05/06/2024
Help to save the lighthouse! đź’ˇ Save Alligator Lighthouse
A 150-year-old beacon that helped guide ships through the treacherous Florida Keys coral reefs before GPS, sonar and other technology made it obsolete is shining again as part of a national effort to save historic lighthouses that have dotted the U.S. coast for more than a century. Alligator Lighthouse stands 4-miles offshore of Islamorada, FL, surrounded by several acres of the Keys most beautiful corals
Tens of thousands boaters, snorkelers, swimmers, and divers visit annually
The name honors the U.S. Navyschooner Alligator, part of the Navy Anti-Piracy Squadron that had recently been established in Key West, which went aground at this location in 1822. The Alligator was blown up after removing as much as possible from it to prevent it from being used by pirates. Countless vessels have also sunk here on the reef’s jagged coral
On February 1, 2019, it was announced that the lighthouse would be given away freely to any government agencies, educational agencies, non-profit corporations, or any community development organizations who wanted to use it for educational, park, recreational, cultural or historic preservation purposes
The organizers of an Islamorada community group that took title to the lighthouse in late 2021 recently installed solar-powered lights in the lantern room — so the nighttime beacon across the water will remind the public of a nearly six-million-dollar project that’s underway to restore and preserve the aging structure
“Alligator Lighthouse was lit in 1873 and it stayed lit until about 2013, and then it went dark for 10 years,” said Rob Dixon, executive director of Save Alligator Lighthouse, who calls the landmark Islamorada’s Statue of Liberty.
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