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Crooked River Lighthouse – near Carrabelle Beach, FL

We finally did find the lighthouse near to Carrabelle Beach – it was just a couple of miles in the opposite direction from where we explored the previous day!  This lighthouse doesn’t look like a traditional lighthouse, and was a replacement for the original lighthouse that was built a bit away from here near Dog Island in 1839, 1843, and 1852, and finally destroyed by a hurricane in 1873.  This lighthouse was built in 1889, and first lighted in 1895.  It stands about 103 feet tall.

Crooked River Lighthouse

This lighthouse only needed one principal keeper and an assistant.  When one had to leave, the other had to assume all responsibilities.  During WWII when Camp Gordon Johnson was built nearby, the importance of the lighthouse to navigation increased.

Crooked River Lighthouse

The lighthouse marks the east end of the north gulf coast Intercostal Waterway.  Ships going west and north along Florida’s west coast to pass over 200 miles of open gulf waters used the lighthouse to assist with their crossing.

Lighthouse Up Close

The Crooked River Lighthouse was decommissioned in 1995, and at first, its future looked dismal.  But, in 1999, the Carrabelle Lighthouse Association was founded to look for ways to preserve the lighthouse, and in 2000, the government turned the lighthouse over to the city of Carrabelle.  It’s now leased by the city to the Association to be restored and operated as a historic site.  One final note, what is believed to be the original Fresnel lens from this lighthouse has recently been found in the Coast Guard district office in New Orleans.

Enjoy!