The Rebecca Shoal Light was located on a treacherous

coral Corals are colonial marine invertebrates within the subphylum Anthozoa of the phylum Cnidaria. They typically form compact Colony (biology), colonies of many identical individual polyp (zoology), polyps. Coral species include the important Coral ...

bank, Rebecca Shoal, west of the

Marquesas Keys The Marquesas Keys form an uninhabited island group about west of Key West, in diameter, and largely covered by mangrove forest. They are an unincorporated area of Monroe County, Florida and belong to the Lower Keys Census County Division. T ...

and east of the

Dry Tortugas Dry Tortugas National Park is a national park of the United States located about west of Key West in the Gulf of Mexico, in the United States. The park preserves Fort Jefferson and the several Dry Tortugas islands, the westernmost and most iso ...

Overview and history

The bank has at least a depth of and is subject to strong currents and rough seas. The first attempt to place a light on Rebecca Shoal was under the direction of Lt.

George Meade George Gordon Meade (December 31, 1815 – November 6, 1872) was an American military officer who served in the United States Army and the Union army as Major General in command of the Army of the Potomac during the American Civil War from 1 ...

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 -story square house set on high pilings. During bad weather, it was often impossible to land supplies or keepers at the lighthouse. The lighthouse withstood several

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 ...

s throughout the years. The 1919 Florida Keys Hurricane broke the glass in the lighthouse's lantern and damaged the lens. The

Spanish Spanish might refer to: * Items from or related to Spain: **Spaniards are a nation and ethnic group indigenous to Spain **Spanish language, spoken in Spain and many countries in the Americas **Spanish cuisine **Spanish history **Spanish culture ...

steamer ''

Valbanera Valvanera or Valbanera may refer to: * , a Marian apparition from La Rioja, Spain ** Monastery of Nuestra Señora de Valvanera, a Catholic monastery in Anguiano, La Rioja, Spain ** Valvanera Cathedral, Mexico City, a Maronite cathedral in Mexico ...

'' 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 were removed. The lantern from the old lighthouse eventually ended up mounted on a private lighthouse in

Key Largo Key Largo () is an island in the upper Florida Keys archipelago and is the largest section of the keys, at long. It is one of the northernmost of the Florida Keys in Monroe County, and the northernmost of the keys connected by U.S. Highway ...

. In 2004,

Hurricane Charley Hurricane Charley was the first of four separate hurricanes to impact or strike Florida during 2004, along with Frances, Ivan and Jeanne, as well as one of the strongest hurricanes ever to strike the United States. It was the third named sto ...

destroyed the new tower.

Timeline of 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 – 1925Lighthouse Friends
/ref>

Notes

References

Florida Lighthouses - Rebecca Shoal Lighthouse
- retrieved January 31, 2006
Lighthouse Digest - Rebecca Shoal Light
- retrieved January 31, 2006

- retrieved January 31, 2006
Lighthouse Digest - Mystery of the Lighthouse at Key Largo
- retrieved January 31, 2006 *
Sailing Directions
{{authority control Lighthouses completed in 1886 Lighthouses in Monroe County, Florida Buildings and structures demolished in 1953 1886 establishments in Florida 1953 disestablishments in Florida