Tour of the Lighthouse and Keeper’s House in St. Augustine, Florida

A Visit to the St. Augustine Lighthouse & Maritime Museum

On a sunlit morning in early February 2024, my wife and I took a tour of the St. Augustine Lighthouse & Maritime Museum in St. Augustine, Florida. In this article, I will go over the experience we had at the lighthouse and the surrounding property and share some of our pictures and thoughts. We only spent about an hour and a half at the lighthouse property as we had other stops to make on our visit to St. Augustine. We enjoyed an interesting tour of the lighthouse and the surrounding buildings.

St. Augustine, Florida

The lighthouse is on the north end of Anastasia Island, located in St. Augustine, Florida, which is America’s oldest city. The city of St. Augustine dates to 1565 and is located on the Atlantic coast of the Florida peninsula, about halfway between Jacksonville and Daytona Beach. It is around a two-hour drive from the airport in Orlando.

As the nation’s oldest city, St. Augustine has many historical and other interesting sites to see. Just to mention a few, these include the massive fort Castillo de San Marcos; several old churches that date back centuries, including the ornate cathedral basilica; the Lightner Museum; the Fountain of Youth; and much more. There are shops, bars, and restaurants of every type—something for just about everyone.

The Lighthouse

We spotted the lighthouse from miles away as we drove up highway A1A. We visited on a Wednesday morning, so crowds were light, and we found a place to park the car in the visitor’s lot right in front of the museum/lighthouse entrance. The cost for entrance into the museum was $15, which we felt was reasonable (I have paid a lot more and got a lot less).

The lighthouse is tall, equivalent to a 14-story building, with 219 steps going to the top on a spiral staircase. Along the way up the stairs there are landings where you can rest if you are tired of all the steps. At some of the landings, there are windows so you can look out over the bay or the city; the views were impressive. At the bottom of the lighthouse are some displays showing the old office area and the barrels used to store the oil to fuel the lamp at the top.

View From the Top of the Lighthouse

Once you get up the 219 stair steps to the top of the lighthouse, there is an observation deck with an attendant to answer your questions. The day we were there, the wind was blowing at 29 mph (according to the attendant). From what we were told, they stop the tours of the observation deck when the wind speed exceeds 30 mph. On a windy day, hold on to your hat! The wind really whips around the lighthouse. The view was magnificent from some 150 feet above the ground. To the east is the majestic Atlantic Ocean that stretches to the horizon; to the west is the city of St. Augustine and the mainland of Florida.

Fresnel Lens at the Top of the Lighthouse

Sitting on the very top of the lighthouse is the giant glass Fresnel lens that focuses the light from the powerful lamp. Though the lighthouse is not actively used by seafaring navigators, it is still in operation, and the light can be seen from miles away once the sun goes down. We could see it from our hotel on the mainland.

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Lighthouse Keeper’s House

A house was constructed in 1876 adjacent to the lighthouse for the keeper and their family to live. The spacious house is now a museum you can tour. It features articles from the time it was used as a home and gives personal stories of the people who lived there.

Timeline of Important Events in the History of the Lighthouse and the Area

1565 – Spanish explorer Pedro Menendez de Aviles founds St. Augustine.

1733 - Henry Popple’s text, “The British Empire in North America,” indicates the presence of a “beacon” at St. Augustine’s harbor.

1765 – George Gault’s “Plan of the Town, Harbor and Forts of St. Augustine” references a “lighthouse” on the northern end of Anastasia Island.

1822 – French physicist Augustin Fresnel perfects a better lighthouse lens, the “Fresnel lens,” which is installed in lighthouses to improve navigation.

1823 – The United States Congress appropriates $5,000 to build a lighthouse at St. Augustine.

1824 – Local Menorcan Juan Andreu lights the St. Augustine lighthouse for the first time and becomes the first lighthouse keeper.

1848 – The old St. Augustine lighthouse is raised from 30 to 40 feet tall. Eventually it would be raised to 52 feet tall.

The Era of the New Lighthouse at St. Augustine

1871 – Beach erosion threatens to destroy the old St. Augustine lighthouse. Plans are made for a new lighthouse further back from the ocean.

1874 – New St. Augustine lighthouse goes into operation. The new beacon has a first-order Fresnel lens illuminated by an oil lamp. The daymark of the lighthouse is its black and white spiral-striped paint with a red lantern. At night, a fixed white light flashes every 30 seconds to give a unique night signature that ships use to identify their location at night.

1876 – The lighthouse keeper and their family move into the newly built keeper’s house.

1885 – The lighthouse’s lamp fuel is changed from lard to kerosene.

1907 – Indoor plumbing and baths are installed in the keeper’s house.

1936 – Electricity is installed in the lighthouse. An electric motor replaces the clockwork mechanism.

1955 – The St. Augustine lighthouse is automated and no longer requires lighthouse keepers for operation through the nighttime hours.

1980 -The Junior Service League of St. Augustine adopts the burned-out keeper’s house as an historic restoration project.

1981 – The St. Augustine lighthouse and keeper’s house are placed on the National Register of Historic Places.

References

Fleming, Kathy A. and Susan K. Van Vleet. St. Augustine Lighthouse: A Timeline. St. Augustine Lighthouse & Maritime Museum, 2016.

www.staugustinelighthouse.org

© 2024 Doug West