The Port Boca Granda Lighthouse Photograph by D Hackett

The Port Boca Granda Lighthouse

by D Hackett

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Title

The Port Boca Granda Lighthouse

Artist

D Hackett

Medium

Photograph - Digital

Description

The Port Boca Granda Lighthouse By D Hackett

Perched atop iron pilings at the extreme southern end of Gasparilla Island is found the beautifully restored Port Boca Grande Lighthouse and its look-alike companion, which served as the assistant keepers dwelling. These two pieces of history were almost lost, as by 1970 the sea had whittled hundreds of feet off the southern end of the island and was lapping at the lighthouses foundation. Fortunately, pressure from local concerns prompted the government to take measures which proved successful in regaining much of the eroded island and in saving the lighthouse so it could be enjoyed by future generations.

In the early 1880s, phosphate was discovered several miles up the Peace River, which empties into Charlotte Harbor before flowing west through the Boca Grande Channel to the Gulf of Mexico. Initially, the phosphate was shipped down the Peace River on barges to Port Boca Grande on Gasparilla Island, where it was loaded into ocean-going vessels. In 1888, Congress responded to the growth of the port by appropriating $35,000 for the construction of a lighthouse at the southern tip of Gasparilla Island, to mark Boca Grande, the large mouth between Gasparilla and Lacosta Islands.

The lighthouse would be supported by pilings and would consist of a one-story dwelling with a square tower protruding through the center of its hipped roof. Atop the tower would be an octagonal lantern room protecting a rare three-and-a-half-order Fresnel lens, which produced a white light interrupted every twenty seconds by a red flash at a focal plane of forty-four feet. Roughly seventy feet away, a nearly identical dwelling, minus the tower, was built for the assistant keeper, and wooden storage tanks were provided to hold a supply of water for the keepers. Keeper Francis McNulty activated the lighthouse on December 31, 1890, just in time to welcome the new year.

Four foundation piles were driven into the seabed about 735 feet southwest of the lighthouse to support a square, pyramidal structure, surmounted by a black lantern that, with the lighthouse, formed a pair of range lights to guide mariners into Charlotte Harbor. An eighteen-foot boat was given to Keeper McNulty so he could tend the front range light. The front range light was washed out by the shifting of the channel in 1892 leading to it being reerected on land, 175 feet from the high-water mark and 475 feet from the lighthouse. An oil house was added to the station in 1895.

The lighthouse was home to several keepers and their families until it was automated in 1956. Just two years later, visitors could arrive at the island by car instead of train, as a new bridge connected the island to the mainland. In 1966, the lighthouse was abandoned by the Coast Guard, and a modern light atop a fifty-eight-foot-tall steel skeleton tower was established nearby.

By 1970, erosion on Gasparilla Island was threatening the old lighthouse along with other structures. The lighthouse's foundation was undermined, imparting a dangerous lean to the structure, and its stairs had rotted away. In response, the Boca Grande Conservation Council was formed to lead the battle against erosion. The government finally acted in 1971, and a 265-foot granite jetty was built near the lighthouse to protect the sandy island. Florida Power and Light, which had storage facilities at Port Boca Grande, then pumped 100,000 cubic yards of fill into the area, much of it around the lighthouse itself.

In 1972, the lighthouse and the surrounding thirteen acres were transferred from the federal government to Lee County, for the establishment of a park on the property. The Gasparilla Island Conservation and Improvement Association, (GICIA), the island's property owner's association, was successful in placing the lighthouse on the National Register of Historic Places in 1980, and then raised sufficient funds to have the lighthouse fully restored in 1985-86. The restoration efforts culminated in 1986 when a 377-mm drum lens was installed in the lantern room, and the lighthouse was re-commissioned as an active aid to navigation on November 21.

The lighthouse, dwelling, and surrounding acreage were transferred to the State of Florida in 1988 and became Gasparilla Island State Park. The following year, a small group of local citizens formed the Barrier Island Parks Society (BIPS), and one of their first objectives was to establish a museum in Port Boca Grande Lighthouse. A decade later, the $165,000 project was complete, and the museum, run by BIPS for the Florida Park Service, opened its doors. The museum tells the story of the area starting with the Native Americans, and also covering the Spanish influence, the local fishing industry, Port Boca Grande, and, of course, the history of the lighthouse.