Cape San Juan Light (''Faro de Las Cabezas de San Juan'') is a historic

lighthouse A lighthouse is a tower, building, or other type of physical structure designed to emit light from a system of lamps and lenses and to serve as a beacon for navigational aid, for maritime pilots at sea or on inland waterways. Lighthouses mar ...

located on the northeastern part of the highest point of Cape San Juan in

Fajardo, Puerto Rico Fajardo (, ) is a town and municipality -Fajardo Combined Statistical Area. Fajardo is the hub of much of the recreational boating in Puerto Rico and a popular launching port to Culebra, Vieques, and the U.S. and British Virgin Islands. It is ...

. The lighthouse was constructed in 1880 and was officially lit on May 2, 1882. The original illuminating apparatus, not changed until after 1898, had an range and displayed a fixed white light which every three minutes flashed red. Cape San Juan Light

The lighthouse owned by the Puerto Rico Conservation Trust is part of the Las Cabezas de San Juan Nature Reserve. The reserve includes a

bioluminescence Bioluminescence is the production and emission of light by living organisms. It is a form of chemiluminescence. Bioluminescence occurs widely in marine vertebrates and invertebrates, as well as in some fungi, microorganisms including some b ...

bay, rare flora and fauna, various trails and boardwalks, and scientific research center. Despite its small size, the reserve shelters seven different ecological systems, including beaches, lagoons, dry forest, coral reefs and mangroves. In 1898, the lighthouse played a major role in the

Battle of Fajardo The Battle of Fajardo was an engagement between the armed forces of the United States and Spain that occurred on the night of August 8–9, 1898 near the end of the Puerto Rican Campaign during the Spanish–American War. Background Proceeding ...

during the Puerto Rican Campaign of the

Spanish–American War , partof = the Philippine Revolution, the decolonization of the Americas, and the Cuban War of Independence , image = Collage infobox for Spanish-American War.jpg , image_size = 300px , caption = (clock ...

. The lighthouse was listed in the

National Register of Historic Places The National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) is the United States federal government's official list of districts, sites, buildings, structures and objects deemed worthy of preservation for their historical significance or "great artistic v ...

by the

United States government The federal government of the United States (U.S. federal government or U.S. government) is the national government of the United States, a federal republic located primarily in North America, composed of 50 states, a city within a fede ...

on October 22, 1981. In 2001, under the

National Historic Lighthouse Preservation Act The National Historic Lighthouse Preservation Act of 2000 (NHLPA; Public Law 106-355; 16 U.S.C. 470w-7) is American legislation creating a process for the transfer of federally owned lighthouses into private hands. It was created as an extension o ...

, it became the first lighthouse to be transferred to a non-governmental organization in Puerto Rico.

Gallery

Las Cabezas de San Juan PR Fajardo IMG 2386 Laguna Grande.JPG Faro de Las Cabezas de San Juan, Fajardo, Puerto Rico.jpg

References

External links

Faro De Las Cabezas De San Juan. National Park Service
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Las Cabezas de San Juan Reserva Natural 'El Faro'. Lonely Planet review

Puerto Rico Conservation Trust
{{Authority control Lighthouses completed in 1882 Fajardo, Puerto Rico Historic American Engineering Record in Puerto Rico Lighthouses on the National Register of Historic Places in Puerto Rico Spanish Colonial architecture in Puerto Rico Neoclassical architecture in Puerto Rico

Gallery

See also

References

External links