The Rebecca Shoal Light was located on a treacherous 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. ...

and east of the Dry Tortugas. 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 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. 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 The 1919 Florida Keys hurricane (also known as the 1919 Key West hurricane) was a massive and damaging tropical cyclone that swept across areas of the northern Caribbean Sea and the United States Gulf Coast in September 1919. Remaining ...

broke the glass in the lighthouse's lantern and damaged the lens. The Spanish steamer ''

Valbanera ''Valbanera'' was a steamship operated by the Pinillos Line of Spain from 1905 until 1919, when she sank in a hurricane with the loss of all 488 crew and passengers aboard. ''Valbanera'' was a steamer capable of carrying close to 1,200 passengers ...

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

(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 – 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