St. Augustine Lighthouse: 165 Feet Tall, First Lit in 1874, and 10 Milestones in Its History

St. Augustine, Fla. - The St. Augustine Lighthouse has stood 165 feet tall since it was first lit in October 1874. Its story also includes an older Spanish-era tower, a lens hidden during the Civil War, an earthquake, a fire, a volunteer restoration and shipwreck discoveries offshore.

Today, the St. Augustine Lighthouse & Maritime Museum welcomes more than 200,000 visitors a year, including 54,000 school-age children. And the history reaches back well before the current tower, to a 52-foot coquina lighthouse first lit around 1737.

Here are 10 milestones that shaped it.

10 milestones at a glance

Before the current lighthouse

The story begins with a smaller coquina tower. Standing 52 feet tall, it was first lit around 1737, when Spain controlled the area.

The American territorial government officially relit it in May 1824, and in 1855 it received a fourth-order Fresnel lens.

The old tower kept standing after its taller replacement began operating. It collapsed into the sea in 1880, six years after the new light was first lit.

Building the 165-foot landmark

Construction of the current tower ran from 1871 to 1874. Architect Paul J. Pelz designed it, and Hezekiah H. Pittee built it.

The tower stands 165 feet tall, with a focal height of 161 feet. It was fitted with a larger first-order Fresnel lens.

In 1874, its fixed light reached 17 nautical miles and its flashing light reached 21 nautical miles.

Through war and earthquake

During the Civil War, the lens was removed and hidden.

Keeper Maria Mestre de los Dolores Andreu is part of the lighthouse's history too. The article credits her as the first Hispanic-American woman in the Coast Guard.

In 1886, the Charleston earthquake made the tower sway violently, but no damage was recorded.

The keepers' house changed with the times

A Victorian duplex built in 1876 housed the lighthouse keepers. It was updated over the decades:

Electricity and automation

In 1936, the light was electrified, and its pattern changed from a 3-minute fixed flash to a 30-second flash. In 1955, the lighthouse was automated.

Fire, restoration and a national listing

In 1970, an arsonist set the keepers' house on fire. St. Johns County bought the property.

In 1980, 15 women from the Junior Service League began restoring it. On March 19, 1981, the lighthouse was listed on the National Register of Historic Places.

There was one more setback: in 1986, rifle fire struck the lens and broke 19 prisms. They were later repaired.

From historic property to museum

The museum opened full time in 1994.

In 2002, the Coast Guard transferred ownership of the lighthouse to the nonprofit museum, the first such transfer to a nonprofit in the nation.

Today, the St. Augustine Lighthouse & Maritime Museum, Inc., runs the site. It is open 360 days a year and has close to 50 employees.

Shipwrecks add another chapter

The museum's work reaches underwater too. Its maritime archaeology program, LAMP, was formalized in 1999.

The oldest shipwreck it has identified is the sloop Industry, lost May 6, 1764. The "Storm Wreck," found in 2009, is believed to be tied to the December 1782 British evacuation of Charleston.

St. Augustine Lighthouse by the numbers

Two towers, side by side

The new tower is more than three times as tall as the old one, and for six years, from 1874 to 1880, both stood at the same time.

What it means for St. Augustine

The lighthouse is more than a landmark on the skyline. It holds two towers' worth of history, from Spanish rule to automation, and a volunteer rescue that began with 15 women in 1980. Today, its museum also looks underwater, studying shipwrecks that date to the 1700s. With more than 200,000 visitors a year, including 54,000 school-age children, it remains one of the area's busiest classrooms.

Quick Q&A

How tall is the St. Augustine Lighthouse? 165 feet.

When was it first lit? October 1874. An earlier 52-foot tower was first lit around 1737.

Who owns it? The nonprofit St. Augustine Lighthouse & Maritime Museum, since a 2002 transfer from the Coast Guard.

How we did this

This article is based on Wikipedia's "St. Augustine Light" entry, reviewed Oct. 23, 2026. Ticket prices and hours were not verified and are not included; check with the museum before you go.