Alligator Reef Light is located east of
Indian Key
Indian or Indians may refer to:
Peoples South Asia
* Indian people, people of Indian nationality, or people who have an Indian ancestor
** Non-resident Indian, a citizen of India who has temporarily emigrated to another country
* South Asia ...
, near the Matecumbe Keys of
Florida in the
United States, north of
Alligator Reef
Alligator Reef is a coral reef located within the Florida Keys National Marine Sanctuary. It lies to the southeast of Upper Matecumbe Key. This reef lies within a Sanctuary Preservation Area (SPA).
Name
Alligator Reef is named for the '' ...
itself. The station was established in 1873. It was automated in 1963 and was last operational in July, 2014, and is being replaced by a 16' steel structure with a less powerful light located adjacent to it. The structure is an
iron pile skeleton
A skeleton is the structural frame that supports the body of an animal. There are several types of skeletons, including the exoskeleton, which is the stable outer shell of an organism, the endoskeleton, which forms the support structure inside ...
with a platform. The light is above the water. It is a white octagonal pyramid skeleton framework on black
pile foundation
A deep foundation is a type of foundation that transfers building loads to the earth farther down from the surface than a shallow foundation does to a subsurface layer or a range of depths. A pile or piling is a vertical structural element ...
, enclosing a square dwelling and a stair-cylinder. The lantern is black. The original lens was a first order bivalve
Fresnel lens. The light characteristic of the original light was:
flashing white and red, every third flash red, from SW by W 1/2 W through southward to NE 1/8 E, and from NE by E 3/4 E through northward to SW 3/8 S;
flashing red throughout the intervening sectors; interval between flashes 5 seconds. It had a nominal range of in the white sectors and in the red sectors. The new light has a range of approximately .
It is listed as number 980 in the USCG light lists.
Historical information
The name honors the
U.S. Navy schooner
A schooner () is a type of sailing vessel defined by its rig: fore-and-aft rigged on all of two or more masts and, in the case of a two-masted schooner, the foremast generally being shorter than the mainmast. A common variant, the topsail schoon ...
''Alligator'', part of the U. S. Navy Anti-
Piracy Squadron that had recently been established in
Key West
Key West ( es, Cayo Hueso) is an island in the Straits of Florida, within the U.S. state of Florida. Together with all or parts of the separate islands of Dredgers Key, Fleming Key, Sunset Key, and the northern part of Stock Island, it cons ...
, which went aground at this location in 1822. The ''Alligator'' was blown up after removing as much as possible from it to prevent it from being used by pirates. Countless vessels have also sunk here on the reef's jagged
coral. This lighthouse cost
$185,000 to build at that time. To support the tower, a 2,000
lb (900 kg) hammer was used to drive the iron pilings into the coral.
Current situation
On February 1, 2019, it was announced that the lighthouse would be given away freely to any government agencies, educational agencies, non-profit corporations, or any community development organizations who wanted to use it for "educational, park, recreational, cultural or historic preservation purposes."
This is in accordance with the
National Historic Lighthouse Preservation Act.
Friends of the Pool, a community organization based in
Islamorada, was granted title to the lighthouse in 2021. The group changed its name to Save Alligator Lighthouse and raised $6 million to restore the lighthouse. Solar-powered lights were installed and illuminated in October 2023.
See also
*
List of lighthouses in Florida
*
List of lighthouses in the United States
References
Bibliography
*
*
External links
Florida Keys Reef Lights Foundation - FKRLF
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Lighthouses completed in 1873
Lighthouses in Monroe County, Florida
Lighthouses on the National Register of Historic Places in Florida
National Register of Historic Places in Monroe County, Florida
1873 establishments in Florida