Amelia Island Light
{{short description|Lighthouse in Florida, United States}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=March 2025}}
{{Infobox lighthouse
| image_name = File:Amelia Island Lighthouse and building, FL, US (15).jpg
| location = northern end of
Amelia Island
marking the St. Marys Entrance
Fernandina Beach
Florida
United States
| coordinates = {{coord|30|40|23.43|N|81|26|32.94|W|display=inline,title}}
| yearbuilt = 1838-1839
| automated = 1970
| foundation = stone basement
| construction = brick with stucco tower
| shape = tapered cylindrical tower with balcony and lantern
| marking = white tower, black lantern
| height = {{convert|64|ft}}
| focalheight = {{convert|107|ft}}
| lens = 14 lamps with {{convert|14|in|adj=on}} reflectors in a revolving lens (1839)
3rd order Fresnel lens (1903)
| range = white: {{convert|23|nmi}}
red: {{convert|19|nmi}}
| characteristic = Fl W 10s.
red from 344° to 360°, covers shoal water in vicinity of Nassau Sound.
| managingagent = City of Fernandina Beach{{Cite rowlett|fl|access-date=27 June 2016}}{{cite web |url= http://www.uscg.mil/history/weblighthouses/LHFL.asp |title= Florida Historic Light Station Information & Photography |publisher= United States Coast Guard |access-date= 27 June 2016 }}
| module = {{Infobox NRHP
| name = Amelia Island Lighthouse
| embed = yes
| location = 215 1/2 Lighthouse Circle, Fernandina Beach, Florida
| architect = Lewis, Winslow
| added = February 13, 2003
| area = {{convert|2.4|acre}}
| mpsub = Florida's Historic Lighthouses MPS
| refnum = 03000004{{NRISref|version=2010a}}
}} }}
The Amelia Island Light is the oldest existing lighthouse in the state of Florida in the United States. It is located near the northern end of Amelia Island in the northeastern part of the state.{{cite web |date= 2012 |url= http://msi.nga.mil/MSISiteContent/StaticFiles/NAV_PUBS/NIMA_LOL/Pub110/Pub110bk.pdf |title= Pub. 110, List of Lights |pages= 121 (152) |publisher= National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency |access-date= 2012-11-08 |archive-date= 2012-03-15 |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20120315022022/http://msi.nga.mil/MSISiteContent/StaticFiles/NAV_PUBS/NIMA_LOL/Pub110/Pub110bk.pdf |url-status= dead }}{{cite web |url= http://wlol.arlhs.com/lighthouse/USA10.html |title= Amelia Island Light |publisher= Amateur Radio Lighthouse Society |access-date= 2012-11-08 }} Its light marks St. Marys Entrance, the inlet leading to St. Marys River, the Cumberland Sound and the harbor of Fernandina Beach, Florida along the Amelia River.{{cite book |date= 1997 |title= Florida Atlas & Gazetteer |edition =4th |page= 41 |publisher= DeLorme |location= Maine }} The white light flashes every ten seconds which turns red from 344° to 360° when covering the shoal water in the vicinity of Nassau Sound.
The lighthouse is listed as number 565 in the United States Coast Guard (USCG) light list.{{cite uscgll|3|2012|5 (39)}}
History
The lighthouse was built in 1838 using materials taken from the former lighthouse (the predecessor of Little Cumberland Island Light) on the southern tip of Cumberland Island in Georgia just north of the inlet, which had been built in 1820. The brick tower was originally {{convert|50|ft}} tall placed on a hill. In 1881, a lantern was installed on the tower increasing the tower height to {{convert|64|ft}} with the focal plane height of {{convert|107|ft}} above sea level.
The tower for the light formerly on Cumberland Island was taken down and rebuilt on Amelia Island in 1838. The new light was originally equipped with 14 lamps each with a {{convert|14|in|adj=on}} reflector when first lit in 1839. The reflector size was increased to {{convert|15|in}} by 1848. This arrangement was replaced by a third-order Barbier Benard Fresnel lens in 1903, which is still used in the lighthouse.{{Cite web|url=https://media.defense.gov/2018/Jul/09/2001940164/-1/-1/0/LHFL.PDF|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181117193233/https://media.defense.gov/2018/Jul/09/2001940164/-1/-1/0/LHFL.PDF|url-status=dead|archive-date=November 17, 2018|title=Historic Light Station Information Florida|publisher=U. S. Coast Guard Historian's Office|pages=1–2|access-date=November 17, 2018}}
The Amelia Island Light was automated in 1970.{{cite web|url=http://www.lighthousefriends.com/light.asp?ID=346|title=Amelia Island Lighthouse|publisher=Lighthouse Friends|access-date=October 11, 2017 }} The next-to-last civilian keeper of the lighthouse was Thomas J. O'Hagan, who was the son of the previous keeper, Thomas P. O'Hagan, and was married to a direct descendant of the first keeper, Amos Latham.
The light remains in operation, but the lighthouse structure is now a private residence.
Management
The ownership of the lighthouse was transferred from the United States Coast Guard to the City of Fernandina Beach in 2001, which now maintains the historical monument. The Coast Guard, though, is still responsible for the function of the beacon. Access to the lighthouse is limited by the city. As of 2015, the lighthouse is not open to the public, except on Saturdays when the grounds are open for viewing for three hours only. The city also offers tours to the lighthouse twice a month.{{cite web |url= http://www.fbfl.us/index.aspx?NID=474 |title= Amelia Island Lighthouse Tour |publisher= City of Fernandina Beach, Florida |access-date= 2012-11-05 }}
Head keepers
{{div col}}
- Robert Church (1820–1829)
- Amos Latham (1829–1842)
- Capt. Edmund Richardson (1842–1848)
- George W. Walton (1848–1854)
- Horace D. Vaughan (1854–1857)
- James W. Woodland (1857–1859)
- Christopher C. Morse (1859)
- George Latham (1859 – )
- James H. Parker (1864–1868)
- Joseph H. Donnelly (1868–1873)
- Henry Swan (1873–1874)
- Henry Gage (1874–1878)
- Samuel Petty (1878–1879)
- Joseph S. Howell (1879–1880)
- Dewayne W. Suydam (1880–1891)
- Charles W. Grimm (1891–1905)
- Thomas Patrick O’Hagan (1905–1925)
- Thomas John O’Hagan (1925–1954)
- David Martin (1954–1958)
- Otho O. Brown (1958–1962)
- Louis J. Oglesby, Jr. (1962–1966)
- Otho O. Brown (1966–1970)
{{div col end}}
Gallery
File:Ameliaislandlh.JPG|Photo from the U.S. Coast Guard archives
File:Amelia Island Lighthouse and building, FL, US (06).jpg|Oil building
File:Amelia Island Lighthouse and building, FL, US (11).jpg
File:Amelia Island Lighthouse and building, FL, US (04).jpg|Lens
File:Amelia Island Lighthouse, Florida, U.S.jpg|From a distance
See also
{{stack|{{Portal|Florida|Engineering}}}}
Notes
{{reflist}}
References
- {{cite uscghist|FL|accessdate=June 29, 2008}}
- {{cite web |url= http://users.erols.com/lthouse/ailt.htm |title= Amelia Island Lighthouse |access-date= January 1, 2006 |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20060204225928/http://users.erols.com/lthouse/ailt.htm |archive-date= 2006-02-04 }}
- {{cite book |last= McCarthy |first= Kevin M |date= 1990 |chapter= Amelia Island Lighthouse |title= Florida Lighthouses |publisher= University of Florida Press |location= Gainesville, Florida}}
External links
{{Commons category|Amelia Island Light}}{{Lighthouses of Florida}}
{{National Register of Historic Places in Florida}}
{{authority control}}
Category:Lighthouses completed in 1838
Category:Lighthouses on the National Register of Historic Places in Florida
Category:Transportation buildings and structures in Nassau County, Florida
Category:National Register of Historic Places in Nassau County, Florida