The Wandering Disciple

Standing at the mouth of the Boca Grande Pass, the Port Boca Grande Lighthouse provides a guiding light for ships transitioning from the Gulf of Mexico into Charlotte Harbor. Since 1890, the lighthouse have navigated ships into the harbor and the nearby Port Boca Grande. Over the years, the need for the lighthouse diminished as a newer lighthouse was installed nearby and the port was eventually closed, but the Port Boca Grande Lighthouse survived demolition by both natural means (hurricanes, coastal erosion) and human means (decay and demo). Today the restored lighthouse is a museum and part of the Gasparilla Island State Park.  Gasparilla Island State Park is a barrier island park featuring several miles of coastline and beaches along the Gulf of Mexico. Within the boundaries of the park, both lighthouses are preserved. Visitors can tour the Port Boca Grande Lighthouse as it is one of only six lighthouses in Florida that the public can tour. The taller Gasparilla Island Rear...

The light of the Boca Grande Lighthouse provides a beacon of light in the night sky. The lighthouse was commissioned in 1890 and remained in service until 1966. It was reactivated in 1986 as an aid to navigation under the US Coast Guard. You can tour the lighthouse which is part of the Gasparilla Island State Park. (Photo: April 16, 2016)

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 Fl...

The Boca Grande Lighthouse has been serving the Boca Grande Pass for over a hundred years, helping ships navigate the coastal waters off Boca Grande.  The light was first lit 1890 and remains in service to this day.  It also serves as a museum to showcase the maritime history of the region.  (Photo: March 5, 2006)

Boca Grande Pass, the mouth of Charlotte Harbor has been protected by the Boca Grande Lighthouse since 1890. While the lighthouse was dark for twenty years of that expansive history, today the lighthouse is in full operation and also serves as a museum to maritime history. (Photo: March 27, 2010)

The Boca Grande Lighthouse has been guiding ships into Charlotte Harbor since 1890. Located on the southern tip of Gasparilla Island, it is one of two lighthouse that help guide ships into the harbor. (Photo: June 26, 2004)

On the 200th Anniversary of President Washington enacting the Lighthouse Act of 1789, the United States Congress enacted a resolution to declare August 7th "National Lighthouse Day". The joint resolution commemorated the commissioning of the first federal lighthouse and called for all lighthouses, were feasible, to be opened to the public on the holiday to help educate the people on the importance that lighthouses played on our maritime history. Shown here is the Port Boca Grande Lighthouse at the southern tip of Boca Grande. The lighthouse and museum is open to the public daily. (Photo: January 25, 2009)

Boca Grande, Florida: The oldest building on Gasparilla Island, the Port Boca Grande Lighthouse has been guiding ships through the waters of Boca Grande. The lighthouse was almost lost to Mother Nature before an effort led by local citizens restored the lighthouse to its original splendor. Built on the southern tip of Gasparilla Island, the lighthouse marks the entrance to Charlotte Harbor via the Boca Grande Pass. The lighthouse was placed into service on December 31, 1890. The complex consisted of a two story wooden lighthouse on stilts with a three and a half order Fresnel lens at the peak of the roof along with a second building for the assistant keeper. The lighthouse keepers and their families lived on the complex until 1956 when the light became automated. Then in 1966 the United States Coast Guard decommissioned the lighthouse due to deterioration. A local effort began in the early 1970’s to help restore the lighthouse. The lighthouse was transferred to Lee County in 19...