Monday, April 4, 2016

 
Amelia Island Lighthouse
This is the last lighthouse that we saw on our Florida travels.  This is the oldest continuously operating lighthouse in Florida.  It’s been active since 1839 at the site where it currently sits, with the exception of the “dark” Civil War years, when most of the lighthouses in Florida did not operate.
Amelia Island Lighthouse from the Bridge
The lighthouse was originally built on the south end of Cumberland Island, Georgia, where it stood from 1820 to 1838.  Amos latham, a 78 year old veteran of the Revolutionary War, came with the lighthouse when it moved, and died 4 years later.  His remains were buried on the site, but have been since removed to a family plot in Bosque Bello Cemetery.
Lighthouse Hidden by Trees
This lighthouse is not only the oldest existing lighthouse structure in Florida, but, because of the way the coast line along the Atlantic seaboard curves, it is almost the furthest west lighthouse of any of the Atlantic seaboard lighthouses.  The only one further west is located in the western Florida Keys.
Lighthouse Thru the Trees
This lighthouse was placed on the Coast Guard Seventh District disposal list in 1998.  However, The Amelia Island Lighthouse and Museum, Inc., a non-profit preservation organization, was formed to restore the lighthouse and rebuild one of the historic keeper’s quarters, and open it to the public.  The hours that it’s open to the public are limited, tho, and when we were there, it wasn’t open. That’s why I was limited to photos from either far away (the bridge coming over to it) or from outside the fence surrounding it.
Enjoy!


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