The Amelia Island Light is a lighthouse

Lighthouse

A lighthouse is a tower, building, or other type of structure designed to emit light from a system of lamps and lenses or, in older times, from a fire, and used as an aid to navigation for maritime pilots at sea or on inland waterways....

 located on the north end of Amelia Island

Amelia Island

Amelia Island is one of the southernmost of the Sea Islands, a chain of barrier islands that stretches along the east coast of the United States from South Carolina to Florida. It is long and approximately 4 miles wide at its widest point. Amelia Island is situated off the coast in Nassau County,...

 at the mouth of the St. Mary's River

St. Marys River (Florida/Georgia)

The St. Marys River is a river in the southeastern United States. It is named after the Irish Saint Mary. From near its source in the Okefenokee Swamp, to its mouth at the Atlantic Ocean, it forms a portion of the border between the U.S. states of Georgia and Florida...

. It was built in 1838 using materials taken from the former Cumberland Island

Cumberland Island

Cumberland Island is one of the Sea Islands. Cumberland is the largest in terms of continuously exposed land area of Georgia's barrier islands. It is located on the Atlantic Ocean off the coast of the U.S. state of Georgia and is part of Camden County...

 lighthouse in Georgia

Georgia (U.S. state)

Georgia is a state located in the southeastern United States. It was established in 1732, the last of the original Thirteen Colonies. The state is named after King George II of Great Britain. Georgia was the fourth state to ratify the United States Constitution, on January 2, 1788...

. The Cumberland Island lighthouse had been built in 1820. The lighthouse marks the entrance to Nassau Sound and the harbor for Fernandina Beach, Florida

Fernandina Beach, Florida

Fernandina Beach is a city in Nassau County in the state of Florida in the United States of America and on Amelia Island. It is a part of Greater Jacksonville and is among Florida's northernmost cities. The area was first inhabited by the Timucuan Indian tribe...

.

The lighthouse was originally equipped with 14 lamps each with a 14-inch (360 mm) reflector. The reflector size was increased to 15 (460 mm) inches by 1848. This arrangement was replaced by a third-order Fresnel lens

Fresnel lens

A Fresnel lens is a type of lens originally developed by French physicist Augustin-Jean Fresnel for lighthouses.The design allows the construction of lenses of large aperture and short focal length without the mass and volume of material that would be required by a lens of conventional design...

 in 1903, which is still used in the lighthouse.

The original tower, moved from Cumberland Island, Georgia was 50 foot (15 m) tall, placed on a hill. In 1881 a lantern was installed on the tower, increasing the tower height to 64 feet (20 m), with the focal plane of the light 107 feet (33 m) above see level.

The next-to-last civilian keeper of the Amelia Island lighthouse was Thomas J. O'Hagan, who was the son of the previous keeper, Thomas P. O'Hagan, and was married to a direct descendant of the first keeper, Amos Latham.

The lighthouse was transferred from the United States Coast Guard

United States Coast Guard

The United States Coast Guard is a branch of the United States Armed Forces and one of the seven U.S. uniformed services. The Coast Guard is a maritime, military, multi-mission service unique among the military branches for having a maritime law enforcement mission and a federal regulatory agency...

to the City of Fernandina Beach in 2001.

It is listed as number 565 in the USCG light lists.

External links

• Amelia Island Lighthouse Tour - City of Fenandina Beach