St. Marks Light, 1255 Lighthouse Road, Saint Marks, Florida, USA / Built: 1831 / Construction Material: Brick / Constructed by: Calvin Knowlton / Height: 73 feet / Lens: 9.8-inch lens / Range: 8 nmi / Characteristic: White light occulting every 4 s.

The St. Marks Light is the second-oldest light station in Florida. It is located on the east side of the mouth of the St. Marks River, on Apalachee Bay.

In the 1820s, the town of St. Marks, Florida was considered an important port of entry. The town served as a port for the prosperous planting region of Middle Florida and some counties of South Georgia. Growers hauled their agricultural products down to the port town in wagons by way of an early road which connected the then territorial capital of Tallahassee to the town of St. Marks. Later, this road would be widened and improved upon by the Tallahassee Railroad Company and would become the state's first railroad.

Once the agricultural products reached the new port town, they were loaded aboard boats for shipment to New Orleans and/or St. Augustine. There were, however, problems in navigating both the Apalachee Bay and the St. Marks River. In many places both bay and river were shallow, and it was not too uncommon for boats to run aground and/or get mired in the muddy shallows

After a survey was completed of the St. Marks area by Robert Mitchell, the Collector of Customs at Pensacola, and a site chosen for the lighthouse, it was discovered that the initial construction sum of $6,000 would be insufficient. The appropriation was increased to $14,000, and by mid-1829 a contract was signed with Winslow Lewis of Boston for the construction of a tower in the St. Marks area for $11,765. The finished product was not accepted by the Collector of Customs for St. Marks, Mr. Jesse H. Williams, because it had been constructed with hollow walls. Williams felt that the tower should be constructed with solid walls and, therefore, refused to accept the work.

Calvin Knowlton was brought in to rebuild the tower. He oversaw its completion, and in 1831, Williams, satisfied that the light was built according to the contract, accepted the work. That same year saw the tower's whale-oil lamps lit for the first time by Samuel Crosby, who had been appointed the first Keeper of the St. Marks Lighthouse the previous year.

The lighthouse was automated by the United States Coast Guard in 1960, and in 2000 the Coast Guard spent $150,000 in 2000 to stabilize the lighthouse. In 2000 or 2001 the lighthouse's fourth-order Fresnel lens was deactivated and a modern solar-powered beacon was placed outside the lantern room. The historic Fresnel lens remained in place in the tower for over a decade. In July 2005, Hurricane Dennis broke a window of the lantern, flooding the inside of the tower.

In October 2013 the Coast Guard deactivated transferred ownership of the lighthouse to the United States Fish and Wildlife Service, which operates the St. Marks National Wildlife Refuge. The lighthouse was deactivated in 2016 and the Coast Guard's solar beacon was removed. Financial grants from the Florida Department of State and Duke Energy in 2016, plus crowdfunded donations, were put towards repairs and restoration. On October 31, 2019, a replica of the original fourth-order Fresnel lens was lit in the tower. The light is now maintained as a private aid to navigation and is lit seasonally.

Credit for the data above is given to the following website:
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/St._Marks_Light

© All Rights Reserved - you may not use this image in any form without my prior permission.

Taken in: United States / Florida / Port Leon (show map)

Taken on: May 29, 2023

Tags:

St. Marks Light

1255 Lighthouse Road

Florida

USA

Built: 1831

Construction Material: Brick

Calvin Knowlton

Height: 73 feet

Lens: 9.8-inch lens

Range: 8 nmi

White light occulting every 4 s.

conical tower

historic

historic Florida

old Florida

National Register of Historic Places

National Landmark

street photography

commercial property

urban

architecture

north Florida

rural Florida

second-oldest light station in Florida

located on the east side of the mouth of the St. Marks River

on Apalachee Bay

Robert Mitchell

Winslow Lewis of Boston

Collector of Customs for St. Marks

Mr. Jesse H. Williams

Samuel Crosby had been appointed the first Keeper of the St. Marks Lighthouse

automated by the United States Coast Guard in 1960

solar-powered beacon

In October 2013 the Coast Guard deactivated transferred ownership of the lighthouse to the United States Fish and Wildlife Service

Florida Department of State and Duke Energy

St. Marks National Wildlife Refuge

structure

St. Marks Lighthouse

Gulf of Mexico

mouth of St. Marks River

white structure

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