Ponce de Leon Lighthouse Station

Ponce de Leon Lighthouse Station

Ponce de Leon Light Station lies on the northern side of Ponce de Leon Inlet in the City of Ponce Inlet on Florida's East Coast. The light station is bounded by the Atlantic Ocean on the east and Halifax River on the west. Ponce Inlet marks the northernmost boundary of Mosquito Lagoon, a major waterbody in the Indian River Lagoon National Estuary.

Constructed in 1887, the Ponce Inlet Lighthouse Station was fully restored and opened for public tours in 1982. The original lighthouse keeper's dwellings were restored to the 1890 period and are now used as museums and shops. The grounds and outbuildings have been restored to reflect the period and demonstrate the lightkeeper's daily job duties.

At 176 feet, the restored Ponce de Leon Inlet Lighthouse tower is the second tallest brick light tower in the United States. The original third-order Fresnel lens was installed back into the lantern room in 2004, providing the public a rare chance to see an active, revolving, Fresnel lens.

Recognized as a U.S. Historic Landmark, Ponce de Leon Lighthouse Station currently serves as a Private Aid to Navigation, operated by the Ponce de Leon Inlet Lighthouse Preservation Association.

This article was derived from the 1986 Ponce de Leon Inlet Light Station National Historic Landmark Registration Form (PDF 25pp 288KB).

Significance

Ponce Lighthouse Historic Place 1972

The present Ponce Inlet light station embodies a distinctive design and method of construction that typified first-order coastal lighthouse construction on the East Coast of the United States during the second half of the 19th century. Prior to 1852 there was no uniformity in the design of lighthouse towers and support structures. However in 1852 a Congressional legislative report recommended "that all constructions, renovations, and repairs to towers and building, be hereafter made upon the plans, estimates, and drawings, and under the personal superintendence of an officer of engineers of the army..." This produced a somewhat uniformity in design and materials of subsequent lighthouse construction and remodeling.

Cut stone and brick were used, allowing towers increased height for better visibility. The design of the tall brick towers consisted of a double wall with a hollow space between the walls, thereby lightening the load, creating an insulation "member," and reducing the overall cost of using fewer bricks. When the first Cape Hatteras Lighthouse (1803) tower was heightened to 150 feet in 1854 it was the first of the "tall tower" lights to be built in the United States. The current Cape Hatteras Lighthouse (1870) is 198 feet, making it the tallest brick tower. At 176 feet, the Ponce de Leon Inlet Lighthouse tower is the second tallest brick light tower in the United States.

Historic Significance

Ponce Lighthouse Historic Landmark 1998

Ponce lighthouse station is significant for its association with early federal government efforts to provide an integrated system of navigational aids and to provide for safe maritime transportation. The Ponce de Leon Inlet lighthouse tower is considered one of the most beautiful in North America. It was described in 1928 by Lighthouse Service Inspector Thomas H. Gregg as "the best proportioned and most beautiful tower in the District." The overall station retains all of the original structures which have been preserved in excellent condition.

Navigation and Maritime Trade

As early as 1774, some type of beacon, probably a large fire, had been placed by the British to mark Mosquito Inlet (later named Ponce de Leon Inlet). Oranges, rice, cotton, hides, lumber, naval stores, and valuable indigo were being shipped from flourishing plantations through the inlet. In 1830, William dePeyster wrote to Congress a "Memorial" signed by 38 ship owners and plantation owners from Mosquito County (Brevard) and New Smyrna that "we are suffering in considerable privations, and difficulties, in the trade to this quarter in consequence of there being no Light House at Mosquito Inlet." The resulting tower did not survive, resulting in more ships running aground. With each new wreck, demands would be made for better aids to navigation in the Inlet.

The Lighthouse Board in 1870 stated in its annual report in reference to Mosquito (Ponce) Inlet that "no soundings can be relied on,... the inlet may be opened or closed one or more times each year," and "the wrecks lying on or near the bar give a practical illustration of the uncertainty of the channel." The report also stated that the engineer who reconnoitered the inlet was of the opinion that the amount of commerce through the inlet did not justify a major light; however, as a major coastal light is required somewhere between Cape Canaveral and St. Augustine, a distance of 95 miles, Mosquito Inlet would be a good location as it could serve as a coastal light and harbor light, and the inlet afforded a safe place for the landing of building materials and supplies. The new tower was completed in 1887.

Technology

During the construction of the Ponce de Leon Inlet Lighthouse, the Lighthouse District Superintendent of Construction Herbert Bamber invented an adjustable, moveable "Working Platform" which increased the efficiency and ease of constructing masonry towers. Individual bricks were left out of the exterior tower wall every 10 feet vertically and horizontally so that supports for the platform could be set into the holes. Once the tower was completed the platform was lowered level by level and the gaps filled with bricks. This technique, first used at Ponce de Leon Inlet, was adopted as standard practice for future brick masonry light tower construction.

History

Source: The Beacon of Mosquito Inlet: A History of the Ponce De Leon Inlet Lighthouse

Building Ponce Inlet Lighthouse 1886

On June 30, 1834, Congress authorized $11,000 for the erection of a lighthouse on the south side of Mosquito (Ponce) Inlet. Winslow Lewis, a noted lighthouse builder at the time, was awarded a contract on October 31. The light station was completed in February 1835 at a cost of $7,494. William H. Williams was appointed the first keeper with a salary of $450; however, because the government failed to order oil for the lamps, the light was not immediately lit. Either before or during a violent storm in October 1835, Williams removed the lighting apparatus and stored it in the keeper's dwelling. The dwelling eroded into the inlet, however, and erosion partially undermined the light tower which then began to lean. On December 26 Seminole Indians made a raiding party on New Smyrna and ravaged the leaning lighthouse tower and removed at least one of the lamp reflectors; probably found in the ruins of the keeper's dwelling. Because of troubled relations with the Native Americans, nothing was done to stop the erosion and the light tower fell in April 1836. The Florida legislation sent an unsuccessful resolution to Congress on February 8, 1847, requesting a new lighthouse be built at Mosquito Inlet.

It was not until 1870 that the Lighthouse Board requested $60,000 for construction of a 150-foot tall lighthouse. This same request was made repeatedly by the Board in 1871, 1872, 1873, and 1874. The Lighthouse Board renewed its request in 1882, but by this time the amount estimated to complete the specifications for the light station was increased to $200,000. Congress on August 7 authorized $30,000 for a study and plans. In March of 1883, Congress authorized $30,000 for site selection and initial construction. Final working drawings were approved in July. It was determined the inlet was moving south and by locating the light station on the north side, it should not suffer the same fate as the 1835 tower. Ten acres for the light station were acquired on November 15 for $400 from Bartola C. Pacetti and his wife Martha. A contract for the metalwork was awarded to J. P. Morris Company of Pittsburgh.

In 1884 a small work party arrived at the site and constructed workmen's quarters and storehouses as well as cleared the construction site. A tramway was constructed from the landing site to the construction site to facilitate the transporting of building materials. Contracts were let for the ironwork, stonework, 500,000 brick, and 1,200 barrels of cement. Construction began on the foundation on June 7. The Lighthouse Board requested an additional $75,000 to complete the work and begin work on a keeper's dwelling, but the request was denied; work ceased when the 1883 appropriation ran out. Congress approved an additional $40,000 on March 3, 1885.

Ponce de Leon Lighthouse 1886

Congress approved an additional $50,000 on August 4, 1886 and work began again on the light station. An additional 800,000 bricks were ordered in August. In October another 650,000 bricks, 1,000 barrels of cement, and 3,650 bushels of building sand were ordered. By the end of the year, 470,000 bricks had been used and the tower stood at 51 feet. A contract for the copper roof and tin work was awarded to Hentzell & Son. Carpentry and blacksmith shops were also built. Five schooners employed in supplying the lighthouse materials were wrecked and an additional schooner "crippled."

Congress authorized an additional $20,000 on March 3, 1887. The oil house was completed and the three keeper's dwellings and their outbuildings were ready for plastering. The oil house was one of the first and largest kerosene storage buildings in the United States. A Fresnel first order lens, constructed in 1867, was installed at Ponce de Leon Inlet Lighthouse in 1887. The light was first lit on November 1. William Rowlinski was the first principal keeper and Hardie Bryan the first assistant keeper.

Electricity did not come to the Ponce de Leon Inlet Light Station until 1933 when the light was changed from a fixed light to a revolving, flashing light. The first-order lens was replaced with a third-order lens removed from Sapelo Island, Georgia. The electric light began flashing on August 31, 1933.

In 1940 a radio beacon was established at the station after several years of scavenging equipment. The radio room was located in the former master bedroom of the first assistant keeper's dwelling.

In 1941, lighthouse family personnel were moved out of the station and the quarters turned over to Coast Guard personnel. The storage building behind the first assistant keeper's dwelling was turned into a generator building. Coast Guard personnel manned the station until 1952 when the station became fully automated.

The Battelle Memorial Institute, under contract with the U.S. Department of Interior, established an experimental solar seawater distillation plant at the light station in 1958. The keeper's quarters became homes and workshops for the project personnel. Five stills were constructed southeast of the first assistant keeper's dwelling. When the project disbanded, the stills were dismantled.

In 1963, Ponce Inlet becomes incorporated as a town and in October the 2nd assistant keeper's dwelling became the town hall.

In March 1970 the light which had shone since 1887 in the brick light tower was extinguished and a new light installed across the inlet at the Coast Guard station on a new 50-foot metal skeletal tower. That same year, a fire, believed to be caused by an arsonist, destroyed the oil house. The Fresnel lens was removed by the Coast Guard in 1970 for safekeeping and the property surrounded by a chainlink fence to keep vandals out.

The light station property was declared surplus in 1972 and deeded to the Town of Ponce Inlet. The light station was listed in the National Register on September 22, 1972. The Ponce de Leon Inlet Lighthouse Preservation Association was founded to restore and open the site to the public.

In 1978, a high-rise condominium planned on the south side of the inlet was found to obscure the modern beacon erected by the Coast Guard in 1970. On December 15, 1982, the brick tower was reactivated as an aid to navigation. A FA251-AC rotating light was installed in the tower and made operational.

Light Station Description

Ponce de Leon Lighthouse Station

A remarkably complete station, the Ponce de Leon Light Station consists of the 176ft brick lighthouse tower, a principal keeper's dwelling, two assistant keepers' dwellings, an oil house, pump house, and three woodshed/privy structures.

The principal buildings are arranged in a courtyard, connected by brick pathways, and surrounded by a white picket fence.

This article continues on Ponce de Leon Lighthouse Station Description with a detailed physical description of the facility.

Video

Ponce de Leon Light Station Video Playlist on the Indian River Lagoon News YouTube Channel.

See Also

• Ponce de Leon Lighthouse Station Description
• Ponce de Leon Inlet
• Mosquito Lagoon Water Body
• Mosquito Lagoon
• Mosquito Lagoon Aquatic Preserve

Web Links

• Ponce Inlet Light Station and Museum
• United States Lighthouse Society Archives

Documents

• World War II at Ponce de Leon Inlet Light Station(PDF 6pp)
• Article Source: Ponce de Leon Inlet Light Station National Historic Landmark Registration (PDF 25pp 288KB)

References