CARYSFORT REEF LIGHTHOUSE
1852
Six miles off Key Largo
Florida Keys
The Carysfort Reef Lighthouse, the oldest functioning of its kind in America and the first Florida reef light to be built, acquired its name from the wreck of the 28-gun British frigate H.M.S. Carysford which ran aground there in 1770.
In 1848, when the Seminole Wars ended, workers began the four-year job of constructing the 100' lighthouse. Keepers maintained the lighthouse until 1960, including the Coast Guard which manned the lighthouse in 1939 until the 1970s when solar panels were installed. In the 1980s' engineers installed a xenon flashtube beacon powered by a low voltage direct-current power supply from the sun's energy. This third-order light displays a group of three flashes every 60 seconds.
LIGHTHOUSE - 100' / OPEN - Access prohibited / MUSEUM - No / FEE - No