Fowey Rocks Light
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| Location | seven miles southeast of Cape Florida on Key Biscayne |
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| Coordinates | 25°35′26.249″N 80°05′48.242″W / 25.59062472°N 80.09673389°WCoordinates: 25°35′26.249″N 80°05′48.242″W / 25.59062472°N 80.09673389°W |
| Year first lit | 1878 |
| Automated | May 7, 1974 |
| Foundation | screw-pile |
| Construction | cast-iron |
| Tower shape | skeletal octagonal pyramid |
| Markings / pattern | brown and white |
| Focal height | 110 feet (34 m) |
| Original lens | 1878: 1st order drum Fresnel lens 1982: Flash tube array 1983: 300mm |
| Current lens | VRB-25 system |
| Range | White 15nm, red 10nm |
| Characteristic | Flashing white 10s with two red sectors |
| Racon | "O" (Oscar) |
| Admiralty number | J2960 |
| ARLHS number | USA-307 |
| USCG number | 3-920[1][2][3] |
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Fowey Rocks Light
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| NRHP Reference#: | 10001181 |
| Added to NRHP: | January 26, 2011 |
Fowey Rocks Light is located seven miles southeast of Cape Florida on Key Biscayne. The lighthouse was completed in 1878, replacing the Cape Florida lighthouse. It was automated on May 7, 1974 and is still in operation today. The structure is cast iron, with a screw-pile foundation, a platform and a skeletal tower. The light is 110 feet above the water. The tower framework is painted brown, while the dwelling and enclosed circular stair to the lantern is painted white. The original lens was a first-order drum Fresnel lens which stood about 12 feet (4 m) high and weighed about a ton (tonne). The light has a nominal range of 15 miles in the white sectors, and 10 miles in the red sectors.
Fowey Rocks are named for the Royal Navy frigate HMS Fowey which was wrecked on a different reef to the south in 1748.[4] During construction of the lighthouse the workers lived on a platform built over the water to minimize the danger of transporting them and their supplies each day from the mainland. The Labor Day Hurricane of 1935 washed away the first deck of the lighthouse, 15 feet above the water, but the tower survived. The lighthouse is inside the boundaries of Biscayne National Park.
In June 2011, the General Services Administration made the Fowey Rocks Light (along with 11 others) available at no cost to public organizations willing to preserve them. [5] [6]
[edit] References
- ^ (PDF) Light List, Volume III, Atlantic Coast, Little River, South Carolina to Econfina River, Florida. Light List. United States Coast Guard. 2009. p. 7. http://www.navcen.uscg.gov/pdf/lightLists/LightList%20V3.pdf.
- ^ "Historic Light Station Information and Photography: Florida". United States Coast Guard Historian's Office. http://www.uscg.mil/history/weblighthouses/LHFL.asp.
- ^ Rowlett, Russ (2010-03-11). "Lighthouses of the United States: Eastern Florida and the Keys". The Lighthouse Directory. University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. http://www.unc.edu/~rowlett/lighthouse/fl.htm.
- ^ The Coast Guard History site, cited above, says she was a Spanish Galleon, but there is substantial documentation of her Royal Navy status.
- ^ "For sale: Waterfront property; cozy, great views, plenty of light, needs TLC". CNN. http://news.blogs.cnn.com/2011/07/12/for-sale-waterfront-property-cozy-great-views-plenty-of-light-needs-tlc/?hpt=hp_t2. Retrieved 12 July 2011.
- ^ Beatty, MaryAnne. "GSA Making 12 Historic Lighthouses Available at No Cost to Public Organizations Willing to Preserve Them". GSA Website. US General Services Administration. http://www.gsa.gov/portal/content/286133. Retrieved 12 July 2011.
[edit] See also
- McCarthy, Kevin M. (1990). 'Florida Lighthouses. Paintings by William L. Trotter. Gainesville: University of Florida Press. ISBN 0-8130-0982-0.
- Dean, Love (1982). Reef Lights: Seaswept Lighthouses of the Florida Keys. Key West, Florida: The Historic Key West Preservation Board. ISBN 0-943528-03-8.
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