The Anclote Keys Light is a lighthouse built in 1887 on Anclote Key, the largest of the Anclote Keys. It is a skeletal square pyramidal tower, painted brown, with a black lantern. After the lighthouse was automated in 1952 the tower and other buildings at the site were often vandalized, interfering with the operation of the light. The Coast Guard determined that the light was no longer needed and deactivated it in 1984. The site was eventually turned over to the State of Florida and added to Anclote Key Preserve State Park. As of 2003 the lighthouse has been restored and relighted using a reproduction fourth-order Fresnel lens. Anclote Key is accessible only by boat.[4][5][6]

Anclote Keys Light
Anclote Keys lighthouse as it appeared in 2005
Map
LocationAnclote Key
Tarpon Springs
Florida
United States
Coordinates28°10′1.3″N 82°50′41.0″W / 28.167028°N 82.844722°W / 28.167028; -82.844722
Tower
Constructed1887
Foundationpiling
Constructioncast iron skeletal tower
Automated1952
Height102 feet (31 m)
Shapeskeletal tower with central cylinder, balcony and lantern
Markingsbrown tower, black lantern
OperatorAnclote Key Preserve State Park[1][2]
HeritageNational Register of Historic Places listed place Edit this on Wikidata
Light
First lit2003 Edit this on Wikidata
Deactivated1984-2003
Focal height110 feet (34 m)
Lensthird-order Fresnel lens (original), replica of fourth-order Fresnel lens (current)
Range19 nautical miles (35 km; 22 mi)
CharacteristicFl (4) W 30s.
Anclote Key Lighthouse
Arealess than one acre
ArchitectUS Lighthouse Service
Architectural stylecast-iron Skeletal Structure
NRHP reference No.99000410[3]
Added to NRHPApril 1, 1999

It is listed as Anclote Key Light number 1555 in the USCG light lists.[7]

Anclote Keys Lighthouse when it was still manned (by U.S. Coast Guard archives)

Head keepers

edit
  • James Gardner (1887 – 1888)
  • Samuel E. Hope, Jr. (1888 – 1889)
  • James M. Baggett (1889 – 1891)
  • Robert S. Meyer (1891 – 1914)
  • Thomas A. Moody (1914 – 1923)
  • Robert S. Meyer (1923 – 1933),
  • James L. Pippin (1933 – at least 1949)

See also

edit

References

edit
  1. ^ Rowlett, Russ. "Lighthouses of the United States: Western Florida". The Lighthouse Directory. University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. Retrieved 28 June 2016.
  2. ^ "Florida Historic Light Station Information & Photography". United States Coast Guard. Retrieved 28 June 2016.
  3. ^ "National Register Information System". National Register of Historic Places. National Park Service. July 9, 2010.
  4. ^ "Historic Light Station Information and Photography: Florida". United States Coast Guard Historian's Office. Archived from the original on 2017-05-01. Retrieved 24 August 2014.
  5. ^ "Anclote Keys Lighthouse". Historic Lighthouse Publishers. Archived from the original on 15 December 2005. Retrieved 24 August 2014.
  6. ^ "Anclote Key Lighthouse Page". anclotekey.com. Retrieved 24 August 2014.
  7. ^ Light List, Volumes 1-7. United States Coast Guard.

Further reading

edit
  • McCarthy, Kevin M. (1990). "Anclote Key Lighthouse". Florida Lighthouses. Gainesville, Florida: University of Florida Press.
edit