I just got a comment on my blog asking about the St Augustine Lighthouse. Well, Sherron, you’re just ahead of me as usual. I just haven’t gotten there nor have I had a chance to write about it. However, we have not forgotten the lighthouse. We drove up to it from Fort Matanzas and here we are this afternoon. Marvelous weather and a delightful time to be visiting a lighthouse. We hadn’t expected ti to be so popular, but, then we hadn’t expected to see so many people in St Augustine. Usually we tour during the weekdays and are often the only ones on any tour. HOWEVER, and it’s a bit ‘however’, this is SPRING BREAK and not only are all the college kids down in Florida but lots of families. And, St Augustine is a great place to entertain families: lots of things to do, lots of places to visit and lots of different food to try, especially the ice cream and pizza.
It’s not hard to spot the lighthouses along our country’s shores - they stand out - well, yeah, that’s their job. The current lighthouse is not the first - the first was built by Menendez shortly after St Augustine was established in 1565. However, it was wood and placed too close to the shore and it slowly drifted off into the ocean as tides eroded the banks around it. A new one was built of coquina, the quintessential stone of the area in 1683 but was crumbling by the end of the Civil War. But the third time was the charm. Work began on the third one in 1870 and it was finished in 1874. As if it knew its demise was near, the old coquina one collapsed soon after the new one was finished.
A keepers house was built close by, big enough to hold the keeper and his family, the assistant keeper and his family and an assistant assistant on the top floor. 3 families in one house. However, when the light was automated in 1955, the house was no longer needed and, with no one there to continually care for the lighthouse itself, it lapsed into bad condition. Then the Junior Service League rode in on white horses, worked hard raising funds over 11 years and now it has been restored and is open to the public.
We actually had thought that we had seen quite a few lighthouses over the past few years and have quite a few ahead of us in North Carolina and that, maybe, we didn’t need to see this one. Oh, but, we’re on the way, let’s just try one more. Well, what a surprise: a cool lighthouse with a 360 degree view over St Augustine, a small museum, marvelous displays and exhibits in the keeper’s house, several trails around the area and a very small boat yard where they make boats.
And, of course there are ghost stories surrounding the lighthouse and it has even been the subject of several paranormal investigations over the years. The most tragic one of them all involves 5 young children and a handcart used by workers to bring building supplies from the beach to the lighthouse site while constructing the last lighthouse. The handcart was on cables and ran down to the beach. What fun to ride in it down to the beach and the project supervisor let 5 young children play in the handcart. On July 10, 1873, something went horribly wrong and the cart and the children were flung into the water. 2 of the children were rescued but 3 young girls (two of his daughters and one of their friends) died in the water. According to legend, their ghosts can be heard in the lighthouse today. Terrible tragedy.
On a lighter note, we paid our admission fee, walked through the small museum and out to the lighthouse. Of course, we climbed to the top. Luckily, they had some rest areas along the way where we could stop and read the plaques on the wall. Whew. At one of these stops they had a 40 gallon oil bucket that the keepers CARRIED up to the top of the lighthouse - until they discovered in the 1920’s that a pulley would work wonders (that’s about 40+ years after the lighthouse was built. Well, yeah. This oil bucket was full of hot oil and the keepers had 219 steps to climb to get it the top.
But the view was stupendous. We could see the dome on the Presbyterian Church in St Augustine, and sailboats out on the ocean.
The walk down was much easier.
Some kid had shot at the Fresnel lens in the lighthouse and shattered it. They elected to keep it running until the were able to get it fixed and keeping it running made it even more fragile. The Junior League went to work again to raise the money for the repair and a company in Delaware was able to fix it.
Isn’t this gorgeous?
I was intrigued to learn that there is a ‘daymark’ and a ‘nightmark’ for each lighthouse. I knew they all had different signals but had never heard it called a ‘daymark’ and a ‘nightmark.’ The ‘daymark’ of this lighthouse is a black and white spiral along with a red lantern. The ‘nightmark’ is the particular pattern of flashes that can be seen at night: this one has one fixed flash every 30 seconds.
The keeper’s house is brick with the entryways in the center and the two kitchens on either side. Kitchens were often outside the house in case of fire.
We wandered through the house, looking at the period furnishings, the Fresnel lenses they had on display, lots of information about the keepers along with diaries from their children and wives, books, etc. Very interesting.
Outside of the keeper’s house the archaeological crew was desalinating an old cannon found in the ocean around the area. Before they can put it on display they need to treat it for a long while since it’s been in the water so long. It’s hard to see here but he process was interesting. And, it’s neat that archeology is still going on here.
Then, off to the trail.
And, finally home. An old fort, a beach walk and a marvelous lighthouse. Excellent day.
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