Cardona Island Light (also known as Faro del Puerto de Ponce or Cayo Cardona Light) is the only 6th order lighthouse in Puerto Rico with a cylindrical attached tower. The light is located on Cardona Island, a small island on the west side of the entrance to the harbor of

Ponce, Puerto Rico Ponce (, , , ) is both a city and a municipality on the southern coast of Puerto Rico. The city is the seat of the municipal government. Ponce, Puerto Rico's most populated city outside the San Juan metropolitan area, was founded on 12 August 1 ...

. It was listed in the U.S. National Register of Historic Places on 22 October 1981.

Location

The light is located on a small key, west of Ponce Harbor. Cayo Cardona Light is the western minor light that together with

Guánica Light Guánica Light ( es, Faro de Guánica) was a historic lighthouse located in the municipality of Guánica, Puerto Rico in the Guánica State Forest. It was first lit in 1893 and deactivated in 1950. The light marked the entrance to Guánica Bay an ...

connects

Los Morrillos Light Faro Los Morrillos de Cabo Rojo, also known as Los Morrillos Light, is a historic lighthouse located in Los Morrillos cape (officially Cabo Rojo, Spanish for "red cape") in the municipality of Cabo Rojo, Puerto Rico. History Located at the sout ...

and

Caja de Muertos Light Caja de Muertos Light, (''Faro de la Isla de Caja de Muertos'') is an 1887 lighthouse in Ponce, Puerto Rico, that is unique amongst all other lighthouses in Puerto Rico for its unusual Cross of Lorraine, double-arm, T-type shape structure. The ...

and guides the entrance to the

Port of Ponce The Rafael Cordero Santiago Port of the Americas es, Puerto de las Américas Rafael Cordero Santiago (PLA) is a megaport currently under construction in Ponce, Puerto Rico. The project aims to convert the current Port of Ponce into a value-add ...

. The island is accessible only by private boat, but it can be seen from the observation tower on the

La Guancha boardwalk Paseo Tablado La Guancha (English: ''La Guancha Boardwalk'') is a boardwalk in the La Guancha sector of the Playa barrio in the city of Ponce, Puerto Rico, facing the Caribbean Sea. It was built under the mayoral administration of Rafael Cord ...

. It is not open to the public. It was first lit in 1889 and automated in 1962. In 1942, during

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

, its use was discontinued, but was relighted again on 10 November 1943. The light is still an active aid to navigation.

Significance

Together with

, Cardona Light is the western minor light which connects Cabo Rojo Light and

and guides the entrance to a

port A port is a maritime facility comprising one or more wharves or loading areas, where ships load and discharge cargo and passengers. Although usually situated on a sea coast or estuary, ports can also be found far inland, such as Ham ...

that, during the course of last century, exported millions of pounds of

sugar Sugar is the generic name for sweet-tasting, soluble carbohydrates, many of which are used in food. Simple sugars, also called monosaccharides, include glucose, fructose, and galactose. Compound sugars, also called disaccharides or double ...

particularly to the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...

. Architecturally, it is significant that it is the only 6th order lighthouse with a cylindrical attached tower. Also, the original brick roof and firewood beams are practically intact.''National Register of Historic Places Inventory-Nomination Form – Cayo Cardona Light''. United States Department of the Interior. National Park Service. (Washington, D.C.) Page 2. Listing Reference Number 81000691. 22 October 1981.

Description

The lighthouse was built of stone and brick and intended for one second class keeper. The light, built in 1889, guides the entrance to the

, as a 6th order red fixed light.''National Register of Historic Places Inventory-Nomination Form – Cayo Cardona Light''. United States Department of the Interior. National Park Service. (Washington, D.C.) Page 1. Listing Reference Number 81000691. 22 October 1981. Structurally, it followed the same construction as three other minor lights on the south and southeast shores: Punta Figuras, Punta Mulas, and

Puerto Ferro Puerto Ferro is a barrio in the municipality of Vieques, Puerto Rico. Its population in 2010 was 705. History Puerto Rico was ceded by Spain in the aftermath of the Spanish–American War under the terms of the Treaty of Paris of 1898 and became ...

. It lacks, though, the distinctive decorative elements of non-existing Punta Higuero or ruinous Guernica. Nevertheless, it possesses a charm of its own: a petite neo-classic symmetrically-balanced official design. Cayo Cardona's dwelling was designed of stone and brick for one 2nd class keeper. A circular tower was attached to its south facade. The structure measures some 48' x 30' x 16'. Its main entrance is on the north facade which opened into a room arrangement similar to the other minor structures of the light house and described further below. The fact that no plans of this structure have been found, and that its interior has been closed off with cement makes it difficult to describe. Only secondary references, a late 19th-century photo of the site, and official references to the similar or identical design of the minor lights allows a reserved description of this particular site. The c. 1898 photo available depicts a simple neo-classic building with a rather elaborate

cornice In architecture, a cornice (from the Italian ''cornice'' meaning "ledge") is generally any horizontal decorative moulding that crowns a building or furniture element—for example, the cornice over a door or window, around the top edge of a ...

and a simple roof

parapet A parapet is a barrier that is an extension of the wall at the edge of a roof, terrace, balcony, walkway or other structure. The word comes ultimately from the Italian ''parapetto'' (''parare'' 'to cover/defend' and ''petto'' 'chest/breast'). Whe ...

. Contrary to other minor lights, the tower is cylindrical, crowned by another cornice less elaborated than the dwelling's. The photograph states that the structure was painted white and light blue. The tower's

cast-iron Cast iron is a class of iron–carbon alloys with a carbon content more than 2%. Its usefulness derives from its relatively low melting temperature. The alloy constituents affect its color when fractured: white cast iron has carbide impuriti ...

stairway led to an octagonal glass, copper, and cast-iron lantern with vertical bars and a cast-iron balustrade surrounding an exterior cement gallery. The original illuminating apparatus, still in use, is an 1888, 6th order fixed red lenticular lens manufactured by Sautter, Lemonnier & Company of France. It is in diameter. The lens has four panels, with five elements in each panel of the central drum, and five prisms on each panel above the central drum and two below. It was held in place by a cast-iron

pedestal A pedestal (from French ''piédestal'', Italian ''piedistallo'' 'foot of a stall') or plinth is a support at the bottom of a statue, vase, column, or certain altars. Smaller pedestals, especially if round in shape, may be called socles. In ci ...

. The original light was colored by a red chimney. The original light characteristics were modified in 1922 and 1938. In 1962 it was electrified and, apparently, unmanned.

References

External links

* * {{Authority control Historic American Engineering Record in Puerto Rico Lighthouses on the National Register of Historic Places in Puerto Rico Lighthouses completed in 1889 1889 establishments in Puerto Rico National Register of Historic Places in Ponce, Puerto Rico Neoclassical architecture in Puerto Rico Spanish Colonial architecture in Puerto Rico es:Isla Cardona

Location

Significance

Description

See also

References

External links