This lighthouse, located on Loggerhead Key, three miles west of Fort Jefferson, Florida. A lighthouse was established on Bush Key in 1825, and refitted with a new lantern in 1846. Construction on a new lighthouse on Loggerhead Key began in 1856 and was completed in 1858. The Loggerhead Key lighthouse has a stone foundation and a conical brick tower. The walls are six feet thick at the base and taper to four feet thick at the top. The tower was painted black on the upper part and white below (later unpainted on the upper part and white below). A radio room is attached to the base of the tower. The original lens was a first order Fresnel lens, which is now on display at the United States Coast Guard Aids to Navigation School in Yorktown, Virginia. The light was automated in 1988.
The first lighthouse in the Dry Tortugas was on Garden Key, and became operational in 1826. After several proposals for a new lighthouse on the "outer shoals" of the Dry Tortugas, a new lighthouse was built on Loggerhead Key and completed in 1858 at a cost of US$35,000, which was the amount that had been projected to upgrade the existing lighthouse on Garden Key.
This lighthouse along with the Garden Key lighthouse at Fort Jefferson, were the only lights on the Gulf coast that stayed in full operation throughout the American Civil War. The tower was damaged by a hurricane in October 1873 and plans were drawn up for a new tower. However, repairs to the tower were so successful that the plans for a new tower were shelved. Its appearance and striping is similar to the Hunting Island Light, though its construction is different.
Beginning with its electrification in 1931, it was the most powerful lighthouse in America, with three million candela.
Year first lit: 1858
Automated: 1988
Foundation: stone
Construction: brick
Tower shape: conical tower
Markings / pattern: Lower half, white Upper half, natural gray Lantern, black
Height: 157 feet (48 m)
Focal height: 151 feet (46 m)
Original lens: 1st Fresnel lens Later, 2nd order
Current lens: VRB-25 system
Range: 20 nautical miles (37 km; 23 mi)
Characteristic: Flashing white 20s
In order to get the correct coordinates, please choose which lighthouse this is:
1) Tennessee Reef Lighthouse - N29° 22.278 W81° 47.286
2) Dry Tortugas Lighthouse - N29° 20.423 W81° 47.561
3) Cape St. George Lighthouse - N29° 21.868 W81° 47.186
To learn more about Florida Lighthouses, please visit the link below:
Lighthouse Friends, Florida Lighthouses: http://www.lighthousefriends.com/fl.html
Unless noted otherwise, all source material is from Wikipedia.