The current Egmont Key Light dates from 1858. It is the oldest structure in the Tampa Bay area still used for its original purpose.

The lighthouse

When the first Egmont Key Light was built in 1848, it was the only

lighthouse A lighthouse is a tower, building, or other type of physical structure designed to emit light from a system of lamps and lens (optics), lenses and to serve as a beacon for navigational aid for maritime pilots at sea or on inland waterways. Ligh ...

on the

Gulf A gulf is a large inlet from an ocean or their seas into a landmass, larger and typically (though not always) with a narrower opening than a bay (geography), bay. The term was used traditionally for large, highly indented navigable bodies of s ...

coast of

Florida Florida ( ; ) is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern region of the United States. It borders the Gulf of Mexico to the west, Alabama to the northwest, Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia to the north, the Atlantic ...

between

Key West Key West is an island in the Straits of Florida, at the southern end of the U.S. state of Florida. Together with all or parts of the separate islands of Dredgers Key, Fleming Key, Sunset Key, and the northern part of Stock Island, it con ...

and St. Marks. In September 1848 a

hurricane A tropical cyclone is a rapidly rotating storm system with a low-pressure area, a closed low-level atmospheric circulation, strong winds, and a spiral arrangement of thunderstorms that produce heavy rain and squalls. Depending on its ...

covered the island with six feet of water and damaged the new lighthouse. The keeper and his family rode out the storm in a small boat tied to a tree. When the keeper saw the damage to the lighthouse, he rowed off to

Tampa Tampa ( ) is a city on the Gulf Coast of the United States, Gulf Coast of the U.S. state of Florida. Tampa's borders include the north shore of Tampa Bay and the east shore of Old Tampa Bay. Tampa is the largest city in the Tampa Bay area and t ...

and never returned. Another hurricane a few weeks later caused more damage, and

beach erosion Coastal erosion is the loss or displacement of land, or the long-term removal of sediment and rocks along the coastline due to the action of waves, currents, tides, wind-driven water, waterborne ice, or other impacts of storms. The landward r ...

threatened to topple the tower. A hurricane in 1852 again threatened to topple the tower by undermining it. In 1857 work was begun rebuilding the tower. It apparently was moved inland at that time. The reconstruction was completed in 1858, and the lighthouse was placed back in service with a new third order

Fresnel lens A Fresnel lens ( ; ; or ) is a type of composite compact lens (optics), lens which reduces the amount of material required compared to a conventional lens by dividing the lens into a set of concentric annular sections. The simpler Dioptrics, d ...

. The lens was removed by Confederates during the

Civil War A civil war is a war between organized groups within the same Sovereign state, state (or country). The aim of one side may be to take control of the country or a region, to achieve independence for a region, or to change government policies.J ...

to frustrate the Union Navy efforts to blockade

Tampa Bay Tampa Bay is a large natural harbor and shallow estuary connected to the Gulf of Mexico on the west-central coast of Florida, comprising Hillsborough Bay, McKay Bay, Old Tampa Bay, Middle Tampa Bay, and Lower Tampa Bay. The largest freshwater i ...

but was restored after the war. In 1944 the lantern was removed from the lighthouse tower and replaced with an

aerobeacon An aerobeacon is a light assembly used to create a fixed or flashing signal visible over long distances. It consists of a high intensity electric lamp mounted with a focusing device in a cylindrical housing, which usually is rotated on a vertical ...

. The

Coast Guard A coast guard or coastguard is a Maritime Security Regimes, maritime security organization of a particular country. The term embraces wide range of responsibilities in different countries, from being a heavily armed military force with cust ...

continued to man the lighthouse until 1990, when it became one of the last lighthouses in the United States to be automated. Beach erosion has again threatened the lighthouse, and sand was pumped into the beach in front of the tower in 2000. In 2001 the Coast Guard announced plans to deactivate the light, but as of July, 2016 has not done so. The Coast Guard has declared the lighthouse surplus property, and turned it over to the

General Services Administration The General Services Administration (GSA) is an Independent agencies of the United States government, independent agency of the United States government established in 1949 to help manage and support the basic functioning of federal agencies. G ...

to be sold.

The key

Egmont Key as a whole has a rich history. The entire island is on the

National Register of Historic Places The National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) is the Federal government of the United States, United States federal government's official United States National Register of Historic Places listings, list of sites, buildings, structures, Hist ...

, and is a

National Wildlife Refuge The National Wildlife Refuge System (NWRS) is a system of protected areas of the United States managed by the United States Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS), an agency within the United States Department of the Interior, Department of the Interi ...

and a

state park State parks are parks or other protected areas managed at the sub-national level within those nations which use "Federated state, state" as a political subdivision. State parks are typically established by a state to preserve a location on accou ...

. At the time the first lighthouse was being built in 1848, Colonel

Robert E. Lee Robert Edward Lee (January 19, 1807 – October 12, 1870) was a general officers in the Confederate States Army, Confederate general during the American Civil War, who was appointed the General in Chief of the Armies of the Confederate ...

was making a survey of the southern coast, and recommended that defensive works be built on Egmont Key because of its strategic location. In the 1850s Egmont Key was used as a temporary holding area for

Seminole The Seminole are a Native American people who developed in Florida in the 18th century. Today, they live in Oklahoma and Florida, and comprise three federally recognized tribes: the Seminole Nation of Oklahoma, the Seminole Tribe of Florida, ...

s before they were shipped to the

Indian Territory Indian Territory and the Indian Territories are terms that generally described an evolving land area set aside by the Federal government of the United States, United States government for the relocation of Native Americans in the United States, ...

. Many of them perished while being held captive and are buried at the location. Early in the

Confederate A confederation (also known as a confederacy or league) is a political union of sovereign states united for purposes of common action. Usually created by a treaty, confederations of states tend to be established for dealing with critical issu ...

blockade A blockade is the act of actively preventing a country or region from receiving or sending out food, supplies, weapons, or communications, and sometimes people, by military force. A blockade differs from an embargo or sanction, which are ...

-runners used the island as a base. Union forces captured the island in July 1861 and used it as a base for attacks on Confederate ships and positions in the Tampa area. The Union also used the island as a military prison and a refuge for southern pro-Union sympathizers. A cemetery for Union and Confederate dead was opened on the island in 1864. The cemetery was closed in 1909 and the bodies were moved to military cemeteries at other locations.

Fort Dade

At the start of the

Spanish–American War The Spanish–American War (April 21 – August 13, 1898) was fought between Restoration (Spain), Spain and the United States in 1898. It began with the sinking of the USS Maine (1889), USS ''Maine'' in Havana Harbor in Cuba, and resulted in the ...

, Fort Dade (named for Major

Francis L. Dade Francis Langhorne Dade (February 22, 1792 – December 28, 1835) was a United States Army officer who served in the War of 1812 and the Seminole Wars. Dade was killed in a battle with Seminole Indians that came to be known as the " Dade Massa ...

, who was killed in a battle in the

Second Seminole War The Second Seminole War, also known as the Florida War, was a conflict from 1835 to 1842 in Florida between the United States and groups of people collectively known as Seminoles, consisting of Muscogee, Creek and Black Seminoles as well as oth ...

) was established on Egmont Key to protect Tampa Bay from a Spanish attack. It consisted of several

coastal artillery Coastal artillery is the branch of the armed forces concerned with operating anti-ship artillery or fixed gun batteries in coastal fortifications. From the Middle Ages until World War II, coastal artillery and naval artillery in the form of ...

batteries protecting the main ship channel into Tampa Bay, as well as a secondary channel to the south of the island. A hospital at Fort Dade was used to

quarantine A quarantine is a restriction on the movement of people, animals, and goods which is intended to prevent the spread of disease or pests. It is often used in connection to disease and illness, preventing the movement of those who may have bee ...

all American soldiers returning from

Cuba Cuba, officially the Republic of Cuba, is an island country, comprising the island of Cuba (largest island), Isla de la Juventud, and List of islands of Cuba, 4,195 islands, islets and cays surrounding the main island. It is located where the ...

for ten days. During World War I Fort Dade was used as a training center for

National Guard National guard is the name used by a wide variety of current and historical uniformed organizations in different countries. The original National Guard was formed during the French Revolution around a cadre of defectors from the French Guards. ...

Coast Artillery Units. The fort was deactivated in 1921. Egmont Key was put to military use again during World War II, as a harbor patrol station and an ammunition storage facility.

Head keepers

* Sherrod Edwards (1847–1850) * N. Alston Jameson (1850–1851) * John F. Hagan (1851–1853) * John Butler (1853–1856) * Frederick Tresca (1856–1860) * George V. Rickard (1860–1861) * William S. Spencer (1866) * William T. Coons (1866–1876) * Walter S. Burgess (1876–1878) * Charles Moore (1878–1910) * John Peterson (1910–1911) * George H. Gibson (1911 – at least 1921) * Cody W. McKeithen (at least 1930 – at least 1940) * James Flannagan (at least 1987), Mark Allen ( – 1989)Egmont Key, FL
Lighthouse Friends. Retrieved 2 July 2016

Notes

References

*McCarthy, Kevin M. (1990). ''Florida Lighthouses'', Paintings by William L. Trotter,

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