Cape Florida Light

Cape Florida Light
Map
LocationCape Florida
Key Biscayne
Florida
United States
Coordinates25°39′59.72″N 80°09′21.47″W / 25.6665889°N 80.1559639°W / 25.6665889; -80.1559639
Tower
Constructed1825 (first)
Foundationbrick on coral reef[1]
Constructionbrick tower
Automated1978
Height95 feet (29 m)
Shapetapered cylindrical tower with balcony and lantern
Markingswhite tower, black lantern
OperatorState of Florida[2][3]
HeritageNational Register of Historic Places listed place Edit this on Wikidata
Light
First lit1847 (current)
Deactivated(1878–1978) and (1990–1996)[1]
Focal height100 feet (30 m)[1]
Lens1846: 17 Argand lamps with 21-in reflectors,[1] 1855: Second-order Fresnel lens, 1996: 300 mm lens[1]
CharacteristicFl W 6s.
Cape Florida Lighthouse
LocationSE tip of Key Biscayne, inside Bill Baggs Cape Florida State Park, Florida
Area1 acre (0.40 ha)
Built1825
NRHP reference No.70000180[4]
Added to NRHPSeptember 29, 1970

The Cape Florida Light is a lighthouse on Cape Florida at the south end of Key Biscayne in Miami-Dade County, Florida.[5] Constructed in 1825, it guided mariners off the Florida Reef, which starts near Key Biscayne and extends southward a few miles offshore of the Florida Keys.[6] It was operated by staff, with interruptions, until 1878, when it was replaced by the Fowey Rocks lighthouse. The lighthouse was put back into use in 1978 by the U.S. Coast Guard to mark the Florida Channel, the deepest natural channel into Biscayne Bay. They decommissioned it in 1990.

Within the Bill Baggs Cape Florida State Park since 1966, the lighthouse was relit in 1996. It is owned and operated by the Florida Department of Environmental Protection.[7]

  1. ^ a b c d e "Inventory of Historic Light Stations - Florida Lighthouses - Cape Florida Light" Archived 2014-05-04 at the Wayback Machine. National Park Service. Retrieved on 2012-11-15.
  2. ^ Rowlett, Russ. "Lighthouses of the United States: Eastern Florida and the Keys". The Lighthouse Directory. University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. Retrieved 2016-06-29.
  3. ^ Florida Historic Light Station Information & Photography United States Coast Guard. Retrieved 29 June 2016
  4. ^ "National Register Information System". National Register of Historic Places. National Park Service. July 9, 2010.
  5. ^ Light List, Volume III, Atlantic Coast, Little River, South Carolina to Econfina River, Florida (PDF). Light List. United States Coast Guard. 2010. p. 8.
  6. ^ "Florida". CORIS, NOOA's Coral Reef Information System. Retrieved on 2012-11-26.
  7. ^ FDEP 2001, p. 11.