't among the top three tall beacons in Florida.  But it still gets a "tallest" rating.

That's because it's the tallest of its kind in Florida.  And, what kind is that, you ask?  It's a screw-pile lighthouse, and there are no taller ones in the state.  

It stands in eight feet of water, on pilings, which are screwed into the rock that is what is left of an old island, off the coast of Marathon in the middle Florida Keys.  Sombrero Key itself has been 'eaten' by the sea, and is now completely submerged, but the small island  appeared on maps dating from 1700's and early 1800's. 

The light was plenty needed there when it was built in 1858, and still is, because of the shallow reefs in the area.  The men who manned her were plenty needed, too, for a century, until she was automated in 1960.

The box like structure that you see roughly a third of the way up was where the staff stayed.

The beacon shines red and white lights, which are visible for 20 and 15 nautical miles, respectively.

You can see it (you can't actually visit it) when you go to Sombrero Beach in Marathon, and look out into the ocean.  Or you can book one of the snorkel boats that goes out to Sombrero Reef, where you'll get a closer view

Photo courtesy US Coast Guard

Map image credit (purple markings are mine)

 Locations marked are approximate, just to give you a general idea of where you'll find each of these five beacons.   

There's something for everyone on tine internet.  Here's a page for people who like lighthouses AND also enjoy working jugsaw puzzles: 

Nautical Jigsaw Puzzles: Lighthouses