- Dry Tortugas Light
-
Dry Tortugas Light 
The Dry Tortugas Light is on Loggerhead Key Location Loggerhead Key, Dry Tortugas Coordinates 24°38′00.02″N 82°55′13.958″W / 24.6333389°N 82.92054389°W Year first lit 1858 Automated 1988 Foundation stone Construction brick Tower shape conical tower Markings / pattern Lower half, white
Upper half, natural gray[1]
Lantern, blackHeight 157 feet (47.8 m) Focal height 151 feet (46.0 m) Original lens 1st Fresnel lens
Later, 2nd orderCurrent lens VRB-25 system Range 20 nm Characteristic Flashing white 20s Racon "K" (−∘−) USCG number 3-1095 
Dry Tortugas Light when the upper part was painted black.
The Dry Tortugas Light is 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 Dry Tortugas 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[3] 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.[3]
References
- ^ The Light List says it's black, but the photographs show unpainted gray stone.
- ^ (PDF) Light List, Volume III, Atlantic Coast, Little River, South Carolina to Econfina River, Florida. Light List. United States Coast Guard. 2009. p. 12. http://www.navcen.uscg.gov/pdf/lightLists/LightList%20V3.pdf.
- ^ a b c "Historic Light Station Information and Photography: Florida". United States Coast Guard Historian's Office. http://www.uscg.mil/history/weblighthouses/LHFL.asp.
See also
- McCarthy, Kevin M. (1990). 'Florida Lighthouses. Paintings by William L. Trotter. Gainesville: University of Florida Press. ISBN 0-8130-0982-0.
- Dean, Love (1982). Reef Lights: Seaswept Lighthouses of the Florida Keys. Key West, Florida: The Historic Key West Preservation Board. ISBN 0-943528-03-8.
Lighthouses of Florida See also: List of operating lighthouses in Florida Alligator Reef • Amelia Island • Amelia Island North Range • American Shoal • Anclote Keys • Cape Canaveral • Cape Florida • Cape San Blas • Cape St. George • Carysfort Reef • Cedar Key • Charlotte Harbor • Crooked River • Dames Point • Dog Island • Dry Tortugas • Egmont Key • Fowey Rocks • Garden Key • Gasparilla Island • Hillsboro Inlet • Jupiter Inlet • Key West • Northwest Passage • Pensacola • Ponce de Leon Inlet • Rebecca Shoal • Sand Key • Sanibel Island • Sombrero Key • St. Augustine • St Johns • St. Johns River • St. Joseph Point • St. Marks • Unmanned reef lights of the Florida Keys • Volusia Bar
Categories:- Lighthouses in Monroe County, Florida
- Buildings and structures completed in 1858
- Dry Tortugas National Park
Wikimedia Foundation. 2010.
Look at other dictionaries:
Dry Tortugas — National Park Service map of the Dry Tortugas … Wikipedia
Dry Tortugas National Park — Fort Jefferson redirects here. For the fortification in Ohio, see Fort Jefferson (Ohio). Dry Tortugas National Park IUCN Category II (National Park) … Wikipedia
Garden Key Light — Infobox Lighthouse caption = The old brick tower standing beside Fort Jefferson before the tower was torn down in 1877 location = Fort Jefferson, Dry Tortugas coordinates = coord|24|37|41|N|82|52|20|W|type:landmark (Remaining iron tower) yearlit … Wikipedia
Rebecca Shoal Light — Infobox Lighthouse caption = The Rebecca Shoal Lighthouse after it was automated, with the lower landing decks removed. location = east of Garden Key, Dry Tortugas coordinates = coord|24|34|42|N|82|35|06|W|region:US type:landmark yearlit = 1886… … Wikipedia
St. Johns River Light — Not to be confused with St. Johns Light. St. Johns River Light St. Johns River lighthouse Location Near the mouth of the St. Johns River on the property of Naval Station Mayport Coordinates … Wikipedia
Ponce de Leon Inlet Light — The Mosquito Inlet Light, later known as the Ponce De Leon Inlet Light Location 4931 South Peninsula Dr Ponce de Leon Inlet Ponce Inlet, Florida South of Daytona Year first constructed 1835 Year first lit 1887 (current structure) … Wikipedia
Crooked River Light — Location near Carrabelle, Florida Coordinates … Wikipedia
Dog Island Light — The Dog Island Lighthouse before is was damaged by a hurricane in 1872. Location western tip of Dog Island Florida Coordinates Est … Wikipedia
Northwest Passage Light — Light station marking the northwest passage to Key West in 1892 Location Westerly side of the northerly end of the northwest channel to Key West harbor Coordinates … Wikipedia
Dames Point Light — Location on the shoals off Dames Point, St. Johns River, Florida Coordinates 30°23′00″N 81°33′16″W / … Wikipedia