Cape St. George Lighthouse

July 22, 2019

Cape St. George Lighthouse, Franklin County, Florida

CAPE ST. GEORGE LIGHT

LITTLE ST GEO ISLAND/GULF OF MEXICO
Station Established: 1833
Year Current Tower(s) First Lit: 1852
Operational? NO
Automated? YES, 1949
Deactivated: 1994
Foundation Materials: STONE
Construction Materials: BRICK
Tower Shape: CONICAL
Markings/Pattern: WHITE W/BLACK LANTERN
Relationship to Other Structure: SEPARATE
Height: 65-feet (1833); 72-feet (as of1932)
Characteristics: Fixed White
Foghorn: None
Original Lens: 13 lamps with 15 inch reflectors (1833); Third Order Fresnel (1852)

Historical Information:

Congress appropriated $11,400.00 on 3 March 1831 for a lighthouse "on the west end of St. George's Island, near the entrance of Appalachicola Bay."
From the report of Revenue Captain Henry D. Hunter of the cutter Taney, 12 April 1834: "There is one light house in the District, which stands on the west end of St. Georges Island. It is 75 feet high, shows a steady light and is lighted by eleven lamps. The keeper, I. W. Smith was absent when I visited the light. It was left in charge of a hired man. I did not find it clean."
The site was rebuilt in 1847 two miles from the original site on the cape which is the southern-most point of the island.
Destructive winds toppled the tower in 1851. A new lighthouse was constructed 250-yards inland and it was placed into service in 1852.
The light was automated and crew removed in August, 1949.
The Coast Guard disestablished the light as an active aid to navigation in 1994.
In 1995, Hurricane Opal caused the light tower to tilt about 10-degrees and was left sitting precariously along the water's edge.
The Cape St. George Lighthouse Society raised $50,000 from local residents and $160,000 in state grants to fix the tilt of the tower in 2002.
The light tower fell into the Gulf of Mexico on 21 October 2005.

Researched and written by Melissa Buckler, a Chesapeake Chapter of the U.S. Light House Society volunteer.