Sombrero Key Lighthouse

Year Built

1858

Cost

$35,000

Type

Skeletal octagonal pyramid

Height

142 feet

Location

Near Key Vaca in Marathon

Automated Year

1960

First Lit

1858

Lens Type

First-order Fresnel lens

Fog Signal

None

Year Deactivated

2015

Color

Brown

Last Keeper - Date

Jack A. Hannan (1962)

Description

The Sombrero Key Light is the tallest lighthouse in the Florida Keys

Brief History

•  A red and white barrel, mounted atop a thirty-six-foot iron pole, had been placed on the treacherous reef as a day beacon in 1852.
•  Joseph Bethel lit Sombrero Key light for the first time on March 17, 1858.
•  On October 23, 1962, personnel were pulled from the lighthouse after the light was automated.
•  In 2015, Sombrero Key Lighthouse was deactivated, and a thirty-foot-tall tower, erected nearby and topped by an automated light, took over the function of warning mariners of the reef.
•  On February 1, 2019, Sombrero Key Lighthouse was declared excess to the needs of the United States Coast Guard and made available to eligible organizations.