Florida Lighthouse Day

Boca Grande, Florida: Each year, the State of Florida recognizes the coastal history of lighthouses and their importance to the states maritime culture during Florida Lighthouse Day. This year, the Barrier Island Parks Society offered an inside look at the Port Boca Grande Lighthouse to celebrate the event.

The Port Boca Grande Lighthouse was entered into service in 1890 to help mark the Boca Grande Pass and the entrance to Charlotte Harbor. This helped ensure the safety of the pass and the ships that were coming to the barrier island to transport phosphate. The lighthouse was operated by lighthouse keepers who lived on the island until the US Coast Guard took over control of the lighthouse.

We headed out to Gasparilla Island State Park to tour the lighthouse during Florida Lighthouse Day. While the lighthouse operations is under control of the Coast Guard, the remainder of the lighthouse is a museum operated by the Barrier Islands Park Society. But in celebration of the Florida Lighthouse Day, the park society in conjunction with the Coast Guard were offering a rare tour of the lamp room.

Sitting high atop the lighthouse, the lamp room of the Port Boca Grande Lighthouse contains the fifth order Fresnel Lens that aides the ships into the port. The lens flashes a white light every twenty seconds. The beacon can be seen by ships up to twelve miles off-shore. To reach the lamp room, we had to climb a steep and narrow wooden ladder high above the lighthouse but the end result was a view that only a few get to enjoy.

While the lens room tour is only offered on rare occasions, the remainder of the lighthouse is open daily as a historical museum to the history of Boca Grande. Here you will find exhibits on the history of the lighthouse, the phosphate mining and shipping history as well as a look at the plants, animals and shells that can be found along the beaches of the barrier island. The tour ends at the museum gift shop where you can find all kinds of items for the lighthouse and the coastal region.

Click on the photo above to view my photos from today’s visit as well as past visits to the Gasparilla Island State Park.

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