Digest>Archives> Sep/Oct 2014

Cape San Blas Lighthouse Saved in Historic Move to Safety

By Betsy Kellenberger

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Over the last six years, Florida’s Cape San Blas Lighthouse became threatened by the constant eroding of the beach along the Gulf of Mexico. When that threat caused the tower to be in imminent danger, in July, 2012, the Cape San Blas Lighthouse was added to the Lighthouse Digest Doomsday List of Endangered Lighthouses. Two of the former keepers’ homes – two-story frame houses – were even closer to the water than the tower. Officials knew that one more serious storm could send them into the ocean and they would be lost forever. Plans got underway to secure funding to save the historic lighthouses and the keepers’ homes.

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Interestingly, there were those who felt that the light should stay on the Cape, but it was the city of Port St. Joe, Florida that managed to raise the money through various grants to move the light to a public park in Port St. Joe.

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On July 15, 2014, the big move started. Previously, the keeper’s houses and the light tower had been loaded on special carrying platforms made by Ducky Johnson House Movers of Grand Ridge, Florida. Their company has been in business for 80 years, and because of their long-standing expertise, they were awarded the contract for this historic move.

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The moving convoy consisted of the two houses, the lighthouse tower, and a small, brick oil shed. The convoy was 900 feet long, and the lighthouse alone was 100 feet and weighed 60 tons. As it moved along, contractors from the cable and telephone providers, as well as the power company, let down wires as the convoy inched its way along. It was amazing how quickly the wires were replaced, and no one was out of service for very long.

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Rain showers moved in with distant lightning and thunder but never threatened the workers, so they kept moving. Crowds of onlookers waited anxiously along the roads to witness history in the making, and cheers roared out as the convoy passed.

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A video was made of the whole process, and cameras of every sort were in evidence along the route. Several drones with cameras were sent aloft to take pictures from above, which made for interesting photos.

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The entire distance covered was 12.3 miles and was the longest move of an intact lighthouse in the United States. Right on schedule, at 5:00 pm the convoy pulled into Port St. Joe near the George Core Park which was to be the new home for the lighthouse and its out-buildings. Obviously, a large crowd was there to give a cheer to the dozen or more house-mover employees who led the historic move.

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Over the next few days, the houses were moved by the moving crew onto piers that had been set in place earlier. Later they will be refurbished, and one will hold the gift shop where lighthouse memorabilia such as T-shirts, books, and jewelry can be purchased. The other house will hold a museum with artifacts and photos of the history of the Cape San Blas Lighthouse.

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The following week, three construction cranes were brought to the site to lift the tower onto the special concrete pads set in place in early July. Once again the house moving company employees went to work attaching cables and calculating the raising of the light. Preparation took much longer than the actual raising of the tower, as everything had to be just right before the tower was swung up and over and made upright! By noon the tower was in place, and bolts were readied at each leg to make it stay in place. The crowd of several hundred watchers gave one last cheer to see the tower gleaming in its new home!

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Through a private fundraising campaign boosted by more than $500,000 in State of Florida appropriations, the city assembled more than $700,000 for the cost of the relocation. Other grants came from the Florida Lighthouse Association and the Florida Coastal Management Program.

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The Cape San Blas Lighthouse, which stood over 100 years at its previous location, came under imminent danger following Hurricane Isaac in August of 2012 when much of the shoreline was washed away. First, the Eglin Air Force Base, on whose property the light and keepers’ houses stood, had to legally declare the structures as surplus property and then the Department of the Interior had to deed the lighthouse and the other buildings to the City of Port St. Joe. Once the maze of legal work had been completed, the wheels started turning to make the historic move a reality.

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Thanks to the efforts of many people, including the leadership of Port St. Joe Mayor Mel Magidson, the epic move has saved the Cape St. Lighthouse, thereby removing it from the Lighthouse Digest Doomsday List of Endangered Lighthouses so that it can be enjoyed by many future generations.

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All photos by Lou Kellenberger, Lou Kellenberger Photography, Tallahassee, Florida.

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This story appeared in the Sep/Oct 2014 edition of Lighthouse Digest Magazine. The print edition contains more stories than our internet edition, and each story generally contains more photographs - often many more - in the print edition. For subscription information about the print edition, click here.

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