Carysfort Reef Lighthouse

Year Built

1825

Cost

$40,000

Type

Octagonal pyramidal skeletal tower

Height

120 feet

Location

Carysfort Reef, Key Largo

Automated Year

1960

First Lit

1852

Lens Type

18 lamps with reflectors (1852), first order Fresnel lens (1858)

Fog Signal

None

Year Deactivated

2015 (active as daybeacon)

Color

Red tower, white lantern and keeper's quarter roof

Last Keeper - Date

John W. Montgomery (1960 – 1961)

Description

It has been used recently as a base for research in marine biology and in study of the reefs.

Brief History

•  A light ship was first stationed at Carysfort Reef in 1825. The reef was named for the Royal Navy ship HMS Carysford which ran aground on the reef in 1770.
•  On the morning of September 6, 1919, Keeper William H. Curry departed Key West for the 110-mile return voyage back to Carysfort Reef, after having picked up supplies and official mail.
•  In the 1920s, the Lighthouse Service modified the lights along the Florida reefs so that the number of flashes in their characteristics corresponded to the order in which mariners encountered the lights.
•  In 2015 the lighthouse was replaced by a modern steel skeleton tower located nearby.
•  On February 1, 2019, Carysfort Reef Lighthouse was declared excess to the needs of the United States Coast Guard and made available to eligible organizations.