Alligator Reef Light, Islamorada Florida
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Alligator Reef Light is one of the six Florida Reef Lights, a group of offshore tall skeletal tower lighthouses constructed along the Florida Keys during the middle to late nineteenth century. It was the fourth of these lighthouses to be built.
Alligator Reef is located approximately midway between the Sombrero Key Light (34 miles to the west) and the Carysfort Reef Light (37 miles to the east), and is near deep waters navigated by shipping. These circumstances led to an 1857 recommendation by the U.S. Lighthouse Board that a lighthouse be constructed there. Its setting was deemed appropriate for another tall skeletal tower structure. After the Civil War ended, the Lighthouse Board requested funding from Congress in 1868 for a lighthouse on Alligator Reef. However, no funds were appropriated that year. This request was repeated in 1869 with the same result. After a third request was submitted, Congress finally approved an appropriation in July 1870 to build the Alligator Reef Light.
The proposed lighthouse's design incorporated aspects used in the previous Florida Reef Lights and was very similar to the Sombrero Key Light (completed in 1858). This included the engineering, configuration and height of the Alligator Reef Light's skeletal tower, as well as its one-story keepers' dwelling. The Alligator Reef Light's watch room is similar to the one at Sombrero Key Light, but its lantern includes a different glazing pattern. The lanterns of the three Florida Reef Lights built before the Civil War included triangular window panes held by mullions arranged in a helical pattern. The three reef lights constructed after the Civil War (at Alligator Reef, Fowey Rocks, and American Shoal) all have rectangular windowpanes arranged in three tiers of 16 panes each. In addition, the Sombrero Key Light's lantern roof is made of iron plates and rafters while the lantern roofs of the three post-Civil War reef lights are made with plates held together by radial tie rods.
Construction of the Alligator Reef Light began in 1872 near the reef's northeast end, about 200 yards north of where the sea floor at the reef drops off into deeper water. A temporary boat landing and work platform were constructed at the site. Underwater work was accomplished to level the area where the lighthouse was to be built. Nine large cast iron disks with center holes were placed in position and 12-inch diameter iron piles were driven through each disk. These seven-foot diameter disk piles provided the foundation upon which the superstructure's columns, beams and crossties were erected. Construction was completed in late 1873 at a total cost of $185,000. The lighthouse's first day of active service was November 25th, 1873. Its optic was a first order Fresnel lens made by Henri Lepaute of Paris. This beacon had a focal plane 136 feet above sea level, flashed a white light every five seconds, and was visible for 18 miles in clear weather.
Over time, the exposure of the Alligator Reef Light's iron skeletal tower to corrosive saltwater led to the deterioration of various parts. Repair work was undertaken in 1910 to replace several tension rods, turnbuckles, and clamps.
A number of technological improvements were made to the Alligator Reef Light during the 1920s and early 1930s. The oil lamp illuminating its beacon was replaced with an electric light and an improved apparatus was installed for rotating the massive Fresnel lens. The lighthouse's electrification included conversion of one of the dwelling's rooms into an engine room where generators were installed. To provide for fuel storage, a new oil room with storage tanks was suspended beneath the second tier platform. Other improvements included new decking on the boat landing and a replacement stairway leading up to the second tier platform. Repairs were also made to the windlass that lifted supplies up to the keepers' dwelling level.
On Labor Day, September 2nd, 1935, one of the most powerful hurricanes in Florida history struck the middle Florida Keys. It brought winds over 200 miles per hour and a 20-foot storm surge topped with powerful waves. This hurricane caused tremendous property losses and over 400 deaths. The Alligator Reef Light was directly in the storm's path and the damage caused by the hurricane was extensive. Following the storm, Keeper Jones A. Pervis reported that the first tier platform was washed away along with the lighthouse's motor launch, and the dwelling's doors were ripped off or pushed in. In addition, all the lantern glass and every window in the dwelling were broken, and the Fresnel lens was destroyed. In the storm's aftermath, the U.S. Coast Guard deployed some 18 vessels and several aircraft to the Keys in a major rescue and relief effort. Within a few weeks, a vessel chartered by the U.S. Bureau of Lighthouses to transport supplies and equipment for the repair of the Alligator Reef Light was dispatched from Key West. Additional repair and maintenance work was accomplished at the lighthouse in 1936 and 1937.
Hurricane Donna struck the middle Florida Keys in 1960. This powerful storm caused extensive damage to the Alligator Reef Light. Subsequent repairs to the lighthouse included replacing several tie rods, struts, and yokes on the foundation pilings. In 1961, a new boat hoist was installed and part of the first tier platform's decking was removed.
The Alligator Reef Light was automated in 1963, when its keepers departed and equipment was installed for automatic operation. Power was provided using an underwater electrical cable extending from the Upper Matecumbe Key to the lighthouse. Other work on the lighthouse was accomplished in 1965. This included construction of the existing boat landing platform, installing a ladder from the new landing to the second tier platform, and removing platform decking from the skeletal tower's first tier.
The lighthouse's beacon was solarized in 1982. This work included installing a solar array on the watch room gallery and a set of batteries in the watch room to power the beacon. In 1985, the lantern room's first order Fresnel lens was replaced with a 190-millimeter acrylic lens. The 190-mm lens was removed in 1997 and replaced with the existing VRB-25 marine rotating beacon. An automated RACON radar beacon was installed in 1997. Maintenance to the lighthouse accomplished in 1999 included painting, repairs and reinforcing for the skeletal tower, and installing replacement guardrails for the second tier deck and watch room gallery.
Today, the Alligator Reef Light continues to fulfill its original role of providing a guide for mariners traversing a potentially hazardous area along the Florida Reef. It is visible from shore and widely recognized in Monroe County as a prominent offshore landmark. In addition to serving as a navigational aid for vessels in the middle Florida Keys vicinity, Alligator Reef Light is a lasting reminder of the Florida Straits' important historical role as a route for commercial shipping.
Tower Design
Construction of the Florida Reef Lights included an important advancement in U.S. lighthouse engineering. This is the technology of their foundations, which was developed to provide stability at locations where the seafloor lacks the solidity of bedrock. Such areas include coral reefs, which can be riddled with fissures and pockets filled with sand and rock fragments. The foundations of the Florida Reef Lights are made with wrought iron pilings that incorporate wrought iron disks for stability and to spread the load-bearing surface over a wider area. The first two Florida Reef Lights built from the late 1840s to the early 1850s used screw piles improved with disks for their foundations. The four Florida Reef Lights constructed from the late 1850s onwards used straight piles that incorporated iron disks, instead of screw piles.
The use of screw piles for lighthouse foundations originated in Great Britain in the 1830s. It was first employed in the U.S. in 1848 at Brandywine Shoal Light in Delaware Bay. This technology was also adopted for the construction of the first of the six Florida Reef Lights, the Carysfort Reef Light offshore of the Florida Keys. The 1848 design for the Carysfort Reef Light was prepared by lighthouse engineer I. W. P. Lewis and included a screw pile foundation supporting a skeletal tower. Lewis believed that a screw pile foundation was the best solution for overcoming problems relating to constructing an offshore lighthouse where the bottom substrate included coral rock and sand.
Parts to assemble Carysfort Reef Light's foundation were fabricated in Philadelphia in 1848. The completed kit was shipped to the Florida Keys where construction work at the lighthouse's offshore site began in 1849. The task of supervising this project was assigned to Captain Howard Stansbury, U.S. Army Corps of Topographical Engineers. Stansbury observed that screw piles driven into the reef's soft coral rock did not provide a foundation of sufficient strength to support the lighthouse's tall structure. To overcome this, he designed a circular foot plate with a hole in the center through which a foundation pile could be driven until it was tightly seated using a collar. The circular foot plate thus became a disk dispersing the weight supported by the pile over a larger area of the sea floor. Use of a foot plate with a metal pile is the key concept of a disk pile foundation. It provides a significantly larger load-bearing surface and gives better support for the superstructure.
The disk pile foundation that Captain Stansbury developed for the Carysfort Reef Light was successful. As a consequence, it was employed in building all five of the Florida Reef Lights constructed later (the Sand Key Light and the Sombrero Key Light in the 1850s, and the Alligator Reef Light, the Fowey Rocks Light and the American Shoal Light in the 1870s to 1880). All six of these lighthouses include an iron disk pile foundation, pyramidal skeletal tower, keepers' dwelling, and a lantern 100 feet or more above sea level.
After the decision was made in the early 1870s to construct a lighthouse on Alligator Reef, a design was prepared that included a disk pile foundation using straight piles based on the Sombrero Key Light (built in 1857 to 1858). The skeletal tower design of the Alligator Reef Light was also similar to the Sombrero Key Light, as was its rectangular one-story keepers' dwelling. As built, the first tier of the Alligator Reef Light's skeletal tower is nearer sea level than the one at the Sombrero Key Light. Thus, its dwelling is positioned at a slightly lower elevation and the structure's overall height above the water is approximately six feet less than the Sombrero Key Light. Another difference is that the Sombrero Key Light's lantern has three tiers of triangular mullions in a helical pattern that hold the glazing, while the Alligator Reef Light's lantern has three tiers of rectangular mullions.
The first order Fresnel lens installed at the Alligator Reef Light in 1873 was manufactured in France by Henri-Lepaute of Paris. With its glass lens mounted atop the optic's pedestal and rotation machinery, this remarkable example of late nineteenth century technology stood approximately 14 feet tall.
The skeletal tower design used in constructing the Alligator Reef Light represented state-of-the-art engineering and construction methods at that time. However, its one-story keepers' dwelling provided limited living space for its keepers. The next Florida Reef Light built was the Fowey Rocks Light (completed in 1878). Its design included a pyramidal skeletal tower with sides that slope less steeply than the four lights built before. In addition, the keepers' dwelling at the Fowey Rocks Light is two stories in height and includes significantly more space than exists at the Alligator Reef Light's dwelling. This modified design was also used for the American Shoal Light, completed in 1880 and the last of the tall skeletal tower Florida Reef Lights built.
Area History
The Straits of Florida have been an important corridor for maritime transportation since colonial times. The Florida Keys, which border the straits, are characterized by dangerous reefs, shallow waters and powerful storms, especially hurricanes. They have made this area especially hazardous to vessels and the scene of thousands of wrecks and other maritime accidents.
Florida was claimed and partly settled by Spain during the sixteenth century, but by the early nineteenth century Spain's New World Empire was in decline. During the early 1800s, the newly independent United States of America was more vigorous than any other nation in undertaking territorial expansion into western and southeastern North America. New territories added during this period included the vast Louisiana Purchase in 1803 and Spanish Florida, ceded to the U.S. in 1819. Population expansion and economic development of these areas followed shortly afterward. New Orleans, Louisiana, and other Gulf of Mexico ports became important centers for maritime commerce. This led to substantial increases in shipping traffic navigating the Florida Straits between the Keys and Cuba's north coast during the period between the War of 1812 and the early 1820s. At the same time, a regional decline in maritime security led to a rise in pirate activity. The resulting losses to American maritime commerce spurred the U.S. government to dispatch several naval vessels during the 1820s to suppress the pirates.
One of the U.S. Navy warships sent to the region was the USS Alligator, a topsail schooner sailing vessel armed with 12 cannons. After arriving in 1822, the Alligator became actively engaged in anti-pirate operations. Following a successful mission in Cuba, the USS Alligator went aground on November 19th, 1822, atop a shallow reef off the Florida Keys. The vessel could not be refloated and was abandoned and destroyed by its crew. Its wrecking place was named Alligator Reef as a result of this incident.
From the second quarter of the nineteenth century onwards, the Florida Straits remained a busy corridor for ships navigating between the Gulf of Mexico and the Caribbean Sea region and ports in the eastern United States and Europe. As the volume of maritime traffic increased, the number and frequency of shipping losses along the Keys and Florida's east coast rose as well. This provided ample justification for the U.S. government to undertake improvements to navigational safety.
The first group of lighthouses constructed in the Florida Keys region consisted of masonry towers built onshore at strategic locations during the mid-1820s. These included the Cape Florida Light (1825), the Key West Light (1825), the Garden Key Light in the Dry Tortugas (1825), and the Sand Key Light near Key West (1826). In addition, a lightship was stationed offshore of Key Largo at Carysfort Reef in 1825.
In 1846, the U.S. Coast Survey conducted a detailed offshore survey of the Florida Keys, identifying and mapping the area's numerous reefs and shoals. This information was important to the Federal government for the production of nautical charts as well as for determining where and how to mark the many hazards to navigation.
Based on results of the 1846 survey, managers of the Federal lighthouse program determined that the lightship marking Carysfort Reef should be replaced with an onsite lighthouse. The proposed structure was designed as a tall skeletal tower supporting a lantern 100 feet above sea level. The proposed lighthouse's substantial height was intended to allow its optic and day mark to be visible to mariners 10 miles away. In 1848, Congress appropriated funds to build this lighthouse. A contractor was soon selected and the structure was fabricated in Philadelphia and shipped to Florida in 1849.
The task of supervising Carysfort Reef Light's construction was assigned to Captain Howard Stansbury of the U.S. Army Corps of Topographical Engineers. The work proceeded, but the appropriated funds to build the lighthouse proved insufficient and were depleted in 1851. While additional funds were being obtained, Captain Stansbury was reassigned to another post. His replacement was Major Thomas P. Linnard, who died shortly after arriving in the Keys. Lieutenant George G. Meade replaced Linnard and supervised the remaining work at Carysfort Reef Light. Completed in 1852, this structure was 112 feet tall. Carysfort Reef Light was initially equipped with a lamp and reflector array, which was the standard optical equipment for U.S. lighthouses at the time. Shortly after this, Federal lighthouse managers recognized the superiority of Fresnel lens optics for use as state-of-the-art lighthouse beacons. They adopted a policy to replace all the previously installed lamp and reflector equipment, which was less effective. A first-order Fresnel lens was subsequently installed at Caryfort Reef Light and remained in use through the mid-twentieth century. Today, Carysfort Reef Light is equipped with a modern automated optic and continues to serve as an active Federal lighthouse.
Lieutenant Meade's 1850s tour of duty in the Florida Keys included being in charge of constructing a new lighthouse at Sand Key. It was designed as a skeletal tower structure with an optic 109 feet above sea level. Work on the Sand Key Light began in 1852 and was completed in 1853. It is 132 feet tall and was equipped with a first order Fresnel lens as its original beacon. Sand Key Light is still an active Federal aid to navigation and is presently equipped with a modern automated optic. Meade completed his service in the Keys by supervising the construction of the Sombrero Key Light, a skeletal tower structure 156 feet tall. Work began in 1857 and was completed in 1858. The Sombrero Key Light is the tallest lighthouse in the Florida Keys. It remains an active Federal lighthouse today, and is equipped with a modern automated beacon.
In addition to lighthouses, other Federal aids to navigation were established along the Florida Keys during the 1850s. This included installing day beacon visual markers at several locations, such as Alligator Reef. These day beacons typically consisted of a 36-foot tall screw piling with a black barrel on top, replaced later by an iron hoop lattice cylinder. Differing color schemes helped distinguish one day beacon from another. The one built atop Alligator Reef in 1852 had a black shaft, white cylinder, and was marked with the letter "C." These markers were meant to be visible from miles away during daylight, but were not so helpful during stormy weather or at night.
The 1861 outbreak of the Civil War caused a hiatus in Federal lighthouse construction in Florida and elsewhere. It also led to many talented military officers such as George G. Meade experiencing rapid advancements in rank and responsibility. Five years after the 1858 completion of Sombrero Key Light, Meade was a Major General and commander of the Union's Army of the Potomac. He is renowned for leading the Union forces that defeated Confederate General Robert E. Lee's Army of Northern Virginia at the Battle of Gettysburg. Following the Civil War's end in 1865, the government's lighthouse establishment undertook a re-energized program to improve existing navigational aids and construct additional lighthouses.
The U.S. Lighthouse Board undertook construction of additional lighthouses along the Florida Reef following the Civil War. The Alligator Reef Light was built in 1872 to 1873, using a skeletal tower design based on the Sombrero Key Light. The next location selected for a Florida Reef Light was Fowey Rocks, six miles south of Key Biscayne in Dade County. The earlier lighthouse at Cape Florida on Key Biscayne had proven inadequate to warn mariners of dangerous waters in the Fowey Rocks area. The U.S. Lighthouse Board determined that Fowey Rocks would best be marked by an offshore light. Work on a tall skeletal tower lighthouse there began in 1875 and was completed in 1878. The Fowey Rocks Light is 125 feet tall. Its original beacon was a first-order Fresnel lens. This lighthouse differs from the Sombrero Key and Alligator Reef lighthouses in three major aspects: its tower is not as tall or steeply sloped, the keepers' dwelling is two stories tall, and there is an added service room below the watch room and lantern. Today, the Fowey Rocks Light is still an active Federal aid to navigation and is equipped with a modern automated optic.
The five tall skeletal tower lighthouses built by the Federal government along the Florida Keys between the early 1850s and 1878 provided a nearly overlapping series of beacons where the next in line could be seen around the time that the one passed earlier was lost to view. By 1878, there was just one major gap left, a stretch approximately 51 miles long between the Sand Key Light and the Sombrero Key Light. The Sand Key Light could be seen from approximately 12 miles away. From there, vessels needed to navigate approximately 25 miles farther before the Sombrero Key Light became visible. This gap contained a number of hazards to navigation including the Sambo Reefs, Maryland Shoal, American Shoal, and Looe Key.
To solve the problem of this 25-mile gap, the U.S. Lighthouse Board recommended to Congress in 1875 that a lighthouse be constructed at Looe Key, but Congress took no action. The following year, the Lighthouse Board resubmitted its recommendation for a lighthouse in the area between Sand Key Light and Sombrero Key Light. This time, the Board proposed that American Shoal was better than Looe Key for building the proposed lighthouse. On June 10th, 1878, Congress finally approved funds to build a tall skeletal tower lighthouse at American Shoal. Onsite work there began in late 1879 and was completed the following year. The lighthouse's optic was officially lighted for the first time on July 15th, 1880.
The American Shoal Light is virtually identical to the Fowey Rocks Light except for its lantern. The skeletal tower is not as tall or steeply sloped as the Sombrero Key and Alligator Reef lighthouses, the keepers' dwelling is two stories tall, and there is a service room below the watch room and lantern. The American Shoal Light remains an active Federal aid to navigation today and is presently equipped with a modern automated optic.
Following the end of World War I, the U.S. Bureau of Lighthouses (successor to the Lighthouse Board) determined that additional lighted aids were needed in the Florida Keys. This led to the construction from 1921 to 1936 of a group of seven unmanned reef lights to mark local hazards. These lights were designed to be operated automatically from the outset. The first two were built at Molasses Reef and Pacific Reef in 1921. They were pyramidal skeletal towers having three tiers of horizontal supporting members, and were topped with a lantern equipped with an automated optic. Another pyramidal skeletal tower automated light was built at Hen and Chicken Shoals in 1929. Its design was a modification of the type used earlier at Molasses Reef and Pacific Reef.
A different skeletal tower design was developed for the four other offshore automated lights. They included the Smith Shoal Light and the Tennessee Reef Light (both built in 1933), the Cosgrove Shoal Light (built in 1935), and the Pulaski Shoal Light (built in 1936). Today, the Tennessee Reef Light is the only one of these seven skeletal tower automated lights that still has its original lantern. Two of this group (the Smith Shoal Light and the Pulaski Shoal Light) have been demolished.
Keepers working for the U.S. Lighthouse Service (part of the Bureau of Lighthouses) manned the six Florida Reef Lights until 1939. In that year President Franklin D. Roosevelt ordered the Bureau of Lighthouses to be subsumed into the U.S. Coast Guard (USCG). Following this consolidation, USCG personnel were assigned as lighthouse keepers. A typical complement was four men with each serving three weeks at the lighthouse followed by one week ashore. Their schedules were staggered so that three men were always at the lighthouse. This system continued until 1963, when the six Florida Reef Lights were automated and resident keepers were no longer required.
In January 1997, the container ship Houston ran aground approximately two miles west of the American Shoal Light, within the limits of the Florida Keys National Marine Sanctuary. The ship was eventually refloated, but the incident left an extensive area of coral reef damaged and the ship's owners liable. As part of the resulting legal settlement the owners paid for the purchase of eight modern RACON radar beacons and their installation atop several light towers in the Florida Keys, including the Alligator Reef Light.
The six Florida Reef Lights have proved to be important aids to navigation from their initial establishment to the present. Each one remains in service today providing a valuable guide to mariners, both during the day and at night.
Structure Description
The Alligator Reef Light, which was established as a Federal aid to navigation in 1873, marks a hazardous reef 3.5 miles south of Islamorada on Upper Matecumbe Key in Monroe County, Florida. It is situated more than three nautical miles from land and is outside Florida state waters. This property is one of the famous Florida Reef Lights, which are six skeletal tower lighthouses more than 100 feet tall that were built during the middle to late nineteenth century. The Alligator Reef Light was the fourth of the Florida Reef Lights built. The skeletal tower is supported by pilings and supports a one-story rectangular keepers' dwelling, stair cylinder, watch room, and lantern. This lighthouse is operated as an automated beacon identified as number 980 on the regional light list. It is equipped with a modern optic that signals a flashing white light visible for 16 miles in clear weather, as well as two red sectors that mark areas of hazardous water to the northeast and southwest. The lighthouse's equipment includes a RACON radar beacon. Owned by the U.S. Coast Guard, this property includes an octagonal, pyramidal skeletal tower lighthouse 148 feet tall that stands in six feet of water, and a boat dock built in 1965. The boat dock features a mooring place and a walkway that connects with the lighthouse. Alligator Reef Light is accessible only by boat and is not open to public visitation.
This offshore lighthouse marks the Alligator Reef, which is a coral reef situated 3.5 miles south of Islamorada on Upper Matecumbe Key in Monroe County, Florida. The Alligator Reef is more than three nautical miles from land and is beyond the limit of Florida state waters. It is named after the U.S.S. Alligator, a U.S. Navy vessel which wrecked upon this reef in November 1822. The lighthouse's location is on the northern side of the Straits of Florida, near an important shipping lane for vessels navigating between the Gulf of Mexico and the Atlantic Ocean. The Florida Straits extend west to east between the Florida Keys and Cuba, and curve northward between Florida's east coast and the Bahamas. The Gulf Stream current flows eastward from the Gulf of Mexico into the Florida Straits, and along the straits northward to the Atlantic Ocean beyond.
The Alligator Reef Light is one the famous Florida Reef Lights spread along approximately 150 miles of the Florida Keys from south of Key Biscayne to near Key West. They are six skeletal tower lighthouses, all more than 100 feet tall, built during the middle to late nineteenth century. Five of these lighthouses are located offshore of Monroe County. From west to east, they are situated at Sand Key, American Shoal, Sombrero Key, Alligator Reef and Carysfort Reef. One of the Florida Reef Lights is located offshore of Dade County at Fowey Rocks, approximately six miles southeast of Key Biscayne.
The Alligator Reef Light is within the authorized boundaries of the Florida Keys National Marine Sanctuary. It stands in six feet of water and is identified as number 980 on the regional light list. This property is surrounded by water and is accessible only by boat.
The 148 feet tall lighthouse at Alligator Reef began operating in 1873. It is a skeletal tower structure similar to the other Florida Reef Lights. The Alligator Reef Light includes an iron disk pile foundation and an iron octagonal pyramidal skeletal tower with seven horizontal tiers. The tower supports a keepers' dwelling, stair cylinder, watch room, and lantern. The lighthouse's day mark is black top, white middle, and black base. The lantern, watch room, and pile foundation are painted black. The skeletal tower, keepers' dwelling and stair cylinder are painted white. This day mark coloration has been maintained from 1873 to the present.
The lighthouse's foundation, which is 50 feet in diameter, includes a set of nine iron disk piles. Eight pilings are arranged in an octagonal configuration, with the ninth positioned in the center. Each disk pile includes a 12-inch diameter wrought iron straight piling and a 7-foot diameter cast iron disk. The pilings are solid metal and 26 feet long with a pointed tip. The pilings include a shoulder that is 12 feet, 9 inches from the tip that increases the piling's diameter. Each disk includes a 12-inch diameter center hole surrounded by a 2-foot tall collar. The collar is reinforced by radial ribs extending to the disk's perimeter, ending at a 6-inch tall rim. Each disk is positioned horizontally on a leveled area of the coral rock seafloor. The process to set a disk pile in its place used a pile driver to pound a piling through the disk's center hole and into the coral rock substrate until the piling was approximately ten feet deep and the piling's shoulder rested against the disk's collar. This served to disperse the piling's structural load over a wider area and provided for greater stability. The following describes how the Alligator Reef Light's foundation was built:
After being set into position, the tops of the nine foundation piles were cut level with one another and capped with sockets. The sockets provide connection points for horizontal beams, vertical columns, and tension rods (cross-tie rods with turnbuckles). The tension rods are oriented diagonally, vertically and horizontally. They provide tension on the foundation's components and the skeletal tower's column and beam framework, pulling them together vertically, horizontally, and diagonally.
The foundation's vertical pilings are connected with one another using horizontal beams extending to sockets at the top of neighboring pilings. Tension rods tie them to sockets on neighboring pilings. The socket atop the foundation's center piling includes 16 connection points. These provide joints for a vertical column, horizontal beams extending to the peripheral pilings, and tension rods extending upward and downward in a radial fashion to the peripheral foundation pilings and to columns and beams of the tower superstructure.
The lighthouse's skeletal tower is octagonal in plan and pyramidal in elevation. It is built with a series of seven structural tiers consisting of horizontal beams extending between the tower's peripheral columns. The first (lowest) tier includes the top of the foundation's nine vertical pilings and horizontal beams connecting them. Each of the eight perimeter pilings supports a column that inclines inward towards the center in pyramidal fashion at an approximately 60-degree angle.
The skeletal tower's eight peripheral columns are made with a series of column segments and iron sockets at each segment's upper and lower end. These sockets provide connection points for successive column segments as well as each tier's horizontal beams and diagonal tension rods. The inclined columns become narrower in diameter at higher tiers. The first tier's foundation pilings are 12 inches in diameter. The column segments rising to the second and third tiers are 10 inches in diameter, while the segments rising to the fourth and fifth tiers are 9 inches in diameter. The column segments extending from the fifth tier to the seventh tier have a diameter of 7.5 inches.
The tower's second tier includes horizontal iron beams connecting with the second tier sockets atop the central and peripheral columns. This tier supports an octagonal platform made with iron plates. The lighthouse keepers' dwelling sits atop the platform. The tower's third, fourth, fifth, and sixth tiers include diagonal tension rods and horizontal beams that extend between the peripheral columns and bands of sockets surrounding the stair cylinder. The seventh tier's horizontal beams support the watch room, which is centered atop the stair cylinder.
The skeletal tower's octagonal second tier platform is approximately 50 feet wide. It is made with iron plates that are cast with a diamond pattern to improve traction on the second tier's deck. The platform's northwest (NW) side includes two projecting 3-foot wide triangular sections that formerly supported boat davits that are no longer present. A galvanized steel ladder with 21 steps rises from the lighthouse's boat dock to provide access to the second tier deck between the two projecting sections. A galvanized steel guardrail installed in 1987 encloses the second tier platform's perimeter. It is a replacement for the original wrought iron handrail that had deteriorated.
The lighthouse keepers' dwelling is rectangular and one story in height. It sits centered atop the second tier platform and is painted white. The dwelling is approximately 10 feet tall and is 30 feet, 9 inches long on each side. It has a nearly flat, hipped metal roof that slopes slightly from the central stair cylinder to the roof's perimeter. A cast iron stylized classical cornice extends along the roof eaves. It includes a built-in gutter that channels rainwater to four downspouts inside the dwelling. One downspout is positioned at each of the dwelling's four interior corners. They formerly drained into storage tanks, but now empty into the sea.
The dwelling's exterior walls are made of vertical iron beams with riveted cast iron plates filling the spaces between them. Each beam's exterior face is a pilaster decorated with a stylized Doric order design including capital, fluted shaft, and base. These are spaced approximately five feet apart and project slightly from the adjoining undecorated wall plates. The pilasters provide classical architectural details to the otherwise plain exterior. The dwelling's four exterior corners are made with curved iron plates held between two pilasters. There are two original doorways on each side of the dwelling. Only the doorway near the west end of the north elevation is functional today. It is fitted with a two-leaf metal door. The other seven doorways are blocked with steel plates. The two east elevation doorways, one west elevation doorway, and one south elevation doorway include rectangular windows that light the dwelling's interior. These windows are covered with steel mesh on the outer side. No original window sash remains.
The dwelling's interior is a single large room. The original interior partition walls, ceiling, and flooring have been removed. The base of the lighthouse's stair cylinder sits in the room's center, 11 feet, 9 inches from the surrounding walls. The room's existing ceiling is the underside of the dwelling's roof. It is supported by 16 curved beams that extend in a radial fashion from the stair cylinder to the surrounding walls. The floor is the second tier platform's iron deck. Four tension rods connected to the skeletal tower's third tier pierce the dwelling's ceiling and extend diagonally to pierce the floor near the stair cylinder. The lower ends of these rods connect with the skeletal tower's center column, which is directly beneath the stair cylinder.
The lighthouse's central stair cylinder rises vertically from the center of the keepers' dwelling. It is approximately 90 feet in height and seven feet in diameter. The cylinder is made of curved cast iron plates that are 0.25-inch thick and fastened with rivets. The stair cylinder's lower entrance is an arched doorway on the northwest side, inside the keepers' dwelling. It is 6 feet, 8 inches tall by 2 feet, 9 inches wide. The original door is missing. The cylinder contains a cast iron spiral stairway with a central column that leads up from the dwelling to the watch room atop the skeletal tower. The stairway's 119 iron treads are cast with a mesh of diamond-shaped openings. There are five landings made with cast iron plates having the same mesh as the stair treads. An iron handrail is bolted to brackets on the cylinder's interior wall. The handrail ends at each landing and resumes where the stairway continues. The stair cylinder has seven rectangular windows that are 30 inches tall by 24 inches wide. These are filled with one-over-one, overlapping double hung steel-framed sash. The sashes are fixed with a narrow gap separating one from the other. This allows ventilation while keeping rain out. The stair cylinder's lowest window is a short distance above the dwelling's roof and faces northeast. The next five windows are located at each of the five stairway landings. The seventh window pierces the stair cylinder near its top and faces west.
The lighthouse's watch room sits centered atop an octagonal platform made with iron plates that is supported by the skeletal tower's seventh tier and the stair cylinder. The stair cylinder's spiral stairway ends at an opening in the watch room floor that is partly protected by a curving wrought iron guardrail. The watch room is circular, approximately eight feet tall, and 12 feet, 6 inches in diameter. It is constructed of iron plates and paneled on the interior with vertical wooden boards painted white. The watch room's western side is pierced with a rectangular 30-inch by 24-inch window fitted with double-hung, overlapping metal-framed sash identical to the stair cylinder windows. The room's eastern side is pierced with an arched doorway 6 feet, 8 inches tall by 2 feet, 9 inches wide that provides access to the outdoor watch room gallery. The door is missing. The watch room floor includes a circular walkway covered with wooden boards that surrounds a circular iron platform supporting the lighthouse beacon's original cast iron pedestal. A set of modern batteries sits on the watch room floor with associated electrical panels mounted on the wall. These provide power to the lighthouse's existing optic and RACON radar beacon.
The watch room has no ceiling. It is open at its circular top to the lantern room, above. This was necessary to accommodate the lighthouse's original optic, a first order Fresnel lens with supporting pedestal and rotation mechanism that was approximately 14 feet tall overall. The watch room's overhead opening is surrounded by the lantern room's two-foot wide circular catwalk which is constructed of sectional cast iron plates. A steep, curving iron stairway provides access from the watch room to the lantern room catwalk.
The cast iron pedestal mechanism that supported the lighthouse's original beacon sits centered on the watch room floor. It includes an original circular base approximately two feet tall with two small access doors that formerly contained the clockwork mechanism for rotating the lighthouse's Fresnel lens. The circular base supports a circular platform with radial ribs on the underside. The Fresnel lens' original circular metal drum sits atop this platform. The circular metal drum includes decorative elements on its exterior and an access opening on one side. The drum's interior includes three steps leading up to a circular platform that originally supported the lamp that lighted the lignthouse's Fresnel lens.
The watch room is surrounded by an octagonal open air gallery. This gallery is four feet wide and is bounded by a steel guardrail made with steel pipe stanchions and three horizontal rails. It is a replacement for the original railing which had deteriorated. The gallery's deck is made of iron plates embossed with a pattern of raised triangles for better traction. Each of these plates includes a diamond-shaped grill with openings allowing water to drain. A double-rung iron ladder rises from the gallery's eastern side to the lantern gallery, above. A modern solar array is mounted on a steel framework attached to the southern side of the gallery deck. It recharges the batteries powering the lighthouse's electrical equipment. A modern automated RACON radar beacon is attached to the framework supporting the solar array. When triggered by a ship's radar, it transmits the letter G in Morse code as its identification signal.
The lighthouse's lantern sits atop the watch room. It is cylindrical, 11.5 feet in diameter, and approximately 10 feet in height. The lantern's exterior includes glazing approximately six feet tall extending from a metal base just above the lantern room catwalk to the roof overhead. The lantern consists of 48 two-foot-by-two-foot glass panes held by astragals. The glazing is arranged in three tiers of 16 panes each. There are two red lexan panels of floor-to-ceiling height held by aluminum frames mounted inside the lantern glazing, one on the east-northeast (ENE) side and the other on the west-southwest (WSW) side. These give a red color to the lighthouse's beacon when viewed from those directions, indicating hazardous areas. The lantern room base below the glazing is pierced on the inside with eight evenly-spaced ventilation openings fitted with grills. The ventilation openings allow air to enter the lower part of the lantern.
The lantern's metal roof springs from a soffit above the glazing. It is made with 16 triangular cast iron plates that rise in a slight slope to an apex topped with a vent ball and lightning rod. The lantern is surrounded by an outdoor gallery two feet wide. A flat steel handrail supported by steel rod stanchions surrounds the gallery's perimeter. It is a replacement for the original railing which had deteriorated. The lantern gallery is accessed by way of the metal ladder on the watch room gallery.
The lantern room's opening to the watch room below is occupied by the drum that formerly supported the lighthouse's original first order Fresnel lens. A pedestal in the center of this drum supports a circular iron case that formerly held a clockwork rotation mechanism. This metal case is empty. A modern steel stand affixed atop the iron case supports the lighthouse's existing optic, a modern automated VRB-25 marine beacon. It signals four white flashes every 60 seconds and is visible to the north and south for 16 miles in clear weather. Its focal plane is 136 feet above the water. The red lexan panels inside the lantern change the beacon's color to a flashing red light visible towards the ENE and WSW for 13 miles in clear weather. The eastern red sector covers an arc from 47 to 68 degrees magnetic. The western red sector covers an arc from 223 to 249 degrees magnetic. They mark areas containing hazardous reefs and shallow water.
The lighthouse's boat dock stands next to the skeletal tower's northwest side. It provides for vessel mooring and serves as a landing place for transferring personnel, equipment and supplies. The boat dock is rectangular, approximately 30 feet long by 30 feet wide, and is supported by four pilings. Its deck is made with wooden boards and is approximately 15 feet above water level. A steel ladder extends from the deck to the water. A walkway made with steel beams and a wooden deck extends approximately 20 feet from the dock to the lighthouse tower's first tier. This walkway has no guardrail. A 21-step, steel ladder rises at a steep angle from the walkway to the tower's second tier platform. It is approximately 25 feet tall. The lowest ten feet of this ladder is shielded with steel mesh for security purposes. This ladder was installed in 1991 and replaced a stairway that formerly led up to the second tier. The boat dock and its ladder are of late twentieth century construction.
Lighthouse northeastern elevation, boat dock on right (2009)
View upward from boat dock toward access ladder and second tier platform (2009)
Second tier platform deck with keepers dwelling west facade on left (2009)
Keepers dwelling interior with stair cylinder doorway in center (2009)
Stair cylinder interior (2009)
Watch room interior with stairway to lantern room (2009)
Watch room gallery with ladder to lantern gallery and solar array (2009)
