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Florida’s 32 lighthouses have provided safe navigation around Florida’s 1,000 miles of coastline for centuries. They’ve survived hurricanes, the punishing elements and even the Civil War. They continue to fascinate today by combining natural beauty, extraordinary engineering and fascinating glimpses into Florida’s rich history. Here’s a sampling of Florida’s most beautiful lighthouses, along with some little-known history behind each of these wonders:
Cape Florida Lighthouse at Bill Baggs Cape Florida State Park
After going dark for more than a century, the Cape Florida Lighthouse at Bill Baggs Cape Florida State Park was re-lit in 1978. The original Cape Florida Lighthouse at the south end of Key Biscayne in Miami was built in 1825, and the present lighthouse stands 95 feet tall. It was the sight of a fierce battle during the Second Seminole War in 1835. Photo:Lucky-Photographer/iStock
In order to prevent forest fires caused by the powerful lighthouse lens, the lighthouse keeper at Sanibel Island put a curtain over the prisms each morning. The Sanibel Lighthouse was erected in 1884 and stands 98 feet above sea level. Photo: Fotoguy22/iStock
The Port Boca Grande Light is on the south tip of Gasparilla Island, and marked the Boca Grande Pass entrance to Charlotte Harbor. The famous pirate Gaspar is only a legend, and the island may have gotten its name instead from a 16th-century Spanish missionary priest named Friar Gaspar. Photo:CSFotoImages/iStock
The historic Key West Lighthouse was one of only a handful in the nation that had a female lighthouse keeper. Barbara Mabrity operated the lighthouse for 32 years after her husband died in 1832. She was fired at age 82 for criticizing the Union Army. Photo:Rauluminate/iStock
The Cape Florida Lighthouse was attacked by Seminoles in 1836 during the Second Seminole War and set aflame by lamp oil. The assistant keeper and and an aide endured the flames while trapped at the top of the tower. The assistant keeper survived, though shot several times, and was rescued the following day by a Navy schooner. Photo: Ivan Cholokav / iStock
The Jupiter Inlet Lighthouse is 105-foot tower that stands 153 feet above sea level. Completed in 1860, it was designed by Lieutenant George Meade, who would later defeat General Robert E. Lee at Gettysburg. Photo: Alex Grichenko / iStock
Originally called the Mosquito Inlet Lighthouse, the Ponce De Leon Inlet Lighthouse was renamed for public relations purposes in 1926. (But there are still plenty of mosquitoes around!) The first lighthouse, built in 1835, collapsed. The current tower was lit in 1887 and stands 175 feet tall, making it the tallest lighthouse in Florida. Photo: Michael Warren / iStock
The 72-foot St. George Lighthouse was restored in 2008 after collapsing in 2005. Before that it stood sentinel on Apalachicola Bay for 153 years. Photo: Michael Warren / iStock
Dating from 1895, the Crooked River Lighthouse in the panhandle village of Carrabelle was a replacement for three previous lighthouses on Dog Island that were destroyed by storms. Photo: Michael Warren / iStock
The rich history of the St. Augustine lighthouse includes an oddity in Florida: On August 31, 1886 an earthquake rumbled through Florida and shook the tower. The earthquake centered in Charleston and caused the tower to ‘sway violently’ but no damage was done. Photo: Michael Warren / iStock
Here’s a bit of trivia: A Swedish musician looking for an odd but American-sounding name wrote to the mayor of Pensacola in 1979 and asked if the city had a lighthouse. They did, and so the band became known as the Pensacola Lighthouse Orchestra of Uppsala. The present lighthouse, lit in 1859, stands 150 feet tall on a 40 foot bluff. Photo: Colin Young / iStock
St. Marks Lighthouse in Northern part of Florida is considered to be one of the most beautiful lighthouses in the state. It is located at the end of a scenic 7-mile road on the east side of the St. Marks river in Apalachee Bay. Built in 1831 it survived multiple hurricanes as well as shelling during the Civil War. Photo: Henryk Sadura / iStock
The Sanibel Island Lighthouse and keeper’s cottages are the oldest buildings still standing on Sanibel Island. They have survived many storms. The 98-foot skeleton tower was lit in 1884. Photo: Glenn Nagel / iStock
Lit in 1907, the Hillsboro Inlet Lighthouse on Pompano Beach is a newcomer among U.S. lighthouses, most of which were built in the 1800s. The 137-foot tower can be seen 28 miles out to sea. Photo: Shackleford-Photography / iStock
The 21-foot Boca Chita Lighthouse in Biscayne National Park doesn’t serve any navigational purpose. It was built in the 1930s by Mark Honeywell, who owned the island at the time. He intended to use it for private navigation, but failed to get permission from the Coast Guard. Photo: ArendTrent / iStock
70 miles from Key West, the Garden Key Lighthouse at Fort Jefferson in Dry Tortugas National Park marks an outpost once a haven for pirates. The fort served as a prison during the Civil War and had among its inmates the doctor who set the leg of John Wilkes Booth.Photo: demerzel21 / iStock
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What’s most interesting about the Pensacola lighthouse is that it stands on the Naval Air Station, right across from street from the home of the Blue Angels.