 The St. Augustine Light tower was built in 1874 | |
 | |
| Location | Anastasia Island, Florida |
|---|---|
| Coordinates | 29°53′08″N 81°17′19″W / 29.88543°N 81.28852°W |
| Tower | |
| Constructed | 1824  |
| Foundation | first tower, coquina; second tower, brick on coquina |
| Construction | first tower, coquina; second tower, brick |
| Automated | 1955 |
| Height | first tower, 52 feet (16 m); second tower, 165 feet (50 m) [1] |
| Shape | first tower, square tower; second tower, conical tower |
| Heritage | National Register of Historic Places listed place |
| Light | |
| First lit | first tower, ca. 1737; second tower, 1874 |
| Focal height | 49 m (161 ft) |
| Lens | 1824: Winslow Lewis lamps with replectors; 1855: fourth order Fresnel lens; 1874: first-order Fresnel lens |
| Range | 1874: fixed lamp, 17 nautical miles; 31 kilometres (19 mi) flashing lamp, 21 nautical miles; 39 kilometres (24 mi) |
| Characteristic | prior to 1936, 3 minute fixed flash; in 1936 changed to 30-second flash |
St. Augustine Lighthouse and Keeper's Quarters | |
| Built by | Hezekiah H. Pittee |
| Architect | Paul J. Pelz |
| NRHP reference No. | 81000668 |
| Added to NRHP | March 19, 1981 |
The St. Augustine Light Station is a privately maintained aid to navigation and an active, working lighthouse in St. Augustine, Florida.[2] The current lighthouse stands at the north end of Anastasia Island and was built between 1871 and 1874. The tower is the second lighthouse tower in St. Augustine, the first being lit officially by the American territorial government in May 1824 as Florida's first lighthouse. However, both the Spanish and the British governments[3] operated a major aid to navigation here including a series of wooden watch towers and beacons dating from 1565.[4]
The current lighthouse tower, original first-order Fresnel Lens and the Light Station grounds are owned by the St. Augustine Lighthouse & Maritime Museum, Inc., a not-for-profit maritime museum. The museum is open to the public 360 days a year. Admission fees support continued preservation of the lighthouse and five other historic structures. Admissions and museum memberships also fund programs in maritime archaeology, traditional wooden boatbuilding, and maritime education. The non profit mission is to "discover, preserve, present and keep alive the stories of the nation's oldest port[5] as symbolized by our working St. Augustine Lighthouse."
- ^ "Inventory of Historic Lighthouses: St. Augustine Light". National Park Service. Retrieved April 27, 2013.
- ^ Rowlett, Russ. "Lighthouses of the United States: Eastern Florida and the Keys". The Lighthouse Directory. University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.
- ^ "Project Archive - St Augustine Light House" (PDF).
- ^ Gress, Amy. "History".
- ^ "About the Nation's Oldest Port National Heritage Area".