Blue Sky At The Lighthouse
by D Hackett
Title
Blue Sky At The Lighthouse
Artist
D Hackett
Medium
Photograph - Digital
Description
Blue Sky At The Lighthouse by D Hackett
The Cedar Key Lighthouse is actually located at Seahorse Key, about four miles offshore from Cedar Key. The island is a mile long and no more than half a mile wide at its widest point. Pelicans take advantage of this national wildlife refuge and use every available space around the lighthouse as a major nesting area. The interior of Seahorse Key is normally closed to public entrance, as are all posted refuge islands, so that nesting birds and other wildlife are not disturbed. Annually, a three hundred foot buffer is closed to all public access from March through June to provide more security to the rookery while mature birds nest and rear their young. On June 30 the closure ended; nesting time will be over and the fledglings will be flying. This celebration of wildlife is an opportunity to visit the otherwise closed Seahorse Key with staff present to answer questions.
In 1839, Congress authorized the construction of the Cedar Key lighthouse in the hope that development would bring settlers to the area, which would in turn help drive the Indians from the coast. But it wasnt until 1854 that the lighthouse actually became a reality and was lit for the first time. Built on a dune forty-five feet high, the lighthouse itself extends seventy-five feet above sea level. Sometime later, wood-frame housing extensions were added to each side of the brick Cedar Key lighthouse for the keepers and their families.
The 1880s marked the high point in the expansion of Cedar Key. Cotton production, sugar harvesting, and lumbering up the nearby Suwannee River just to the north were responsible for the growth of the area as an emerging port, but the event that put Cedar Key on the map was the building of the Eberhard Faber Mill. The mill produced cedar blanks for pencil and pen holders. Other mills turned out lumber and railroad ties.
As the Civil War started in 1861, the light at Seahorse Key was extinguished, and the island was turned into a prison. Because of the war, the railroad to Fernandina was destroyed, and a blockade along the gulf severely limited the use of the port at Cedar Key.
Today Cedar Key remains one of Floridas hidden treasures, with its old Florida charm. You cant see the lighthouse from Cedar Key; its a little too far away for that. The only way to get there is by boat.
The University of Florida in Gainesville operates the lighthouse as a center for marine biology research. It is the oldest lighthouse still standing on Floridas west coast.
Uploaded
April 27th, 2015
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