Travel: Amelia Lighthouse Home: greenlightwrite.com featuring |
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Travel: Amelia Lighthouse Home: greenlightwrite.com featuring |
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Central on GraciousJaneMarie Look at a lighthouse standing tall, and imagine adventure and romance. I did just that when I wrote my novel, The Goodbye Lie.
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Amelia Light is Florida's oldest surviving lighthouse. You can see it from Atlantic Avenue and Egan's Creek, near the entrance to Fort Clinch. Or, you can wait until nightfall and watch its beautiful beams pulsate in the darkness. Warning, beckoning, guiding. Sadly, the lighthouse is not open to the public. But I was privileged to climb to the top. As I stood on the iron balcony, I thought how lighthouse keepers from the past had stood here, looking where I looked, and smelling the sea air as I did. The
bricks used in the Amelia Light came from the 80 foot Cumberland Light.
That lighthouse was erected by Winslow Lewis in 1820 on Cumberland Island,
Georgia. Just three miles or so south across the St. Mary's River,
Amelia Island was still owned by Spain. 18 years later, after Amelia
Island had passed to American control, the United States government had
the Cumberland Light taken down, brick by brick, and rafted to Amelia
Island. Mr. Lewis oversaw the whole process for $7000. In 1838, a year-long reassembly began. The Amelia Light was completed to stand on the highest point on Amelia Island, three-quarters of a mile from the shore of the Atlantic Ocean and two miles south of the St. Mary's River. Being so far from the ocean, the Amelia Light has survived storms and erosion where other lighthouses have fallen into the sea. Details The lighthouse tower has both an interior and exterior wall. The exterior brick wall is 22 feet in diameter at the bottom and 10 1/2 feet at the top, making it conical in shape. The inside wall is a straight cylinder nine and a half feet wide. 58 hand-hewn steps of New England granite form a narrow spiral staircase with a wooden handrail all the way to the top. These steps are capped with two flights of cast iron stairs. The inside is decorated with cast iron fretwork / gingerbread painted a shiny black. Originally, fourteen whale oil and lard oil lamps lighted the revolving lens that was powered by a clock cable and weight structure. The oil lamps were replaced with a four foot wide Third Order Fresnel lens in 1856. Invented by Augustine Fresnel of France, the bullet shaped lens is comprised of hundreds of curved prisms that concentrate the light into one powerful beam. There are six strengths of this kind of lens, the First Order being the biggest. There are two 1000 watt light bulbs in the interior of the lens, one of which is a spare in case the first light goes out. All light was extinguished during the Civil War, 1860 to 1864. The Coast Guard assigned a six-man coastal watch team to be on the lookout for U-boats in the Atlantic, 24 hours a day during World War II. In 1881, a new cupola-type apparatus called a lantern was added to the top of the tower, increasing the overall height to 67 feet. Electricity was supplied to rotate and light the tower in 1933. The Amelia Light was automated in 1970. The revolving glow from the lighthouse flashes every ten seconds and is visible nineteen nautical miles out. Keepers The lighthouse keeper was responsible for seeing that there was always sufficient oil in the lamps, which meant toting the heavy oil up the stairs. This had to be done every evening. The clock had to be wound every four hours so the light would rotate. Additionally, the keeper had to maintain not only the tower, but the wooden framed house in which he and his family lived and the outbuildings, too. All this added to a 24 hour, 7 day a week burden. Amos Latham, the first lighthouse keeper, served in the Revolutionary War and was originally buried on lighthouse property in 1842, as was his wife. When some lighthouse land was sold off by the Coast Guard, their remains were moved to Bosque Bello Cemetery on North 14th Street in Fernandina. From 1905 to 1925, Thomas Patrick O'Hagan was keeper, followed by his son, Thomas John O'Hagan. Besides his regular duties. Thomas also maintained all aids to navigation in the area. In 1939, the Coast Guard took over the old United States Lighthouse Service. Thomas joined the Coast Guard and remained Amelia Light's longest keeper until 1954, a total of 29 years. His daughter, Helen O'Hagan Sintes reviewed and approved this article, telling how she spent the first 20 years of her life in the keeper's residence. The residence was torn down in the 1960s. When the Light was automated in 1970, it was no longer necessary to man it. The last lighthouse keeper was Otho Brown, USCG. The United States Coast Guard owned the Amelia Light until 2001 when it was deeded to the City of Fernandina Beach, Florida. It is currently being renovated, which will include painting the tower as well as replacing the modern doors and windows with historically accurate replicas of the originals. The United States Coast Guard Auxiliary will continue to maintain Amelia Light's beacon.
Update October 30, 2004 I was privileged to attend the Dedication of the Florida State Society Historical Marker at the restored Amelia Island Lighthouse on October 20, 2004. This event was sponsored by the Florida State Society Daughters of the American Revolution in cooperation with the City of Fernandina Beach, the United States Coast Guard Auxiliary, and the Duncan Lamont Clinch Historical Society of which I am a member. A grant for the Florida Coastal Management Program, Department of Community Affairs helped the City of Fernandina Beach plan the restoration and upkeep of the lighthouse. Although a tight squeeze for more than a handful of folks at a time, the interior was open to visitors this day. The tower has been reworked inside and out.
The Amelia Light is still operating although not open to the public at this time, primarily because it is in a residential location. I want to thank Mrs. Helen Sintes for assisting me in compliling information about the Amelia Light. I was most fortunate to contact her through mutual acquaintances. JM |
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Real pirates are scary-mean, but we're assembling a collection of fun pirate photos: ↑ Fernandina Beach Chamber of Commerce Pirate and friends ↑
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