The Bill
Baggs Cape Florida State Recreation Area – Key Biscayne
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The Cape Florida Lighthouse has a special connection to our family. The first Keeper was John Dubose, a former Navy Captain appointed to the lighthouse keeper's post by President John Quincy Adams. Dubose was an ancestor of my wife Elizabeth. Dubose moved his large family into the brick cottage at the lighthouse in December of 1825. |
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The Cape Florida Lighthouse as seen from the beach of Key Biscayne |
The
lighthouse that stands on Key Biscayne in the Bill Baggs State
Recreation Area is not the original lighthouse build in this area.
It is the third one. Samuel
B. Lincoln built the first one, completed in 1825. It was a 65-foot tall tower tapering from 5 feet at the
bottom to 2 feet at the top,
A
few years after the lighthouse was put in service it was discovered that
the contractor had cheated, and made the walls hollow, not solid as
specified in the contract with the government.
As
far as anyone can tell, no one was ever prosecuted for the omission.
This
lighthouse was partially destroyed in a Seminole Indian attack in 1836.
It was rebuilt in 1846 following the Second Seminole War when warriors
attacked and set fire to it and the Keeper's Cottage.
It was not an
adequate light though, and in 1855 it was rebuilt to a height of 95 feet
and a third order fresnel lens was installed.
During
the Civil War, the lighthouse was once again damaged and was out of
operation until 1867. Ten years later, the new offshore reef lighthouse
at Fowey Rocks put the Cape Florida light out of business. Abandoned, it
deteriorated and stood only as a day marker for a full century until
1978, when a restoration effort was successful and the light was
rekindled on July 4th of that year.
The
lighthouse is part of the Bill Baggs Cape Florida State Recreation Area.
It’s open to the public, and the white sand and light blue waters off
the beaches at the park are nice for swimming and playing.
The lighthouse rises
on the southernmost tip of Key Biscayne overlooking the rest of the more
than 500-acre Bill Baggs State Park. Visitors may want to picnic,
sunbathe, swim, fish, or follow paths through the ecologically restored
interior, traveling on foot or bicycle from beachside to bayside on the
Key Biscayne Heritage Trail.
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Today
rangers and guides on scheduled tours take visitors through the
furnished air-conditioned cottage and the cookhouse (now an
air-conditioned video mini-theater) as an introduction to Cape Florida
lighthouse history and Key Biscayne. A panoramic view of
surrounding waters, islands, and Keys awaits those who climb the 121
steps up the circular iron stairway to the watch room at the top of
South Florida's oldest landmark, overlooking the Gulf Stream and
Biscayne Bay. To Get There – From I-95 take the exit marked 25th Road. Follow signs to the Rickenbacker Causeway. Cross the Causeway and pay the small toll ($1 when we were there), stay on Crandon Blvd to it’s end, which is the entrance to the Park. A ranger gate will stop you for payment of a small admission fee ($4 per car). The lighthouse is just up the road on the left. Park in the parking area and walk there or up the beach to it. |
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Just like out here at Tybee, there is a walkway of inscribed bricks purchased by supports of the restoration effort
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Monday, December 13, 2004 11:08:49 PM