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Photo Diary: St Augustine FL Lighthouse and Museum [1]

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Date: 2023-02-04  

The lighthouse at St Augustine dates its origin back to Spanish times.

For those who don't know, I live in a converted campervan and travel around the country, posting photo diaries of places that I visit. I am currently wintering in St Augustine, Florida.

The east coast of Florida has shallow sandbars which are constantly changing, leading to an enormous number of shipwrecks. From their earliest settlement at St Augustine, the Spanish built timber watchtowers to keep an eye out for enemy raiders, and in 1737 they constructed a more sturdy watchtower from coquina sandstone at this spot.

When the United States assumed control of Florida in 1821, the site at St Augustine was chosen for a lighthouse to warn ships away from the dangerous sandbars and shallows, but the existing Spanish tower was too weak for this, so it was taken down and a new tower built on its place.

By 1867, the shore had eroded dangerously close to that tower, so it was decided to tear that one down and build a new one about 350 yards further inland. That tower—the one existing today—was finished in 1874.

By now however the railroads had reached Florida and sea-going traffic was not as vital. The lighthouse became a tourist attraction, though it remains in use as an active navigation aid today.

Some photos from a visit.

Visitors Center

The lighthouse

Keeper’s House

Inside the Keeper’s House

The basement exhibits artifacts from a 1782 shipwreck

The second floor has a display illustrating the history of the Florida shrimping industry

A small sailing ship known as a Skipjack

Coast Guard quarters. During WW2 the lighthouse tower was used as an anti-submarine lookout.

Glass fresnel lens used in the lighthouse

Spiral staircase leading up to the tower

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[1] Url: https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2023/2/4/2150142/-Photo-Diary-St-Augustine-FL-Lighthouse-and-Museum

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