Florida Lighthouses

Florida Lighthouses

There are many Lighthouses in Florida
here are a few.

Left-Fort Jefferson Lighthouse
The lighthouse at Fort Jefferson in Dry Tortugas in the Florida Keys.
Photo credit: Courtesy of the Special Collections Department, University of South Florida.
Digitization provided by the USF Libraries Digitization Center
Right- AMERICAN SHOAL LIGHT
Construction continued for about 2 years, and the
tower when completed cost about $94,000.
The lighthouse was first lighted on
the night of July 15, 1880

Women Lightkeeper of Florida

NAME LOCATION YEARS POSITION

Rebecca Flaherty Sand Key 1830-1846 Keeper-

Barbara Mabrity Key West 1832-1861 Keeper-$500 yr.

Mrs. Michaela Ingraham Pensacola 1840-1855 Keeper-$550 yr. died

Mary Whalton Amelia Island 1849 Keeper-$400 yr

Mrs. Ann Dudley St. Marks 1850-1853 Keeper-$450 yr.

Miss Francis A. Burnham Wilson Cape Canaveral early 1850's Asst. Keeper

Mrs. Maria Andrew St. Augustine 1859-? died Keeper-$400 yr

Mrs. Winifred Woodland Amelia Island 1860-? Asst. Keeper-$250 yr

Mrs. Caroline Mulloy(Molloy) Cedar Keys 1861 Asst. Keeper-$200 yr

Ellen McCormick Pensacola 1864-1867 removed Asst. Keeper-$400

Mrs.Josephine Daniels St. Johns River (1864)1867-1868 resigned Asst. Keeper-$300 later $400 yr

Miss Martha V. Watts Pensacola 1867-1869 resigned Asst. Keeper

Mary J. Madden Pensacola 1869 resigned Asst. Keeper-$400 yr

Mrs. Merrill Hussey Cape San Blas 1869 resigned Asst. Keeper-$400 yr

Miss Viny Hughes Pensacola 1869-1870 resigned Asst. Keeper-$400 yr

Mrs. Frances M, McDonald St. Johns River 1871-1886 resigned Asst. Keeper-$400 yr

Mrs. Jane M. Donnelly Amelia Island 1871 removed Asst. Keeper-$400 yr

Mrs. Catherine Hobday Cedar Keys 1872-1879 died Asst.Keeper-$400 yr

Caroline Coons Egmont Keys 1873-1876 removed Asst. Keeper-$400 yr

Mary A. Carroll Key West 1876-1889 1889 died Asst. Keeper-$400, Keeper-1889-$$560

Martha C. Lawrence Pensacola 1880-1885 resigned Asst. Keeper-$375 yr

Mrs. Marie L. Fernandez Dames Point 1880-1882 position abolished Asst.Keeper-$400 yr

Kate H. Harn St. Augustine 1889-1890 resigned 2nd Asst. Keeper-$450 yr

Mary Eliza Bethel Key West 1891-1908,1908-1913 retired Asst. Keeper-$420, Promoted Keeper 1908-1913-$720 yr

Edna Elliot Jupiter Inlet( see next entry) 1897-1900 dismissed 2nd Asst. Keeper-$487

Edna Elliott Ponce de Leon 1900-1901 1st Asst. Keeper-$540 yr.

Mrs. Sarah J. Fine St. Marks 1904-1910 Keeper-$600 yr

Cape Florida-First lit 1845
The Cape Florida Lighthouse was completed in 1825. It was 65 feet high, of solid brick, 5 feet thick at the base. For years it guided the mariner as he passed the dangerous Florida Reef and led him into Cape Florida Channel to a safe anchorage from violent gales in the lee of Key Biscayne.

During the Seminole War, on July 23, 1836, John W. B. Thompson was the assistant keeper.

Left-Cape San Blas in 1859--Right-Cape San Blas in 1885
Station Established: 1848. First lit 1858
The Cape San BIas Lighthouse was completed in 1849 with an
appropriation of $8,000. The lighthouse erected in 1849
"fell down during a gale in the autumn of 1851" and on
August 31, 1852, Congress appropriated $12,000 for
rebuilding it. The new structure was completed in
1856. It had been completed only a few months when
during the severe storm of August 30, 1856, it
too was totally destroyed. On March 3, 1857,
Congress, for the third time, appropriated
money for a lighthouse at Cape San BIas.
This appropriation was for $20,000
and the new lighthouse was first
lighted with a third-order lens on
May 1, 1858.

SANIBEL ISLAND LIGHT
POINT YBEL, SANIBEL ISLAND -- Station Established: 1884 -- First Lit: 1884

Left-ST. JOSEPH POINT
RELOCATED FROM PORT ST. JOE/ST. JOSEPH BAY
Station Established: 1902 Current Tower(s) First Lit: 1902
Right-SAND KEY LIGHT -- Station Established: 1826
First Lit: 1853

Jupiter Lighthouse built 1860
A lighthouse from the mid 1800s that is located in Jupiter.

Lighthouse 2

[Florida Index]
Some Facts and Photos [1] [2] [ 3] [ 4] [Currency]
[Eatonville] [Art Deco- South Beach] [Kingsley Plantation]
[Florida Plantations] [Ante Bellum Plantations]
[Native Floridians] [James Weldon Johnson] [Mary Mc Leod Bethune]
[The Knotts] [Zora Neale Hurston] [John Ringling]
[Dr. John Gorrie] [George Proctor]

Photos and information courtesy of: Exploring Florida
and
U.S.Coast Guard
LIGHTHOUSES, LIGHTSHIPS AND AIDS TO NAVIGATION
Infomation on Women Lighthouse Keepers is reconciled with the book
Keepers Of Florida Lighthouses 1820-1939--By Neil E Hurley, Women Who Kept the Lights By Mary Louise Clifford and J. Candace Clifford, Information from U.S.Coast Guard, and other records and publications.