ANCLOTE KEY LIGHTHOUSE
1887
South end of Anclote Key
Tarpon Springs, FL
In 1886, Congress appropriated $35,000 to build a lighthouse on the southern tip of Anclote Key to guard the mouth of the Anclote River. The first light was fueled by kerosene and attended by two families living on the island three miles offshore. During the Spanish-American war in the late 1890s the light-keepers had a small cannon for self-defense, but they were never attacked. The keepers' quarters are now gone.
Anclote Key Lighthouse no longer operates as a functional aid to navigation since being abandoned by the Coast Guard and has been turned over to the State of Florida as part of Caladese State Park.
The Key can be reached by boat from Anclote River Park at Tarpon Springs.
The construction on the mainland of a tall, industrial smokestack, lighted with strobe lights, eliminated the need for the lighthouse as a major aid to navigation.
LIGHTHOUSE - 96' / OPEN - Yes / MUSEUM - No / FEE - No