CAPE FLORIDA LIGHTHOUSE
Key Biscayne, Fl
Bill Baggs State Recreation Area
This is the last of the shore bound lighthouses in Florida before the string of islands known as the keys. I only wish that I had been alive back in the late 1800's or early 1900's to explore the keys as they were renowned as the place to run to when the law got too close. Today, what a great place.
The Cape Florida light is in park with a great little swimming beach and a very tropical setting. Course you can't get anything done without speaking Spanish, but still in all it is a neat place to visit.
There are some thirty four lights in Florida and I photographed them all in 11 days with three of those days spent in light aircraft. A small book was published which I am sure is now out of print, but at least I got all the photos and was paid to boot. Don't let anyone ever tell you that Florida is a small state! I include this because the next entries will cover the offshore lights in the Atlantic along the Keys from Cape Florida to Key West.
All we had to do was fly low and slow. The pilots loved that!
This lighthouse is some 30 miles north of the Carysfort Reef on the northern entrance to Key Biscayne Bay. The original tower, built in 1825 was only 65 feet tall and was built with hollow walls to fraudulently improve upon the builders net worth. The reef laden coast in this area has taken its toll of vessels over the years, but particularly so during the 1850’s. The lighthouse board decided to raise the tower during those latter years by 100 feet and it continued in operation until 1878 when it was replaced by a new light at Fowery Rocks. During the 1970’s the Coast Guard restored the light and it was lit once again in 1978 after a 100-year rest.
http://www.key-biscayne.com/capeflorida/
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