Sunset At The Lighthouse

Title

Sunset At The Lighthouse

Artist

Scott Mullin

Medium

Digital Art

Description

This is the second lighthouse erected in this spot. The first lighthouse�s construction contract called for a 65-foot-tall (20 m) tower with walls of solid brick, five feet thick at the bottom tapering to two feet thick at the top. It was later found that the contractor had scrimped on materials and built hollow walls.

On July 23, 1836, a band of Seminole attacked the lighthouse. After dark, the raiders approached the tower, setting fire to the door and a boarded-up window at ground level. Rifle balls had penetrated tanks in the bottom of the tower, which held 225 gallons of lamp oil for the light, and the oil caught fire.

Sure that he was going to die and wanting a quick end, the assistant lighthouse keeper threw the gunpowder keg down the inside of the tower. The keg exploded, but did not topple the tower. It dampened the fire briefly, but the flames soon returned as fierce as ever before dying down. One of the defenders died in the attack, the other taken to a hospital in Key West to recover from his wounds.

Bill Baggs Lighthouse HistoryThe Cape Florida Light was extinguished from 1836 to 1846. In 1846 a contract was let to rebuild the lighthouse and the keeper's dwelling. The contractor was permitted to reuse the old bricks from the original tower and house. New bricks were also sent from Massachusetts. The contract went to the low bidder at US$7,995. The lighthouse was completed and re-lit in April, 1847

In an 1855 renovation, the tower was raised to 95 feet (29 m), to extend the reach of the light beyond the off-shore reefs.

In 1978, the Coast Guard restored the lighthouse to active service, one hundred years after it was decommissioned. An automated light was installed in the tower to serve as a navigational aide, particularly to help boaters find the Florida Channel at night.. After twelve years of service, the light was decommissioned by the Coast Guard in 1990.

A joint project with the Dade County Historical Society in 1995-1996 restored the lighthouse. A museum was installed in a replica of the keeper's quarters, to give visitors a sense of the maritime history of Florida.

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December 17th, 2016

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