This is the only Lighthouse I have ever visited.
Ponce de Leon Inlet Lighthouse
According to the association, the lighthouse began with the federal purchase of 10 acres of land in 1883. It was designed by writer and engineer Francis Hopkinson Smith and completed in 1887.
A lighthouse keeper cleaned the lens and checked the oil supply in the kerosene lamp that lighted the fixed Fresnel (pronounced Freh-nel) lens. It could be seen as far out as 20 miles at sea.
The kerosene lamp was replaced by an oil vapor lamp in 1909, and by a 500-watt electric lamp in 1933, when the lens, too, was replaced.
Several auxiliary buildings on the property once housed the lighthouse keeper and his assistants, but when the lighthouse was automated in 1953, the keepers were no longer needed. Today those houses are museums.
In 1970, the Coast Guard abandoned the lighthouse and established a new station on the south side of the inlet. "So the lighthouse was 'excessed' by the government, the town applied for it, and the government gave it to us," said Caneer.
Soon after, an association was formed to preserve the site.
"In 1982, the federal government asked permission to put the light back in, and we agreed," said Caneer. "They take care of the light. If it goes out, that's their problem."
The lighthouse is the nation's second-tallest brick tower, after Cape Hatteras, N.C. It is supported by a brick foundation 12 feet deep and 45 feet wide. At the base, the tower is 32 feet in diameter, tapering to 12 1/2 feet at the top. A total of 1.25 million bricks were used in its construction. Walls are 8 feet thick at the bottom and 2 feet thick at the top. 