The Dry Tortugas Light is a lighthouse located on

Loggerhead Key Loggerhead Key is an uninhabited tropical island within the Dry Tortugas group of islands in the Gulf of Mexico. At approximately 49 acres (19.8 hectares) in size, it is the largest island of the Dry Tortugas. Despite being uninhabited, the is ...

, three miles west of Fort Jefferson,

Florida Florida is a state located in the Southeastern region of the United States. Florida is bordered to the west by the Gulf of Mexico, to the northwest by Alabama, to the north by Georgia, to the east by the Bahamas and Atlantic Ocean, and to ...

. It was taken out of operation in 2015. It has also been called the Loggerhead Lighthouse. It has been said to be "a greater distance from the mainland than any other light in the world."

History

In 1856, Capt. Daniel Phineas Woodbury supervised construction of the lighthouse, based on an 1855 design by Capt.

Horatio Wright Horatio Gouverneur Wright (March 6, 1820 – July 2, 1899) was an engineer and general in the Union Army during the American Civil War. He took command of the VI Corps in May 1864 following the death of General John Sedgwick. In this capacity, he ...

, and it became operational in 1858. When originally constructed the walls of the tower were left its natural, yellowish-red brick color. The lens was a first order

Fresnel lens A Fresnel lens ( ; ; or ) is a type of composite compact lens developed by the French physicist Augustin-Jean Fresnel (1788–1827) for use in lighthouses. It has been called "the invention that saved a million ships." The design allows the c ...

which was manufactured by the French firm of L. Sautter and Company. In addition to the tower, the light station included a brick two-story dwelling with Greek Revival features, a brick two-story kitchen (still standing), and oil house, wash house, outhouses and cisterns. Forty-one year old Benjamin H. Kerr was appointed head keeper and received a salary of $600 per year. He had previously been keeper at Garden Key since 1850. Charles H. Perry was appointed 1st assistant keeper and John Fritz as the 2nd Assistant keeper. Both assistants received $300 per year. The Loggerhead Key lighthouse has a stone foundation and a conical brick tower. The walls are thick at the base and taper to thick at the top. The tower was later painted black on the upper part and white below. A radio room is attached to the base of the tower. A later replacement lens, a second order clamshell revolving

, is now on display at the

United States Coast Guard The United States Coast Guard (USCG) is the maritime security, search and rescue, and law enforcement service branch of the United States Armed Forces and one of the country's eight uniformed services. The service is a maritime, military, mu ...

Aids to Navigation School in

Yorktown, Virginia Yorktown is a census-designated place (CDP) in York County, Virginia. It is the county seat of York County, one of the eight original shires formed in colonial Virginia in 1682. Yorktown's population was 195 as of the 2010 census, while York Co ...

. The light was automated in 1988. The first lighthouse in the Dry Tortugas was on

Garden Key Dry Tortugas National Park is a national park located about west of Key West in the Gulf of Mexico. The park preserves Fort Jefferson and the seven Dry Tortugas islands, the westernmost and most isolated of the Florida Keys. The archipelago's c ...

, and became operational in 1826. After several proposals for a new lighthouse on the "outer shoals" of the Dry Tortugas, a new lighthouse was built on Loggerhead Key and completed in 1858 at a cost of US$35,000, which was the amount that had been projected to upgrade the existing lighthouse on Garden Key. The Dry Tortugas lighthouse, along with the Garden Key lighthouse at Fort Jefferson, were the only lights on the

Gulf A gulf is a large inlet from the ocean into the landmass, typically with a narrower opening than a bay, but that is not observable in all geographic areas so named. The term gulf was traditionally used for large highly-indented navigable bodies ...

coast that stayed in full operation throughout the

American Civil War The American Civil War (April 12, 1861 – May 26, 1865; also known by other names) was a civil war in the United States. It was fought between the Union ("the North") and the Confederacy ("the South"), the latter formed by states ...

. A civilian prisoner of Fort Jefferson, John W. Adare and a companion, used planks to swim to the Key and stole the keeper's boat. Although they made it to Havana, the Spanish authorities there extradited them back to Key West. Undeterred, Adare attempted a second escape, one in which he needed a second plank for his ankle

ball and chain A ball and chain is a physical restraint device historically applied to prisoners, primarily in the British Empire and its former colonies, from the 17th century until as late as the mid-20th century. A type of shackle, the ball and chain is ...

. This time the boat was locked and Adare was captured the next day. The tower was damaged by a hurricane in October 1873 and plans were drawn up for a new tower. The tower was repaired by rebuilding the top and extending the steel rods anchoring the lantern to the bottom of the tower. After the repaired tower survived another hurricane in September 1875, the plans for a new tower were deferred and eventually dropped. The Dry Tortugas Light received an electric lamp in 1931, becoming the most powerful lighthouse in America, with three million

candela The candela ( or ; symbol: cd) is the unit of luminous intensity in the International System of Units (SI). It measures luminous power per unit solid angle emitted by a light source in a particular direction. Luminous intensity is analogous t ...

. The rotating beacon stopped working in April 2014, and was formally decommissioned in December 2015.

Head keepers

* Benjamin H. Kerr (1858 – 1861) * James P. Lightburn (1861 – 1862) * Robert H. Thompson (1862 – 1872) * William B. Taylor (1872) * Thomas Moore (1872 – 1881) * Robert H. Thompson (1881 – 1888) * Charles A. Roberts (1888) * George R. Billberry (1888 – 1907) * Edgar J. Russell (1907 – at least 1915) * Charles Johnson (at least 1917 – at least 1921) * Andrew M. Albury (1928 – at least 1947) In later years, before the light was automated, the lighthouse was manned by Coast Guardsmen who rotated on and off the island every few days.

References

External links

Dry Tortugas National Park, Dry Tortugas Light Station. Ancillary Structures Historic Structure Report

National Park Service The National Park Service (NPS) is an agency of the United States federal government within the U.S. Department of the Interior that manages all national parks, most national monuments, and other natural, historical, and recreational propert ...

Dry Tortugas National Park, Dry Tortugas Light Station. Keeper's Residence Historic Structure Report

Dry Tortugas National Park, Dry Tortugas Light Station. Lighthouse and Oil House Historic Structure Report

{{Authority control Lighthouses completed in 1858 Lighthouses in Monroe County, Florida Dry Tortugas National Park 1858 establishments in Florida

History

Head keepers

See also

References

External links