Fowey Rocks Light

About

Fowey Rocks Light is located seven miles southeast of Cape Florida on Key Biscayne. The lighthouse was completed in 1878, replacing the Cape Florida Light. It was automated on May 7, 1975, and as of 2021 is still in operation. The structure is cast iron, with a screw-pile foundation, a platform and a skeletal tower. The light is 110 feet above the water. The tower framework is painted brown, while the dwelling and enclosed circular stair to the lantern are painted white. The original lens was a first-order drum Fresnel lens which stood about 12 feet (4 m) high and weighed about a ton (tonne). The light has a nominal range of 15 miles in the white sectors, and 10 miles in the red sectors. It serves as a maker for the entrance to the Hawk Channel passage through the Florida Keys.

Fowey Rocks are named after the Royal Navy frigate HMS Fowey which was wrecked on a different reef to the south in 1748. During construction of the lighthouse the workers lived on a platform built over the water to minimize the danger of transporting them and their supplies each day from the mainland.

While construction was under way, on 17 February 1878 the Arratoon Apcar ran aground on the reef.

The 1500 ton steamship came to rest just 200 yards (180 m) from the workmen's platform.

Efforts to save the boat failed, and she was pounded apart on the rocks and sank.

Adapted from Wikipedia (CC BY-SA). Photography via Wikimedia Commons.