Tuesday Traveler - Florida Lighthouse Tour – Chapter 1 – Lights of the Panhandle

In planning my drive to a house/pet sitting assignment in Pass Christian Mississippi (MS), I decided to start a tour of the Florida lighthouses.

Mapping the locations of the lights, I discovered the FL panhandle had a total of five with one more in the junction of the bend between the FL peninsula and panhandle.  With the close proximity of five lighthouse, and estimating how long I would explore each light and travel time, I choose to visit the five lighthouses in this post on my way there and have plans to visit another one on the way home.

So without further adduce, let’s go.


Green markers - have not seen  -----  Red markers - have seen


My travel began at 0530 with a drive from the Tampa Bay area to the Crooked River Lighthouse near the city of Carrabelle, FL.  The ride took a little over 5 hours and upon arrival the light was closed.  No problem, it’s in a park so I took my outside shots and waited for the museum and lighthouse to open.



Lighthouse
Crooked River
Website
Location
Near Carrabelle, Florida
Land navigation
US Highway 98; 1 mile west of Carrabelle Beach
Coordinates
Latitude:  29.4939  -  Longitude:  84.4204
Height
103 feet
Originally constructed
1895
Original lens
Fourth order Fresnel lens
Visible range
17 nautical miles (20 miles)
Deactivated
1995 - 2007
Reactivated
December 2007
NOTES:
Open to the public; check website for hours
Museum on site
138 step spiral staircase climb to top


Light museum




Lighthouse from the driveway

We're getting closer

Underneath the light

Looking up at the stairs

The Gulf of Mexico from the top

Looking northwest from the top

Looking down from the top





Our next stop on the tour was the Cape St George Island lighthouse.




Lighthouse
Cape St George Island
Website
Location
St George Island
Land navigation
South point of St George Island
Coordinates
29°35′15.2″N  -   Longitude:  85°02′49.32″W
Height
75 feet
Originally constructed
1833
Original lens
Third order Fresnel lens
Visible range
15 nautical miles (17 miles)
Deactivated
1994
Reactivated
2009
NOTES:
Open to the public; check website for hours
Museum on site
92 step spiral staircase climb to top



From the front with sun coming through the light tower

From the boardwalk to the beach

Stairs looking up

Ladder leading to the top

From the top

Another shot from the top

Stairs going down

Light inside the museum

A little history from the museum

More history




The next stop on our tour took me to a private residence. 


This lighthouse has an interesting and lengthy history; I’ll give you a snapshot of it and refer you to the Lighthouse Friends website below for the details.

After being built the town of Port St Joe, as well as the lighthouse were devastated by decease and hurricanes.  With the construction of a new lighthouse in nearby Cape San Blas the light at St Joseph Point was extinguished.

The tower then changed owners and was relocated several times.  In 1978 it was moved to its current location of Simmons Bayou near Port St Joe.  After the construction of a new home, and several years of restoration, an authentic lantern room was constructed and in 2011 the replica was finally placed atop the lighthouse.

NOTE:  This lighthouse replica is now a private home.  As such, the house, tower, and property are on private property and not open to the public.  Please respect the owners privacy; the light can be seen and photos taken from the road.

Lighthouse
St Joseph Point
Website
Location
St George Island
Land navigation
2071 County Road 30A, Port St Joe, Florida
Coordinates
Latitude:  29.74858  -  Longitude:  -85.30434
Height
55 feet
Originally constructed
1839
Original lens
Third order Fresnel lens
Visible range
unknown
Deactivated
1960
Reactivated
Not reactivated
NOTES:
This is a private residence; please respect the privacy of the owner.  The house and/or property is NOT open to the public.  Photos can be taken from the road.






The next stop on our tour takes us to the replacement lighthouse of St Joseph Point, Cape San Blas lighthouse.  This lighthouse is currently under renovation and at the time of my visit it was not open to the public.


This shot is from the side

Lighthouse
Cape San Blas
Website
Location
Port St Joe
Land navigation
George Gore Park, Port St Joe
Coordinates
Latitude:  29.8128  - Longitude:  -85.3067
Height
98 feet
Originally constructed
1849
Original lens
Third order Fresnel lens
Visible range
14 nautical miles (16 mi)
Deactivated
1996
Reactivated
2014
NOTES:
They are currently reconstructing the lighthouse keepers quarters and have the old house located beside the new one.  This gives you a good visual on the accuracy of the rebuild






The keepers old house is on the left, new on the right
Pretty close to looking exactly the same

After looking around and taking photos of Cape San Blas I returned to Apalachicola for a well needed rest.

Our final stop in chapter 1 of my Florida Lighthouse Tour will be the Pensacola Lighthouse located on the US Naval Air Station in Pensacola.  Looking at the routes to Pensacola provide by google maps, I decided to take the scenic one; the coastal highway of US 98 versus Interstate 10. 




Lighthouse
Pensacola
Website

Location
US Naval Air Station, Pensacola
Land navigation
2081 Radford Blvd; Pensacola FL
Coordinates
Latitude:  30°20′47″N  -  Longitude:  87°18′29″W
Height
190 feet
Originally constructed
1859
Original lens
Argand lamp with parabolic reflectors;
Visible range
27 nautical miles (31 miles)
Deactivated
Remains active
Reactivated

NOTES:
This lighthouse is on an active US Naval Station.  Everybody; non-military and military is welcome and proper identification is required.

From the driveway

From behind the gift shop
From the beach
Another shot from the beach
It's a long way up
Stairs looking up
A view from the window
The Gulf of Mexico
Another view of the Gulf
The outhouse
The "oil shed"; where the oil was kept before electrifying the light




Well, we've come to the end of this two run through the Florida panhandle.  Please feel free to post your comments or ask questions.

Until next time,
Mike


POSTSCRIPT NOTE:  Lighthouse data obtained from Wikipedia and Lighthouse Friends.com

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