Cape Florida lighthouse
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The Cape Florida lighthouse is a lighthouse on Cape Florida at the south end of Key Biscayne, Florida (25° 41' 00" N, 80° 05' 00" W). It was built in 1825 and operated, with interruptions, until 1878, when it was replaced by the Fowey Rocks lighthouse. The lighthouse was put back into use in 1978. The lighthouse marked a reef four miles (6 km or 7 km) off-shore, and still marks the Florida Channel, the deepest natural channel into Biscayne Bay. The construction contract called for a 65 foot (20 m) tall tower with walls of solid brick, five feet thick at the bottom tapering to two feet thick at the top. It was later found that the contractor had scrimped on materials and built hollow walls.
When the Second Seminole War started in 1835 the Seminoles attacked the few European-American settlers in southern Florida. Those who lived around Biscayne Bay fled to the lighthouse, and then to Key West. The lighthouse keeper left his assistant, John Thompson, and a helper named Henry, in charge of the lighthouse. On July 23, 1836, Seminoles attacked the lighthouse. They set fire to the lighthouse door with Thompson and Henry in the tower. The fire spread to a tank holding oil for the lighthouse lamp. The two men took refuge on the outside platform at the top of the tower, where they were exposed to musket fire from the Seminoles. Henry was killed by the musket fire, and Thompson was wounded. Thinking he was going to die anyway, Thompson threw a keg of gunpowder down the inside of the tower into the fire. The explosion rocked the tower, but did not destroy it. Thinking that both men in the tower were dead, the Seminoles left. The explosion had been so loud that the United States Navy schooner Motto, which was twelve miles (19 km or 22 km) away, heard it. It took the sailors a full day after they arrived to rescue Thompson from the top of the lighthouse.
The lighthouse was not repaired until 1846, after the war had ended. The height of the tower was extended to 95 feet (29 m) in 1855, to extend the reach of the light beyond the off-shore reefs. Confederate sympathizers destroyed the lighthouse lamp and lens in 1861. The light was repaired in 1866, but it was soon decided to build an iron-pile lighthouse on Fowey Rocks, seven miles southeast of Cape Florida. When that was completed 1n 1878, the Cape Florida lighthouse was taken out of service.
The southern third of Key Biscayne, including the lighthouse, was bought by the State of Florida in 1966, and became what is now the Bill Baggs Cape Florida State Park. The lighthouse tower and keeper's house have been restored. In 1978 the Coast Guard installed an automated light in the tower as a navigational aide, particularly to help boaters find the Florida Channel at night.
See also
References
- McCarthy, Kevin M. 1990. Cape Florida Lighthouse. Florida Lighthouses. (pp.41-44). University of Florida Press.
- U.S. Coast Guard - Historic Light Station Information & Photography - Florida [link] - accessed December 10 2005
External links
- [Cape Florida Light - National Park Service Inventory of Historic Light Stations]
- [Cape Florida Lighthouse]
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