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.
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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