St. Augustine Lighthouse

St. Augustine Lighthouse Keepers House Before Restoration

I have been visiting St. Augustine, Florida for many years, as a both a resident and an out-of-stater.  In the early 1980's I visited the lighthouse, which back then was a burned out shell, fenced off from all since arson destroyed the Keeper's house in the 1970's.  Birds nested in the ruins.  Trash blew past the fence.  No one was there but me.  The sign behind the fence promised a future restoration project, so I took a couple photos.
Since then, St. Augustine has risen to the challenge.  The Junior Service League restored the Keepers house and created a museum and store next door to the lighthouse which opened to the public in 1988. In 1993 it began allowing tours up to the deck of the freshly painted lighthouse.  In 2002 the US Coast Guard turned over the deed of the lighthouse to the St. Augustine Lighthouse and Museum, Inc.
In 2011, over 213,000 people visited the site which was run at the time by 272 volunteers.  Other lighthouses around the nation look to St. Augustine as an example of one of the most successful lighthouse restorations in our time.
The LAMP, or Lighthouse Archaeological Maritime Program runs varied programs including Lost Ships, Sonar Workshop and others.  They also run a 4 week field school working on marine archaeological discoveries of about 170 wrecks in the area.  This is an active series of programs and is worth checking out for your next visit.
I too have climbed the 219 steps of the lighthouse with my family and enjoyed the view in all compass directions from 165 feet above the ground.  I thought it may be fun to create a video of the lighthouse.  It was cool to take photos of my older 35mm prints and add some new video, shot on location last week just prior to the daily summer downpour.  Enjoy the short video here.