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Florida’s Carysfort Reef, Sand Key, Sombrero Key, Alligator Key, and American Shoals lighthouses have now, for all practical purposes, been abandoned by the U.S. Coast Guard and the lights from their lanterns have been replaced by so-called temporary “half-pint” beacons mounted atop erector set style structures. The Florida Keys other reef light, the Fowey Rocks Lighthouse is, apparently, still safe enough to climb so that personnel can service the light.
Interestingly, the new “half-pint” lights are all much shorter in height than the actual lighthouses. For example: the “half-pint” lights installed to replace Carysfort Reef and Sand Key lighthouses are only 50 feet tall, compared to the 120 foot tall lighthouses. The total cost of these so-called “temporary lights” is $290,000. Local critics wonder how long the temporary lights will be expected to survive, believing that one strong storm, or hurricane, will destroy them.
This story appeared in the
Jan/Feb 2015 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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