Rebecca Shoal Light

The Rebecca Shoal Light was located on a treacherous coral bank, Rebecca Shoal, 6.2 miles (10 km) west of the Marquesas Keys and 31 miles (50 km) east of the Dry Tortugas. The bank has at least a depth of 11 feet (3.4 m) and is subject to strong currents and rough seas.

Rebecca Shoal Light
The Rebecca Shoal Lighthouse after it was automated, with the lower landing decks removed.
Locationeast of Garden Key, Dry Tortugas
Coordinates24°34′42″N 82°35′06″W
Year first lit1886
Automated1926
Deactivated1953
Foundationscrew-pile
Constructionwood structure
Tower shapehouse on piles
Tower height66 feet (20 m)
Original lensfourth order Fresnel lens
Characteristicwhite flash every 6 s (red sector covers the shoal)

The first attempt to place a light on Rebecca Shoal was under the direction of Lt. George Meade starting in 1854. After structures were washed away twice in 1855 while still being erected, Meade wrote, "I believed then, and am satisfied now, that no light-house structure of any kind has been erected, either in this country or in Europe, at a position more exposed and offering greater obstacles than the Rebecca shoal."

A lighthouse was finally successfully erected on Rebecca Shoal in 1886. It was a ​1 1⁄2-story square house set on high pilings. It was often impossible to land supplies or keepers at the lighthouse during bad weather. The lighthouse survived several hurricanes. The 1919 Florida Keys Hurricane broke the glass in the lighthouse's lantern and damaged the lens. The Spanish steamer Valbanera sank in that same hurricane five miles east of Rebecca Shoal, with the loss of all 488 people aboard.

The lighthouse deteriorated after the light was automated in 1926, and was demolished in 1953. A skeletal tower was erected on the original pilings to hold the light. A new skeletal tower was built on new pilings in 1985, and the old tower and pilings removed. The lantern from the old lighthouse eventually ended up mounted on a private lighthouse in Key Largo. Hurricane Charley (2004) destroyed the new tower.

Keepers
  • Mark Gaze 1886 – 1888
  • James Gardner 1888 – 1889
  • Francis McNulty 1889 – 1890
  • Robert J. Fine 1890 – 1893
  • John Watkins 1893 – 1895
  • William R. Cook 1895 – 1896
  • Charles H. Gardner 1896 – 1900
  • James R. Walker 1900 – 1902
  • Alfred A. Berghell 1902 – 1905)
  • Arthur C.E. Hamblett 1905 – 1907
  • John Peterson 1907 – 1908
  • Arthur C.E. Hamblett 1908 – 1910
  • Thomas M. Kelly 1910 – 1917
  • Clifton H. Lopez 1917
  • William Pierce 1917 – 1919
  • Richard C. Roberts 1919
  • Thomas L. Kelly 1919 – ?
  • Robert V. Hall - at least 1921
  • Alonzo Baker – 1925[1]

Notes
  1. Lighthouse Friends

References
  • Florida Lighthouses - Rebecca Shoal Lighhouse - retrieved January 31, 2006
  • Lighthouse Digest - Rebecca Shoal Light - retrieved January 31, 2006
  • Florida Lighthouse Page - Rebecca Shoal Lighthouse History - retrieved January 31, 2006
  • Lighthouse Digest - Mystery of the Lighthouse at Key Largo - retrieved January 31, 2006
  • "Historic Light Station Information and Photography: Florida". United States Coast Guard Historian's Office. Archived from the original on 2017-05-01. Retrieved June 30, 2008.
  • Sailing Directions
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