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DAYTONA, FL — Florida’s tallest nightlight has aided sailors for more than a century. These days, the 175-foot lighthouse and museum at Ponce de Leon Inlet, just south of Daytona, put the spotlight on Florida’s rich maritime history.
Visitors are welcome to hike 203 steps up a spiral staircase to the top the lighthouse, if the weather permits. For the effort, you’ll be rewarded with a panoramic view of the inlet and the long stretch of Daytona Beach to the north.
The brick and granite lighthouse, built in 1887, stands just five feet short of the candy-striped beacon at Cape Hatteras, making it the second tallest lighthouse in the country. Since electricity wasn’t available at the inlet until 1932, the oil lamp had to be meticulously maintained. But sailors could count on its light every night until the Coast Guard turned it off in 1970, due to the increasing costs of maintenance.
An association formed in 1972 to restore lighthouse and keeper’s cottages, which were added to the National Register of Historic Places. The light came back on a decade later. Nine buildings have been restored or rebuilt on the grounds, and they provide a brief glimpse into the highly disciplined life of a lighthouse keeper.
The museum of the sea includes a small but fascinating sampling of artifacts from the region, including shells, deep-sea fishing equipment and exploration. The 9-foot Cuban raft, made of inner tubes and plywood, washed up on Ormond Beach in 1994. It hardly looks safe even on dry land, yet its passengers apparently made it safely to the U.S. The museum itself served as a barracks during World War II, and later as the town hall of Ponce Inlet. The place also saw use in the early 1960s as the home of a solar-powered, sea water distillation project.
One of the keeper’s cottages contains the 5-foot tall, third order Fresnel lens used between 1930 and 1970. Fresnel lenses, designed by 19th century French physicist Augustin Fresnel, focus light along a narrow beam by using a concentric series of lens pieces. Each of the three lenses used at the lighthouse could be seen at least 17 miles out to sea, but their efficiency has improved greatly over the years. The original lens stood 10-feet tall, but today the same job is done by a 26-inch lamp. The museum maintains a large collection of Fresnel lenses.[FBLikeBox]
Visitors to Ponce Inlet can step back into the life of a lighthouse keeper at the restored, turn-of-the-century lighthouse keeper’s cottage.After you’ve visited the lighthouse, it’s only a stone’s throw to the delightful beach at Lighthouse Point Park. Here you can enjoy a picnic on the sand dunes, take a nature walk or fish the inlet from a long jetty.
Ponce Inlet Lighthouse Info:
From Daytona drive south on Atlantic Ave., and follow it to Ponce de Leon Inlet. Through August, the lighthouse is open daily from 10 a.m. until 6 p.m., and in summer until 9 p.m. Admission to the Ponce Inlet Lighthouse is $6.95 for adults, $1.95 for children 11 and under. More information: (386) 761-1821.
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