Florida Lighthouses

Author H eather Leigh Carroll-Landon guides readers on a spine-tingling tour through Florida's haunted lighthouses. Lighthouses dot the Florida coast, there to help seafarers navigate their way to shore. But when tragedy comes for Florida, it often blows in from the sea, giving the lighthouses and the cursed men and women inside a first look at horror. The lively spirits of teenage sisters inhabit the St. Augustine Lighthouse, where an accident claimed their lives, suspending them in their playful youth. A storm wiped out the Sand Key Lighthouse in 1846, claiming the lives of 16 whose spirits now chatter away--generally in contented tones but sometimes straying into anger. A Civil War casualty roams near the Amelia Island Lighthouses, holding to a promise to see his love one last time before departure.

Presents a history of Florida's thirty-three lighthouses, including how they were designed and built, how they operate, and the bravery of their keepers.

Sporting the second-longest coastline in the United States, Florida has over 8,000 miles of sparkling beaches and waterfront property. This valuable landscape and the region's position between the Atlantic Ocean and the Gulf of Mexico made Florida key in the early expansion of American trade routes, but the state's several capes and dangerous reefs, rocks, and shoals made travel quite perilous to unwary mariners. When commerce and traffic began to grow between ports on the East Coast and along the Gulf of Mexico in the nineteenth century, it became necessary to construct aids to navigation along the state's long and treacherous coast. Lighthouses were the solution. Constructed in a variety of styles and sizes, Florida's lighthouses were erected on what, at the time, were some of the most desolate regions of the southeastern United States and included lonely offshore islands. Manned and inhabited by vigilant keepers and their families, these towers illuminated the dark seas and provided the beacon that guided lost travelers. Large brick structures watched over St. Augustine, Pensacola, and Ponce de Leon Inlet; iron skeletons towered over Crooked River and Hillsboro Inlet; and screwpile lighthouses stood as sentinels in the waters off the Florida Keys.

Florida's lighthouses guide shipping south from the St. Marys River to the tip of the Keys, then north to Pensacola Bay. See some of Florida's oldest and most historic structures, with diverse styles of architecture and daymark designs, including the black-and-white bands of the St. Augustine Lighthouse and the spider-legged iron structures along the Florida Reef. This guide has been revised and updated from previous edition, with new photos of renovated lighthouses. It discusses four lighthouses not included in first edition.

This engaging and colorful guidebook brings alive the many lighthouses of the Sunshine State. Some thirty Florida lighthouses guide ships south from the St. Marys River to the tip of the Keys, then north to Pensacola Bay. They comprise some of Florida's oldest and most historic structures and represent many diverse styles of architecture and daymarks. This new edition of the bestselling Guide to Florida Lighthouses has been updated with expanded profiles of the lighthouses, new travel information, more history, and recent photos.

A collection of the histories of Florida's light stations by different authors, each an authority on a particular lighthouse, this book is chock-full of information on dates of construction and operation, foundation materials, lighting equipment, and more. Complete directions to each lighthouse site are included, as well as names, addresses, phone numbers, e-mail addresses, websites of lighthouse organizations. Preface by Wayne Wheeler, president of the United States Lighthouse Society, as well as a full glossary, bibliography, and index.

Photographers Bob and Sandra Shaklin provide photographs of 30 lighthouses in Florida and 3 in Alabama.

From Amelia Island to the Keys to Pensacola in the Panhandle, the coast of Florida is dotted with lighthouses of all sizes, shapes, materials, and - best of all – histories. The Florida Lighthouse Trail is a compilation of short histories, written by expert contributors from around the state. Each chapter has fascinating details about these great sentinels. Chock-full of information on dates of construction and operation, changes over time, and Fresnel lenses, this book also serves as a travel guide with directions and contact information for their support organizations. Paul Bradley's beautiful artwork richly illustrates each lighthouse. This new edition features substantially updated information, with the most up-to-date information for history buffs and prospective visitors. The Florida Lighthouse Trail also includes a history of the Florida Lighthouse Association, an extensive glossary, short biographies of the contributors, suggested reading, and an index.