Hillsboro Inlet Lighthouse

Year Built

1907

Cost

$90,000

Type

Octagonal skeletal with cylinder

Height

138 feet

Location

North side of Hillsboro Inlet

Automated Year

1974

First Lit

1907

Lens Type

Second-order bivalve Fresnel lens

Fog Signal

None

Year Deactivated

Active

Color

Lower third white, upper black

Last Keeper - Date

Arthur A. Makenian (1998 – 2002)

Description

You can tour lighthouse grounds and ability to climb the lighthouse.

Brief History

•  Hillsboro named for Wills Hills, the Earl of Hillsborough, British Secretary of State for the colonies when the British controlled Florida.
•  1926 - Major hurricane exposed the foundation of the lighthouse.
•  The lighthouse was electrified in 1932, and the resulting increase in power from 630,000 to 5,500,000 candlepower reportedly made the light the strongest in the world at the time.
•  In 1998, the Coast Guard announced that the lighthouse would be renovated and the Fresnel lens reactivated.
•   A re-lighting ceremony was held for the refurbished lighthouse on January 28, 1999.