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In the summer of 1565, a Spanish fleet lead by Pedro Menendez de Aviles landed on the shores of northeastern Florida and established an European settlement in the New World. This colony, which Menendez named in honor of St. Augustine, was established more than 40 years prior to the English settlement in Jamestown and gave St. Augustine its claim to fame as being the nation's "oldest city"!
This young "city" grew in importance to Spain as a shipping port to the New World, and in the 1580s a wooden watchtower was established on Anastasia Island (which was inside the St. Augustine inlet) to aid the Spanish fleet in its commerce.
In 1673, construction began on the massive fortress of Castillo de San Marco. The fort, which is still standing, was made from limestone, crushed oyster shells and coral. This mixture, though seemingly soft for a bastion, absorbed cannon fire without cracking much better than a fortress made of stone would, and it provided St. Augustine with a center of defense. At the same time the Castillo de San Marco was built, a light tower was built to replace the watchtower with the same limestone, crushed shells and coral components.
In 1821, Spain ceded Florida to the United States. With the new government's financing now available, the grand jury of eastern Florida wrote President James Madison and asked for a new lighthouse in St. Augustine. In 1823, a $5,000 government grant was established and the current limestone tower was converted by contractor Elias Wallen into Florida's first lighthouse by 1824.
During the Civil War, Confederate sympathizers removed the lens in St. Augustine's light tower. The tower was not re-lit again until 1867.
During the next 30 years, mariners constantly complained that the light tower did not provide the visibility they needed. After a series of fruitless corrective actions, coupled with the increasing threat of land erosion near the lighthouse, the lighthouse board provided new funds for a new lighthouse to be built in 1871.
Paul Petz, who designed the Library of Congress, undertook the building of this new lighthouse and created a 165-foot tower with a first-order Fresnel lens. The new lighthouse was completed in 1874.
In 1898, St. Augustine's lighthouse was used as a lookout tower in the Spanish-American War. The light keeper of St. Augustine's served as the lookout and had signal flags and a telephone line that ran to the customs house to send an alert if needed.
Likewise, the lighthouse had an involvement in both World Wars. It was dimmed in World War I so as not to aid German U-boats in finding American ships to sink.
In World War II, the tower was used as a lookout as a team of light keepers worked around the clock from the top of the tower.
More recently, a nearly century-long lease agreement with St. Johns County was signed with the Junior Service League of St. Augustine in 1982, and the massive restoration of St. Augustine Lighthouse was undertaken to restore the lighthouse to its former glory. This process started with the Junior Service League obtaining placement for this grand lighthouse on the National Register of Historic Places.
Today the U.S. Coast Guard tends to this lighthouse, which is still an active guide to navigation.
Majesty Score: 5
The St. Augustine Lighthouse has awe-inspiring majesty and is very worthy of our highest score!
Its strong black-and-white diagonal day-mark stripes coupled with its stark-red light tower create a very strong presence for this light, as it really serves as the heart and center focus of this community. The lighthouse can be seen from many different locations around town and always seems to be watching over both the town and the sea.
Many travelers driving north on Route 1A are star-struck in their cars as this massive landmark rises bold and stark out in front of them and grows in majesty as they approach it.
Water View Score: 2
One of the only considerations of this great lighthouse is that water cannot be seen from its base. The lighthouse sits on Anastasia Island, and if you walk a block across the street you will see a small inlet that has a boat launch, but an ocean view somewhat alludes you as another land mass on the other side of the inlet obstructs your view.
Preservation Score: 5
Some would say St. Augustine's Lighthouse "wrote the book" on lighthouse preservation and tourism. It was one of the first lighthouses in America to open its doors to tourists and use those funds toward maintaining the lighthouse.
The tower and building are pristinely taken care of and a debt for all lighthouse lovers is due to the Junior Service League of St. Augustine.
This debt can not be underestimated. When one views pictures of keepers' quarters in the early 1960s, he or she almost doesn't recognize them when compared with the appearance of the lighthouse complex today.
The Junior Service League has had to repair damage caused by arson in the 1970s and by the wear of salt air and humidity. The Fresnel lens was severely damaged when a vandal took target practice on the bull's-eye in the 1980s. If you visited the lighthouse today, you would never know these things happened, which again speaks of the job the service league has done!
The one characteristic really worth mentioning that makes this lighthouse unique is the live oak trees that intertwine in the front yard of this lighthouse. They are so dense that the front yard is actually in dark shade. These beautiful winding trees really add to the uniqueness of this lighthouse, and after visiting there you will always remember St. Augustine's Lighthouse whenever you see similar trees in the future.
One thing that must be mentioned is that St. Augustine is one of the hardest lighthouses to photographs. The above-mentioned live oak trees, though beautiful and steep in character, block most photographs of the lighthouse from the ground.
In addition, Florida usually has a morning haze that covers the sun and burns off around noon. By 2 p.m., the sun is already behind the lighthouse property, preventing the photographer from getting the sun on his or her picture side of the lighthouse and yielding a photo with rich color. This only leaves a very short time in the day that will allow optimum shots of the lighthouse.
When we saw the postcards and pictures of this lighthouse in the gift shop, our picture-taking difficulty was validated by the fact that most of the pictures of the lighthouse are taken from an aerial shot of the light, compensating for the surrounding trees and missed sunlight. Many other pictures feature only the top of the tower truncated by the surrounding trees.
However, one pretty good place for photos we found was near the public tennis courts to the right of the lighthouse as you face it. Between these tennis courts and the fenced lighthouse property there is a little section of grass that will allow you to get the whole lighthouse in your frame. The directly above picture was taken from this vantage point.
Surrounding Area Score: 4
The city of St. Augustine literally offers history around every corner! The Castillo de San Marcos fort is definitely worth a visit as is the neighboring mission shrine, which offers a peaceful interlude.
The waterfront city offers some stunning architecture such as the Bridge of Lions and the Ponce de Leon Hotel, now Flagler College. Obviously, there is definitely a Spanish-heritage feel to the town as provided by the Spanish Renaissance architecture throughout.
The Bridge of Lions, built in 1927, connects the city of St. Augustine to Anastasia Island (See the below picture and bridge on the right) and features two sculptured lions that serve guard over the bridge. These lions were based on the lions used in the Loggia dei Lanzi in Florence, Italy. The bridge is on the "11 Most Endangered Historical Places" list by the National Trust.
The Ponce de Leon Hotel is the creation of Henry Flagler, who was John D. Rockefeller's business partner in Standard Oil. After vacationing in St. Augustine, he so liked the area he opened a world-class hotel.
For more of a "touristy" stop try the original "Ripley's Believe it or Not" Museum or the Alligator Farm, which is very close to the lighthouse. The town features paid trolleys tours that will hit all the stops!
Accessibility Score: 5
The St. Augustine Lighthouse features total access. Visitors can climb the 219 steps to the top and really get a great water view (See below) and a beautiful view of the old city.
A new visitor's center opened in 2000, complete with a very nice gift shop that has countless items featuring the lighthouse.
The keeper's house features a very nice museum complete with access to the basement, which displays a fourth-order Fresnel lens. (See picture below)
The St. Augustine Lighthouse is a favorite for "ghost hunters." Throughout the years, quite a few ghosts have been reported at the site including: hearing the voice of a lighthouse builder's daughter who drowned near the lighthouse; a large dark, male spirit around the water collecting cisterns in the basement, where he allegedly hung himself; and a cigar-smoking ghost in the fuel house.
Not being ones to believe in the supernatural, we did get a somewhat eerie feeling in the lighthouse keeper's basement, aided by a spiral staircase leading down into the basement and its cold stone bricks surrounding us. The empty, dark cisterns did not help, either!
Beacon Score: 5
St. Augustine achieves one of our highest scores in this category. A beautiful 1855, first-order Fresnel lens is still in use in the lens tower!
The lens is constantly white, when lit, with a bright flash every 60 seconds, but what makes this lens unique is that the midsection of the lens where the bull's-eyes are located rotates, while the upper and lower thirds of the lens stay motionless. This lens is so powerful that when it was first installed and the lens did not move, the sun glare off the lens would start brush fires around the lighthouse and the concentrated sunlight hitting the lens would damage the light source inside of it. Thus its need for motion.
Overall Score and Overview: 31
St. Augustine Lighthouse is a beautifully restored, historical light that serves as the centerpiece in one of America's most historical cities. This lighthouse is a great selection to pick for a lighthouse vacation for those who love beautiful, waterside towns and especially for all those who love American history.
The Junior Service League of St. Augustine has done a five-star job on the lighthouse's renovation and upkeep that will ensure an enjoyable trip!
The Spanish charm of this seaside Florida city will leave a lasting impression on you, as will the majesty and history of its oldest brick structure!
Directions: Take exit 95 (SR-16/318) off of I-95 and head east for a few miles. Make a right onto U.S. 1. Drive until making a left on King Street, continue over the Bridge of Lions which becomes A1A. A few blocks later make a left onto Red Cox Drive (Across the street from the Alligator Farm); the lighthouse is a few blocks up. The Lighthouse Museum has parking lots on both sides of the street.
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