HISTORY & HERITAGE
Cape St. George Lighthouse
Franklin County · Panhandle & Emerald Coast
A lighthouse that fell into the Gulf in 2005 and was rebuilt from 24,000 of its own recovered bricks, reopened in 2008.
ABOUT THIS PLACE
The first light here went up in 1833 near the west end of St. George Island, 65 feet tall, marking the way into Apalachicola Bay while the town was a cotton port. A second tower built in 1847 and 1848 was destroyed by a hurricane in 1851. The third, built in 1851 and 1852 on pine pilings with thick hydraulic cement walls, stood 77 feet and carried a third-order Fresnel lens visible fifteen nautical miles out; its lens was taken away for safekeeping during the Civil War. That tower lasted more than 150 years. Hurricane Opal in 1995 and Hurricane Georges in 1998 undermined it, work in 2002 held it up for a while, and on October 22, 2005, it fell into the Gulf. Volunteers went into the water and recovered 24,000 of its 160,000 bricks. With those and 525,000 dollars of federal and state money, the St. George Light Association rebuilt the tower on safer ground inland and opened it to the public on November 29, 2008. The climb is 92 wooden spiral stairs and an eight-rung metal ladder, with a minimum height of 40 inches. A replica keeper's house opened in 2011 holding a free museum and gift shop. Sunset and full moon climbs run as separate events
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