Sand Key Light is a lighthouse southwest of

Key West, Florida 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 Sigsbee Park, Dredgers Key, Fleming Key, Sunset Key, and the northern part of Stock Islan ...

, between Sand Key Channel and Rock Key Channel, two of the channels into Key West, on a

reef A reef is a ridge or shoal of rock, coral, or similar relatively stable material lying beneath the surface of a natural body of water. Many reefs result from natural, abiotic component, abiotic (non-living) processes such as deposition (geol ...

intermittently covered by sand. At times the key has been substantial enough to have trees, and in 1900 nine to twelve thousand

tern Terns are seabirds in the family Laridae, subfamily Sterninae, that have a worldwide distribution and are normally found near the sea, rivers, or wetlands. Terns are treated in eleven genera in a subgroup of the family Laridae, which also ...

s nested on the island. At other times the island has been washed away completely. The light marks the southernmost point of the

Hawk Channel Hawk Channel is a shallow, elongated Oceanic basin, basin and Channel (geography), navigable passage along the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic coast of the Florida Keys. The channel makes up a smaller portion of the Florida Platform from Key West to the ...

passage along the

Florida Keys The Florida Keys are a coral island, coral cay archipelago off the southern coast of Florida, forming the southernmost part of the continental United States. They begin at the southeastern coast of the Florida peninsula, about south of Miami a ...

.https://nauticalcharts.noaa.gov/publications/coast-pilot/files/cp4/CPB4_C11_WEB.pdf

Early history

The first navigational light on Sand Key was a brick tower built in 1827. After the first keeper, John Flaherty, died in 1830, his widow Rebecca took over the job. In 1844 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 ...

eroded part of the island, destroyed the keeper's house, and damaged the

seawall A seawall (or sea wall) is a form of coastal defense constructed where the sea, and associated coastal processes, impact directly upon the landforms of the coast. The purpose of a seawall is to protect areas of human habitation, conservation, ...

. The

1846 Havana hurricane The 1846 Havana hurricane (also known as the Great Havana hurricane of 1846, San Francisco de Borja hurricane and The Great Gale of 1846) was the most intense tropical cyclone in recorded history for 78 years and the first known Categor ...

toppled the tower, killing the light keeper and five others.

Reconstructions and renovations

As the

Key West Light The Key West Lighthouse is located in Key West, Florida. The first Key West lighthouse was a tower completed in 1825. It had 15 lamps in reflectors. History The first keeper, Michael Mabrity, died in 1832, and his widow, Barbara, became the ...

had also been destroyed in the same storm, a ship, the ''Honey'', was acquired and outfitted as a

lightship A lightvessel, or lightship, is a ship that acts as a lighthouse. It is used in waters that are too deep or otherwise unsuitable for lighthouse construction. Although some records exist of fire beacons being placed on ships in Roman times, the ...

to serve as the Sand Key Light until new lighthouses could be built. Due to efforts to reorganize the Lighthouse Board,

Congress A congress is a formal meeting of the representatives of different countries, constituent states, organizations, trade unions, political parties, or other groups. The term originated in Late Middle English to denote an encounter (meeting of ...

was slow to appropriate funds for the new lighthouses. A screw-pile foundation for a new light on Sand Key was begun in 1852. Funds ran out before the foundation was complete, and the contractor had to wait seven years for final payment. Later that year Lieutenant

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 ...

, who had completed construction of the

Carysfort Reef Light Carysfort Reef Light is located on Carysfort Reef east of Key Largo, Florida. The lighthouse has an iron-pile foundation with a platform, and a skeletal, octagonal, pyramidal tower, which is painted red. The light was above the water. It was the ...

, was placed in charge of construction of the Sand Key Light. The light tower was completed in 1853. This light was the first to use the hydraulic lamp designed by George Meade. The screw-pile foundation and open framework tower allowed the lighthouse to survive later hurricanes, including one in 1856 that completely washed away all of the island above water. The light was automated in 1938. In 1967 the first 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 ...

was removed and replaced by a fourth order lens. That in turn was removed in 1982 and replaced with a flash tube array. The tower was severely damaged in a fire in 1989, and the light was moved to a nearby temporary structure. An attempt was made to restore the structure of the tower in 1995, but the keeper's quarters were demolished in 1996. The light was returned to the tower in 1998. The light was deactivated in 2015, and was auctioned by GSA Auctions in 2020 for .

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