St. Augustine Light
Encyclopedia
The St. Augustine Light is an active lighthouse
on the north end of Anastasia Island
, within the current city limits of St. Augustine
, Florida
. The tower, built in 1874, is owned by the St. Augustine Lighthouse & Museum, Inc. (SAL&M), a not-for-profit maritime museum and private aid-to-navigation. Open to the public, admissions support continued preservation of the Lighthouse and fund programs in maritime archaeology
and education.
established in Florida
by the new, territorial, American Government in 1824. According to some archival records and maps, this "official" American lighthouse was placed on the site of an earlier watchtower built by the Spanish
as early as the late 16th century. The Map of St. Augustine depicting Sir Francis Drake's attack on the city by Baptista Boazio, 1589, shows an early wooden watch tower near the Spanish structure, which was described as a "beacon" in Drake's account. By 1737, Spanish authorities built a more permanent tower from coquina
taken from a nearby quarry on the island. Archival records are inconclusive as to whether the Spanish used the coquina tower as a lighthouse, but it seems likely given the levels of maritime trade by that time. The structure was regularly referred to as a "lighthouse" in documents dating to the British Period beginning in 1763.
In 1783, the Spanish once again took control of St. Augustine, and once again the lighthouse was improved. British engineer and Marine surveyor, Joseph F.W. Des Barres marks a coquina "Light House" on Anastasia Island in his 1780 engraving, "A Plan of the Harbour of St. Augustin." Jacques N. Belline, Royal French Hydrographer, refers to the coquina tower as a "Batise" in Volume I of "Petit Atlas Maritime." The accuracy of these scholars is debated still; Des Barres work includes some obvious errors, but Belline is considered highly qualified. His work provides an important reference to St. Augustine's geography and landmarks in 1764. Facing erosion and a changing coastline, the old tower crashed into the sea in 1880, but not before a new lighthouse was lit. Today the tower ruins are a submerged archaeological site whose smooth stones may still be seen at low tide.
Early lamps in the first tower burned lard
oil. Multiple lamps with silver reflectors were replaced by a fourth order Fresnel lens
in 1855, greatly improving the lighthouse's range and eliminating some maintenance issues.
At the beginning of the Civil War
, future mayor Paul Arnau a local Menorcan
harbor master, along with the lightkeeper, a woman named Maria De Los Delores Mestre, removed the lens from the old lighthouse and hid it, in order to block Union shipping lanes. The lens and clock works were recovered after Arnau was held captive on a ship off-shore until he revealed their location.
By 1870 beach erosion threatened the first lighthouse. Construction on a new light tower began in 1871 during Florida's reconstruction period. In the meantime a jetty
of coquina and brush was built to protect the old tower. A trolley track brought building supplies from the ships at the dock.
The new tower was completed in 1874, and put into service with a new first order Fresnel lens. It was lit for the first time in October by keeper William Russell. Russell was the first lighthouse keeper in the new tower. He was the only keeper to have worked both towers.
For 20 years the site was manned by head-keeper William A. Harn
of Philadelphia. Major Harn was a Union war hero who commanded his own battery at the Battle of Gettysburg. With his wife, Kate Skillen Harn, of Maine, he had six lovely daughters. The family was known for serving lemonade out on the porches of the keepers' house, which was constructed as a Victorian duplex during Harn's tenure.
On August 31, 1886 the Charleston earthquake
caused the tower to sway violently, according to the keeper's log, but there was no recorded damage.
After many experiments with different types of oils, in 1885 the lamp was converted from lard oil to kerosene
.
During World War II, Coast Guard men and women trained in St. Augustine, and used the lighthouse as a lookout post for enemy ships and submarines which frequented the coastline.
In 1907 indoor plumbing reached the light station, followed by electricity in the keeper's quarters in 1925. The light itself was electrified in 1936, and automated in 1955. As the light was automated, positions for three keepers slowly dwindled down to two and then one. No longer housing lighthouse families by the 1960s, the Keepers House was rented to local residents. Eventually it was declared surplus, and St. Johns County
bought it in 1970. In that year the Keepers' house suffered a devastating fire at the hands of an unknown arsonist.
to begin a restoration effort on the lighthouse tower itself. The lighthouse was subsequently placed on the National Register of Historic Places
in 1981 due to the efforts of local preservationist and author Karen Harvey.
The antique lens was functional until it was damaged by rifle
fire in 1986 and 19 of the prisms were broken. Lamplighter Hank Mears called the FBI
to investigate this crime. As the lens continued to weaken, the Coast Guard considered removing it and replacing it with a more modern, airport beacon. Again championed by the JSL, this plan was dismissed and the 9 feet (2.7 m)-tall lens was restored. Joe Cocking and Nick Johnston, both retired from the Coast Guard, worked tirelessly to perform this, the first restoration of its kind in the nation. These two experts work with Museum staff and continue to care for the lens. Volunteers from Northrop Grumman
Corporation and Florida Power & Light
clean and inspect the lens and works every week.
Today, the St. Augustine Light Station consists of the 165-foot 1874 tower, the 1876 Keepers' House, two summer kitchens added in 1886, a 1941 U.S. Coast Guard barracks and a 1936 garage that was home to a jeep repair facility during World War II. The site is also a National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration
weather station.
In 1994 the Lighthouse Museum of St. Augustine (SAL&M) opened full time to the public. A community-based board of trustees was created in 1998. The men and women of the volunteer board are charged with holding the site in trust for future generations. In 2002, under the direction of current Executive Director Kathy Fleming, ownership of the tower and historic Fresnel lens was transferred from the U.S. Coast Guard through the General Services Administration
and the National Park Service
to the St. Augustine Lighthouse and Museum, Inc. This was the first such transfer of a U.S. lighthouse to a non-profit organization.
The SAL&M preserves local maritime history, keeps alive the story of the nation's oldest port, and connects young people to marine sciences. The museum board and staff also work to help save other lighthouses in Florida and across the nation, coordinating efforts with several federal agencies and volunteer groups such as the Florida Lighthouse Association. The Lighthouse employs over 30 individuals, and is visited annually by over 190,000 people including 54,000 school-aged children.
The museum maintains an active archaeological
program (Lighthouse Archaeological Maritime Program, or LAMP) that researches maritime archaeological sites around St. Augustine and the First Coast
region. Staff archaeologists have discovered a number of historic shipwrecks and investigated many others, along with other maritime sites such as breakwaters, plantation wharf remains, and the remains of Florida's first lighthouse. The museum also researches boatbuilding and the history of the local and regional shrimping industry, and maintains a growing collection of World War II
artifacts focusing on the history of the U.S. Coast Guard
in St. Augustine. The Keeper's house is used to display a series of exhibits related to these various aspects of St. Augustine's maritime history. The Lighthouse also maintains a volunteer-driven heritage boatbuilding program, which has built a number of traditional wooden boats from various time periods in the port's history.
Today, it is the Museum that keeps the light burning as a private aid-to-navigation in America's oldest port city.
In early 2010, the First Light Maritime Society was established as the support organization for the St. Augustine Lighthouse & Museum and LAMP.
in St. Johns County waters since 1997. In 1999, the Lighthouse formalized its archaeology
program, creating the Lighthouse Archaeological Maritime Program (LAMP). LAMP is one of the few research organizations in the nation employing full-time professional marine archaeologists and conservators that is not a part of a university or government entity. This unique organization has produced a body of research contributing both to the Museum's educational and interpretive programs, and has provided information for an under-represented but critical component of St. Augustine's history.
LAMP's founding Director was William "Billy Ray" Morris, who oversaw archaeological research and educational programs until his departure in 2005. In March 2006, underwater archaeologist
Chuck Meide took over control of the organization as its new Director, with the assistance of the Director of Archaeology Dr. Sam Turner. Today LAMP maintains four archaeologists on staff, including an archaeological conservator, and regularly employs a large number of volunteers and student interns.
To date the oldest identified shipwreck
discovered in St. Augustine waters is the sloop
Industry, a British supply ship lost May 6, 1764 while attempting to make port with munitions, tools, and other equipment for the garrisons in Britain's recently acquired colony of Florida. Artifacts from the wrecksite—including eight cast-iron cannon
, an iron swivel gun
, crates of iron shot, iron mooring anchors, millstone
s, and boxes of tools such as axes, shovel blades, knives, trowels, files, and handsaws—were amazingly preserved and provided an unprecedented glimpse into the needs of British soldiers and administrators on the Florida frontier. Many of these items were recovered and conserved by LAMP archaeologists, and are now on display in the maritime museum in the Lighthouse keeper's house.
In 2009, LAMP archaeologists discovered the second oldest shipwreck in Northeast Florida waters, an unidentified colonial sailing vessel known as the "Storm Wreck." The wreck site, completely buried when initially discovered, has been subject to excavations in the summers of 2010 and 2011, and seems to consist of scattered remnants of cargo, ship components, and personal possessions. LAMP archaeologists along with volunteer and student divers have documented and recovered a wide range of well-preserved artifacts, including iron and copper cauldrons, pewter spoons and tableware, an iron tea kettle, ceramic and glass fragments, brass belt and shoe buckles, a brass candlestick, bricks, a flintlock pistol, thousands of lead shot, a cask of nails, tools and navigational equipment, ship's hardware and rigging elements, the ship's urinal or pissdale, a bronze ship's bell, and two cannons. The exact date and nationality of this sunken vessel remains unknown, but it appears to date to the last quarter of the 1700s, and is most likely either British, Spanish, or American.
LAMP has also excavated two historically significant 19th century wrecks: a wooden-hulled steamship, and a centerboard schooner
. The identities of both wrecks remain unknown, but the study of their remains has led to a greater understanding of the economic and technological evolution of St. Augustine at the dawn of modernity. The latter shipwreck carried a cargo of cement in barrels which was probably intended for the city's late 19th century building boom, associated with industrialist entrepreneur Henry Flagler. In addition to these and other shipwrecks, LAMP has also investigated a wide variety of archaeological sites in St. Augustine and the greater Florida First Coast
region representing Florida's Spanish, British, and Early American periods. These include British plantation landings, community boatyard foundations, ferry and steamboat landings, ballast dump sites, colonial wharves, and inundated terrestrial sites. Current work includes the implementation of the First Coast Maritime Archaeology Project, a comprehensive program of research and outreach focusing on the waters around St. Augustine and elsewhere in northeast Florida. This project was funded from 2007-2009 by a historic preservation grant awarded by the state of Florida, and is currently an ongoing project funded by the First Light Maritime Society and philanthropic donors.
The lighthouse and surrounding buildings have a long history of supposed paranormal
activity. Allegedly, visitors and workers have seen moving shadows, heard voices and unexplained sounds, and seen the figures of two little girls standing on the lighthouse catwalk (who purportedly were daughters of Hezekiah Pittee, Superintendent of Lighthouse Construction, during the 1870s; the girls drowned in an accident during the building of the tower). Other reports are of a woman seen on the lighthouse stairway or walking in the yard outside the buildings, and the figure of a man who roams the basement. The male figure is said possibly to be that of Civil War
hero and former lighthouse keeper William A. Harn
.
Stories like these have led The Atlantic Paranormal Society
(TAPS) to the scene where they shot an episode of the SyFy
show Ghost Hunters
. During this episode, TAPS claims to have captured a few mysterious incidents on video in the lighthouse such as a disembodied voice of a woman crying "help me" and a shadowy figure was supposedly recorded on video moving about the stairs above them. Also, one of their DVR cameras captured what appeared to be figure looking over the railing of the lighthouse.
Due to the success of the first investigation, TAPS later returned for a follow-up investigation and experienced similar incidents.
The lighthouse offers "Dark of the Moon" tours where visitors can tour the site at night, and get the facts about the history of those who have died on the site, though no ghosts are promised.
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....
on the north end of Anastasia Island
Anastasia Island
Anastasia Island is a barrier island which is approximately long located off the northeast Atlantic coast of Florida in the United States. The island is located east and southeast of St. Augustine. It is separated from the mainland by the Matanzas River, part of the Intracoastal waterway, Matanzas...
, within the current city limits of St. Augustine
St. Augustine, Florida
St. Augustine is a city in the northeast section of Florida and the county seat of St. Johns County, Florida, United States. Founded in 1565 by Spanish explorer and admiral Pedro Menéndez de Avilés, it is the oldest continuously occupied European-established city and port in the continental United...
, Florida
Florida
Florida is a state in the southeastern United States, located on the nation's Atlantic and Gulf coasts. It is bordered to the west by the Gulf of Mexico, to the north by Alabama and Georgia and to the east by the Atlantic Ocean. With a population of 18,801,310 as measured by the 2010 census, it...
. The tower, built in 1874, is owned by the St. Augustine Lighthouse & Museum, Inc. (SAL&M), a not-for-profit maritime museum and private aid-to-navigation. Open to the public, admissions support continued preservation of the Lighthouse and fund programs in maritime archaeology
Maritime archaeology
Maritime archaeology is a discipline within archaeology as a whole that specifically studies human interaction with the sea, lakes and rivers through the study of associated physical remains, be they vessels, shore side facilities, port-related structures, cargoes, human remains and submerged...
and education.
History
St. Augustine was the site of the first lighthouseLighthouse
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....
established in Florida
Florida
Florida is a state in the southeastern United States, located on the nation's Atlantic and Gulf coasts. It is bordered to the west by the Gulf of Mexico, to the north by Alabama and Georgia and to the east by the Atlantic Ocean. With a population of 18,801,310 as measured by the 2010 census, it...
by the new, territorial, American Government in 1824. According to some archival records and maps, this "official" American lighthouse was placed on the site of an earlier watchtower built by the Spanish
Spain
Spain , officially the Kingdom of Spain languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Spain's official name is as follows:;;;;;;), is a country and member state of the European Union located in southwestern Europe on the Iberian Peninsula...
as early as the late 16th century. The Map of St. Augustine depicting Sir Francis Drake's attack on the city by Baptista Boazio, 1589, shows an early wooden watch tower near the Spanish structure, which was described as a "beacon" in Drake's account. By 1737, Spanish authorities built a more permanent tower from coquina
Coquina
Coquina is a sedimentary rock that is composed either wholly or almost entirely of the transported, abraded, and mechanically sorted fragments of the shells of either molluscs, trilobites, brachiopods, or other invertebrates. For a sediment to be considered to be a coquina, the average size of the...
taken from a nearby quarry on the island. Archival records are inconclusive as to whether the Spanish used the coquina tower as a lighthouse, but it seems likely given the levels of maritime trade by that time. The structure was regularly referred to as a "lighthouse" in documents dating to the British Period beginning in 1763.
In 1783, the Spanish once again took control of St. Augustine, and once again the lighthouse was improved. British engineer and Marine surveyor, Joseph F.W. Des Barres marks a coquina "Light House" on Anastasia Island in his 1780 engraving, "A Plan of the Harbour of St. Augustin." Jacques N. Belline, Royal French Hydrographer, refers to the coquina tower as a "Batise" in Volume I of "Petit Atlas Maritime." The accuracy of these scholars is debated still; Des Barres work includes some obvious errors, but Belline is considered highly qualified. His work provides an important reference to St. Augustine's geography and landmarks in 1764. Facing erosion and a changing coastline, the old tower crashed into the sea in 1880, but not before a new lighthouse was lit. Today the tower ruins are a submerged archaeological site whose smooth stones may still be seen at low tide.
Lard
Lard is pig fat in both its rendered and unrendered forms. Lard was commonly used in many cuisines as a cooking fat or shortening, or as a spread similar to butter. Its use in contemporary cuisine has diminished because of health concerns posed by its saturated-fat content and its often negative...
oil. Multiple lamps with silver reflectors were replaced by a fourth 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 1855, greatly improving the lighthouse's range and eliminating some maintenance issues.
At the beginning of the Civil War
American Civil War
The American Civil War was a civil war fought in the United States of America. In response to the election of Abraham Lincoln as President of the United States, 11 southern slave states declared their secession from the United States and formed the Confederate States of America ; the other 25...
, future mayor Paul Arnau a local Menorcan
Minorca
Min Orca or Menorca is one of the Balearic Islands located in the Mediterranean Sea belonging to Spain. It takes its name from being smaller than the nearby island of Majorca....
harbor master, along with the lightkeeper, a woman named Maria De Los Delores Mestre, removed the lens from the old lighthouse and hid it, in order to block Union shipping lanes. The lens and clock works were recovered after Arnau was held captive on a ship off-shore until he revealed their location.
By 1870 beach erosion threatened the first lighthouse. Construction on a new light tower began in 1871 during Florida's reconstruction period. In the meantime a jetty
Jetty
A jetty is any of a variety of structures used in river, dock, and maritime works that are generally carried out in pairs from river banks, or in continuation of river channels at their outlets into deep water; or out into docks, and outside their entrances; or for forming basins along the...
of coquina and brush was built to protect the old tower. A trolley track brought building supplies from the ships at the dock.
The new tower was completed in 1874, and put into service with a new first order Fresnel lens. It was lit for the first time in October by keeper William Russell. Russell was the first lighthouse keeper in the new tower. He was the only keeper to have worked both towers.
For 20 years the site was manned by head-keeper William A. Harn
William A. Harn
-The Creation of the 3rd New York Battery:The 3rd New York Battery began its existence as Company D of the 2nd New York Militia. It was designated a howitzer company. It was to Washington, D. C. with the regiment, which became the 82nd New York Volunteer Infantry Regiment. Led by Capt Thaddeus...
of Philadelphia. Major Harn was a Union war hero who commanded his own battery at the Battle of Gettysburg. With his wife, Kate Skillen Harn, of Maine, he had six lovely daughters. The family was known for serving lemonade out on the porches of the keepers' house, which was constructed as a Victorian duplex during Harn's tenure.
On August 31, 1886 the Charleston earthquake
Charleston earthquake
The Charleston Earthquake of 1886 was a powerful intraplate earthquake that hit the area of Charleston, South Carolina. After the 1811 and 1812 quakes in New Madrid, Missouri, it is one of the most powerful and damaging quakes to hit the southeastern United States. The shaking occurred at 9:50 p.m....
caused the tower to sway violently, according to the keeper's log, but there was no recorded damage.
After many experiments with different types of oils, in 1885 the lamp was converted from lard oil to kerosene
Kerosene
Kerosene, sometimes spelled kerosine in scientific and industrial usage, also known as paraffin or paraffin oil in the United Kingdom, Hong Kong, Ireland and South Africa, is a combustible hydrocarbon liquid. The name is derived from Greek keros...
.
During World War II, Coast Guard men and women trained in St. Augustine, and used the lighthouse as a lookout post for enemy ships and submarines which frequented the coastline.
In 1907 indoor plumbing reached the light station, followed by electricity in the keeper's quarters in 1925. The light itself was electrified in 1936, and automated in 1955. As the light was automated, positions for three keepers slowly dwindled down to two and then one. No longer housing lighthouse families by the 1960s, the Keepers House was rented to local residents. Eventually it was declared surplus, and St. Johns County
St. Johns County, Florida
St. Johns County is a county located in northeastern Florida. As of the 2010 census, the population was 190,039. The county seat is St. Augustine. Due to the inclusion of Ponte Vedra Beach, it is one of the highest-income counties in the United States....
bought it in 1970. In that year the Keepers' house suffered a devastating fire at the hands of an unknown arsonist.
Restoration
In 1980 a small group of 15 women in the Junior Service League of St. Augustine (JSL) signed a 99-year lease with the county for the keeper's house and surrounding grounds and began a massive restoration project. Shortly after the JSL adopted the restoration, the League signed a 30-year lease with the Coast GuardUnited 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 begin a restoration effort on the lighthouse tower itself. The lighthouse was subsequently placed on the National Register of Historic Places
National Register of Historic Places
The National Register of Historic Places is the United States government's official list of districts, sites, buildings, structures, and objects deemed worthy of preservation...
in 1981 due to the efforts of local preservationist and author Karen Harvey.
The antique lens was functional until it was damaged by rifle
Rifle
A rifle is a firearm designed to be fired from the shoulder, with a barrel that has a helical groove or pattern of grooves cut into the barrel walls. The raised areas of the rifling are called "lands," which make contact with the projectile , imparting spin around an axis corresponding to the...
fire in 1986 and 19 of the prisms were broken. Lamplighter Hank Mears called the FBI
Federal Bureau of Investigation
The Federal Bureau of Investigation is an agency of the United States Department of Justice that serves as both a federal criminal investigative body and an internal intelligence agency . The FBI has investigative jurisdiction over violations of more than 200 categories of federal crime...
to investigate this crime. As the lens continued to weaken, the Coast Guard considered removing it and replacing it with a more modern, airport beacon. Again championed by the JSL, this plan was dismissed and the 9 feet (2.7 m)-tall lens was restored. Joe Cocking and Nick Johnston, both retired from the Coast Guard, worked tirelessly to perform this, the first restoration of its kind in the nation. These two experts work with Museum staff and continue to care for the lens. Volunteers from Northrop Grumman
Northrop Grumman
Northrop Grumman Corporation is an American global aerospace and defense technology company formed by the 1994 purchase of Grumman by Northrop. The company was the fourth-largest defense contractor in the world as of 2010, and the largest builder of naval vessels. Northrop Grumman employs over...
Corporation and Florida Power & Light
Florida Power & Light
Florida Power & Light Company, the principal subsidiary of NextEra Energy Inc. , commonly referred to by its initials, FPL, is a Juno Beach, Florida-based power utility which serves roughly 4.4 million customers in Florida. FPL Group holds power generation assets in more than 20 U.S...
clean and inspect the lens and works every week.
Today, the St. Augustine Light Station consists of the 165-foot 1874 tower, the 1876 Keepers' House, two summer kitchens added in 1886, a 1941 U.S. Coast Guard barracks and a 1936 garage that was home to a jeep repair facility during World War II. The site is also a National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration
National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration
The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration , pronounced , like "noah", is a scientific agency within the United States Department of Commerce focused on the conditions of the oceans and the atmosphere...
weather station.
St. Augustine Lighthouse and Museum
General Services Administration
The General Services Administration is an independent agency of the United States government, established in 1949 to help manage and support the basic functioning of federal agencies. The GSA supplies products and communications for U.S...
and the National Park Service
National Park Service
The National Park Service is the U.S. federal agency that manages all national parks, many national monuments, and other conservation and historical properties with various title designations...
to the St. Augustine Lighthouse and Museum, Inc. This was the first such transfer of a U.S. lighthouse to a non-profit organization.
The SAL&M preserves local maritime history, keeps alive the story of the nation's oldest port, and connects young people to marine sciences. The museum board and staff also work to help save other lighthouses in Florida and across the nation, coordinating efforts with several federal agencies and volunteer groups such as the Florida Lighthouse Association. The Lighthouse employs over 30 individuals, and is visited annually by over 190,000 people including 54,000 school-aged children.
The museum maintains an active archaeological
Archaeology
Archaeology, or archeology , is the study of human society, primarily through the recovery and analysis of the material culture and environmental data that they have left behind, which includes artifacts, architecture, biofacts and cultural landscapes...
program (Lighthouse Archaeological Maritime Program, or LAMP) that researches maritime archaeological sites around St. Augustine and the First Coast
First Coast
The First Coast is a region of Florida, in the United States. It extends along the Atlantic, or eastern, coast of the state, from the Georgia border, past the southern end of Anastasia Island, to Marineland....
region. Staff archaeologists have discovered a number of historic shipwrecks and investigated many others, along with other maritime sites such as breakwaters, plantation wharf remains, and the remains of Florida's first lighthouse. The museum also researches boatbuilding and the history of the local and regional shrimping industry, and maintains a growing collection of World War II
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
artifacts focusing on the history of the U.S. 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...
in St. Augustine. The Keeper's house is used to display a series of exhibits related to these various aspects of St. Augustine's maritime history. The Lighthouse also maintains a volunteer-driven heritage boatbuilding program, which has built a number of traditional wooden boats from various time periods in the port's history.
Today, it is the Museum that keeps the light burning as a private aid-to-navigation in America's oldest port city.
In early 2010, the First Light Maritime Society was established as the support organization for the St. Augustine Lighthouse & Museum and LAMP.
Lighthouse Archaeological Maritime Program (LAMP)
The St. Augustine Lighthouse and Museum, as part of its ongoing mission to discover, present, and keep alive the maritime history of America's oldest port, has funded maritime archaeologyMaritime archaeology
Maritime archaeology is a discipline within archaeology as a whole that specifically studies human interaction with the sea, lakes and rivers through the study of associated physical remains, be they vessels, shore side facilities, port-related structures, cargoes, human remains and submerged...
in St. Johns County waters since 1997. In 1999, the Lighthouse formalized its archaeology
Archaeology
Archaeology, or archeology , is the study of human society, primarily through the recovery and analysis of the material culture and environmental data that they have left behind, which includes artifacts, architecture, biofacts and cultural landscapes...
program, creating the Lighthouse Archaeological Maritime Program (LAMP). LAMP is one of the few research organizations in the nation employing full-time professional marine archaeologists and conservators that is not a part of a university or government entity. This unique organization has produced a body of research contributing both to the Museum's educational and interpretive programs, and has provided information for an under-represented but critical component of St. Augustine's history.
LAMP's founding Director was William "Billy Ray" Morris, who oversaw archaeological research and educational programs until his departure in 2005. In March 2006, underwater archaeologist
Underwater archaeology
Underwater archaeology is archaeology practised underwater. As with all other branches of archaeology it evolved from its roots in pre-history and in the classical era to include sites from the historical and industrial eras...
Chuck Meide took over control of the organization as its new Director, with the assistance of the Director of Archaeology Dr. Sam Turner. Today LAMP maintains four archaeologists on staff, including an archaeological conservator, and regularly employs a large number of volunteers and student interns.
To date the oldest identified shipwreck
Shipwreck
A shipwreck is what remains of a ship that has wrecked, either sunk or beached. Whatever the cause, a sunken ship or a wrecked ship is a physical example of the event: this explains why the two concepts are often overlapping in English....
discovered in St. Augustine waters is the sloop
Sloop
A sloop is a sail boat with a fore-and-aft rig and a single mast farther forward than the mast of a cutter....
Industry, a British supply ship lost May 6, 1764 while attempting to make port with munitions, tools, and other equipment for the garrisons in Britain's recently acquired colony of Florida. Artifacts from the wrecksite—including eight cast-iron cannon
Cannon
A cannon is any piece of artillery that uses gunpowder or other usually explosive-based propellents to launch a projectile. Cannon vary in caliber, range, mobility, rate of fire, angle of fire, and firepower; different forms of cannon combine and balance these attributes in varying degrees,...
, an iron swivel gun
Swivel gun
The term swivel gun usually refers to a small cannon, mounted on a swiveling stand or fork which allows a very wide arc of movement. Another type of firearm referred to as a swivel gun was an early flintlock combination gun with two barrels that rotated along their axes to allow the shooter to...
, crates of iron shot, iron mooring anchors, millstone
Millstone
Millstones or mill stones are used in windmills and watermills, including tide mills, for grinding wheat or other grains.The type of stone most suitable for making millstones is a siliceous rock called burrstone , an open-textured, porous but tough, fine-grained sandstone, or a silicified,...
s, and boxes of tools such as axes, shovel blades, knives, trowels, files, and handsaws—were amazingly preserved and provided an unprecedented glimpse into the needs of British soldiers and administrators on the Florida frontier. Many of these items were recovered and conserved by LAMP archaeologists, and are now on display in the maritime museum in the Lighthouse keeper's house.
In 2009, LAMP archaeologists discovered the second oldest shipwreck in Northeast Florida waters, an unidentified colonial sailing vessel known as the "Storm Wreck." The wreck site, completely buried when initially discovered, has been subject to excavations in the summers of 2010 and 2011, and seems to consist of scattered remnants of cargo, ship components, and personal possessions. LAMP archaeologists along with volunteer and student divers have documented and recovered a wide range of well-preserved artifacts, including iron and copper cauldrons, pewter spoons and tableware, an iron tea kettle, ceramic and glass fragments, brass belt and shoe buckles, a brass candlestick, bricks, a flintlock pistol, thousands of lead shot, a cask of nails, tools and navigational equipment, ship's hardware and rigging elements, the ship's urinal or pissdale, a bronze ship's bell, and two cannons. The exact date and nationality of this sunken vessel remains unknown, but it appears to date to the last quarter of the 1700s, and is most likely either British, Spanish, or American.
LAMP has also excavated two historically significant 19th century wrecks: a wooden-hulled steamship, and a centerboard schooner
Schooner
A schooner is a type of sailing vessel characterized by the use of fore-and-aft sails on two or more masts with the forward mast being no taller than the rear masts....
. The identities of both wrecks remain unknown, but the study of their remains has led to a greater understanding of the economic and technological evolution of St. Augustine at the dawn of modernity. The latter shipwreck carried a cargo of cement in barrels which was probably intended for the city's late 19th century building boom, associated with industrialist entrepreneur Henry Flagler. In addition to these and other shipwrecks, LAMP has also investigated a wide variety of archaeological sites in St. Augustine and the greater Florida First Coast
First Coast
The First Coast is a region of Florida, in the United States. It extends along the Atlantic, or eastern, coast of the state, from the Georgia border, past the southern end of Anastasia Island, to Marineland....
region representing Florida's Spanish, British, and Early American periods. These include British plantation landings, community boatyard foundations, ferry and steamboat landings, ballast dump sites, colonial wharves, and inundated terrestrial sites. Current work includes the implementation of the First Coast Maritime Archaeology Project, a comprehensive program of research and outreach focusing on the waters around St. Augustine and elsewhere in northeast Florida. This project was funded from 2007-2009 by a historic preservation grant awarded by the state of Florida, and is currently an ongoing project funded by the First Light Maritime Society and philanthropic donors.
Reports of paranormal activity
Paranormal
Paranormal is a general term that designates experiences that lie outside "the range of normal experience or scientific explanation" or that indicates phenomena understood to be outside of science's current ability to explain or measure...
activity. Allegedly, visitors and workers have seen moving shadows, heard voices and unexplained sounds, and seen the figures of two little girls standing on the lighthouse catwalk (who purportedly were daughters of Hezekiah Pittee, Superintendent of Lighthouse Construction, during the 1870s; the girls drowned in an accident during the building of the tower). Other reports are of a woman seen on the lighthouse stairway or walking in the yard outside the buildings, and the figure of a man who roams the basement. The male figure is said possibly to be that of Civil War
American Civil War
The American Civil War was a civil war fought in the United States of America. In response to the election of Abraham Lincoln as President of the United States, 11 southern slave states declared their secession from the United States and formed the Confederate States of America ; the other 25...
hero and former lighthouse keeper William A. Harn
William A. Harn
-The Creation of the 3rd New York Battery:The 3rd New York Battery began its existence as Company D of the 2nd New York Militia. It was designated a howitzer company. It was to Washington, D. C. with the regiment, which became the 82nd New York Volunteer Infantry Regiment. Led by Capt Thaddeus...
.
Stories like these have led The Atlantic Paranormal Society
The Atlantic Paranormal Society
The Atlantic Paranormal Society is an organization that investigates reported paranormal activity. Based in Warwick, Rhode Island, United States, TAPS was founded in 1990 by Jason Hawes and Grant Wilson. In 2004, the organization itself became the subject of Ghost Hunters, a popular weekly...
(TAPS) to the scene where they shot an episode of the SyFy
Syfy
Syfy , formerly known as the Sci-Fi Channel and SCI FI, is an American cable television channel featuring science fiction, supernatural, fantasy, reality, paranormal, wrestling, and horror programming. Launched on September 24, 1992, it is part of the entertainment conglomerate NBCUniversal, a...
show Ghost Hunters
Ghost Hunters
Ghost Hunters is an American paranormal reality television series that premiered on October 6, 2004, on Syfy . The program features paranormal investigators Jason Hawes and Grant Wilson who investigate places that are reported to be haunted. The two originally worked as plumbers for Roto-Rooter as...
. During this episode, TAPS claims to have captured a few mysterious incidents on video in the lighthouse such as a disembodied voice of a woman crying "help me" and a shadowy figure was supposedly recorded on video moving about the stairs above them. Also, one of their DVR cameras captured what appeared to be figure looking over the railing of the lighthouse.
Due to the success of the first investigation, TAPS later returned for a follow-up investigation and experienced similar incidents.
The lighthouse offers "Dark of the Moon" tours where visitors can tour the site at night, and get the facts about the history of those who have died on the site, though no ghosts are promised.