CAPE FLORIDA LIGHTHOUSE
Key Biscayne, Florida
We made it back to this one before the park closed but not before the tours had ended. We started the day in the upper keys and drove south to Key West before turning back and coming up through Miami and out to Key Biscayne. Drive out to the end of I-95 and take the Rickenbacher Causeway over to the island. There is a toll fee for the bridge and an entrance fee at Bill Baggs State Park, where the lighthouse is located. Don't walk out on the little jetty in front of the lighthouse. Someone will yell at you. It's a good place for a shot though.
A tower was first established here in 1825, but was too short. There were problems with the local Indians and it wasn't until 1846 that they actually lit it. They raised the height to 95 feet, making it 100 feet above the ocean, in 1855 and put a 2nd order lens in it. In 1996 they installed a modern optic.
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OF THE MOUNTAINS
John B Caddell
Copyright 2001