St. Augustine Lighthouse

As our trip draws to a close, today we visited the lighthouse.

A Spanish watch tower was built in the late 1500's. It was converted to the first lighthouse in Florida in 1824. However, by 1870, the tower was threatened by shoreline erosion, so construction began on the current lighthouse. The old tower succumbed to the sea  during a storm in 1880. The current tower was completed in 1874. It is 162 feet high, with a beam visible 19 miles over the water's surface. There are 219 steps up to the top. constructed of Alabama brick and Philadelphia iron, it is the city's oldest surviving brick structure. The tower was automated in 1955.


Magnificent views are to be had from the top platform, and are certainly worth the effort expended in climbing all those steps. One of the views in the collage shows the centre of the 'old' city with all its beautiful historic buildings.