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Lighting the Way:
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The 71-foot-high lighthouse has been vital to the safety of commerce on Florida's west coast for more than a century. First constructed in 1848 to support commercial trade along the nation's Gulf Coast, it was the only lighthouse between the Panhandle and Key West. While guiding ships along the coast, it also marked the entrance to the increasingly important port of Tampa. The first lighthouse was built with brick and cost $10,000. It was located about 100 feet northeast of the existing structure on the north end of the island. The keeper's house, also brick, was constructed nearby for Edwards and his family. The lighthouse was first lit in April 1848 when they moved in. Less than six months later, in September, a hurricane ravaged the lighthouse. Stories say Edwards and his family took refuge in a rowboat tied to a palm tree as water rose over the island. With the first tower damaged beyond repair, a new, taller lighthouse - which still stands today - was constructed in 1858 for $16,000. Other buildings were added over the years. A small brick building was constructed in 1895 near the lighthouse to store lamp oil; a larger brick building erected in the 1920s housed the island's radio transmitter. Other structures have since been torn down. Two large sheds near the bayside dock served as a depot for navigational buoys along Florida's Gulf Coast in the late 1800s. For a time, all buoys between St. Marks and Key West were maintained and stored on Egmont Key. An assistant light keeper's house was added in 1899. All that remains of that house is a cistern, which is still used today. Over the years, numerous improvements were made to the light station and the dock was rebuilt several times. Almost every recorded annual report to the Lighthouse Board includes some reference to repairs, improvements or rebuilding, mostly to mitigate damage from storms. The life of the lighthouse keeper was not easy. For the most part, the light keeper, his assistant and their families were the only people on the island. Bulk supplies like oil for the light were brought in just once a year, and the families raised much of their own food, while traveling by small boat to Bradenton or Tampa for other supplies. Maintaining a lighthouse with an oil lamp required constant attention to trimming and adjusting wicks, cleaning the chimney and lenses, and washing the windows of the lantern room. While the light was bright and well-focused for an oil lamp, it was not nearly as bright as an electric light, and scrupulous attention to maintaining the cleanliness of every part of the system was necessary to ensure that the light would not be obscured. Each day they worked from dawn until about 10 a.m. just cleaning up and preparing the light for the next night's work. Curtains hung from dawn until dusk to prevent discoloration of the lens glass. In 1939, the Coast Guard took over the lighthouse service and converted the newer light-keeper's house into a barracks for a small crew. A few years later, the lighthouse was renovated. With the upper portion of the brick tower deteriorating, the tower was trimmed several feet for stabilization, and an aircraft-style rotating beacon replaced the original oil lamp. Illumination surged from 3,000 candlepower to 175,000 candlepower, visible on a clear night from as far as 22 miles away. But it wasn't until the late 1980s that the light was fully automated and the Coast Guard personnel reassigned. Shortly after that the Florida State Park Service joined the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service in caring for the island's natural resources. Through the years, a series of light keepers about whom we know very little, worked through heat and hurricane, battling mosquitoes and winter gales, to keep the Egmont light working and the station in good order. Even with modern advances in navigation, the light remains an important aid to mariners and aviators destined for Tampa Bay. Capt. Richard Johnson, president of the Egmont Key Alliance, teaches sailing at the St. Petersburg branch of the Annapolis Sailing School. For more information on Egmont Key or the Egmont Key Alliance, call 727-867-8102. |
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It has been 150 years since light keeper Sherrod Edwards first carried cans of lamp oil up the spiral staircase of the lighthouse on Egmont Key. But this magnificent beacon, rebuilt "to withstand any storm" after a hurricane in the late 1840s, still stands guard at the entrance to Tampa Bay, welcoming mariners and visitors.