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221 EGMONT KEY, FL, HL 319, #405 of 4,000 issued 01/2005, retired 12/2009, made in China, box (#6), Certificate of Authenticity, tent card

Each piece will be double boxed and packed for a 30' drop should that occur in handling. Shipper only insures first $50 valuation at no additional cost. PLEASE NOTE: I will only refund this amount ($50) if damage occurs unless buyer has purchased additional insurance. If buyer wishes additional insurance, the cost associated with additional insurance will be calculated and buyer will pay additional cost.

A guide to the St. Peterburg-Tampa Bay area lists among its attractions on Egmont Key–“There is an old lighthouse that can be toured. . . “

Indeed, the lighthouse that sits on the sandbar at the entrance to Tampa Bay is both old and accessible to visitors. The Key is also a wildlife refuge, affording visitors the pleasure of Nature as well as the opportunity to tour one of Florida’s oldest sentinels.

Although the Tampa Bay area was not as colonized as Key West to the south and Pensacola to the north, the trade route between these two points was heavily traveled and the need for lighthouses to guide mariners became acute. Requests began in the 1820s, but action was slow in coming.

While waiting for a tower, mariners relied on a makeshift beacon. The beacon was a barrel, painted black and white, on the top of an 80' long spar that was placed on the northern end of Egmont Key in 1836. The beacon was placed by the US ship Concord to mark the entrance to Tampa Bay and is shown on an 1839 map of Florida.

There were many delays–including a ship carrying bricks that sank under its load–and it was several years before the first lighthouse was operational. The contract was completed with “The work being properly done and all the materials such as called for in the contract on April 19, 1848,” at a cost of $7,050. It showed a fixed white light produced by 13 lamps in 21" reflectors. The lighthouse probably put in operation in May of 1848.

Just 4 months after coming into service, the Bay area was hit with a monumental hurricane, and the new lighthouse was seriously damaged. Subsequent storms undermined repairs, and a replacement sentinel was proposed, along with a better lighting system. Congress appropriated $16,000 on August 18, 1856, to rebuild the light and a new keeper’s home.

Two years later, the new beacon was illuminated with a powerful 55" tall, 3rd-Order Fresnel lens. The height of the new tower was 81' when measured from the ground to the center of the lens, and 86' when measured from water level.

Listed in the National Registry of Historic Sites, Egmont Key Lighthouse has not only withstood the ravages of Nature but it has experienced the storms of the Civil War and a severe Yellow Fever epidemic in the late 1880s. The station was automated in 1989 and continues to be an active aid to navigation, jointly owned by the US Coast Guard and the Florida Department of Natural Resources.

Egmont Key is accessible only by boat. Guided trips to the island are offered from local tour companies, bringing some 100,000 visitors each year. Egmont Key Alliance volunteers provide guided tours of the historic and natural resources of Egmont Key, including a tour of the bottom portion of the lighthouse.

Although full restoration of the lighthouse and keeper’s dwelling remains a goal, the beacon and its 150-year service is a living tribute to the heritage and durability of lighthouse legacy.

Lighthousefriends.com UPDATE (11/2021): In 1898, during the Spanish-American War, Fort Dade was constructed on the island as part of a comprehensive coastal defense system. Named for the army commander, who along with his detachment was killed by Seminole Indians in 1835, the fort, along with Fort DeSoto on Mullet Island to the northeast, stood watch over the entrance to Tampa Bay. The fort was staffed during World War I as well, and by the time it was deactivated in 1923, a movie theater, bowling alley, tennis courts, and miles of brick roads had been constructed on the island.

A 1907 Light List noted that a Conch shell would be sounded at Egmont Key in answer to signals from passing vessels. This unique fog signal was replaced on February 18, 1916 by a bell struck by machinery. In 1915, an acetylene light was established atop a reinforced concrete pile structure to form, with Egmont Key Lighthouse, a set of range lights. A radio beacon was added to the station in 1930.

In 1944, the upper portion of the lighthouse was removed along with the Fresnel lens, and a double-headed DCB-36 Rotating Beacon was placed on top of the capped tower. The remaining keeper’s dwelling was demolished in 1954 and replaced by a one-story barracks. In 1974, Egmont Key became a National Wildlife Refuge, managed by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. The island was also added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1978, due to the lighthouse and remains of Fort Dade. When automated in 1989, after a DCB-24 Rotating Beacon was installed, Egmont Key Lighthouse was the last remaining staffed lighthouse in Florida and one of only seven in the United States. Today, the Florida Park Service and U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service work together to manage the island.

In November 2008, a celebration was held on the island to commemorate the 150th birthday of Egmont Key Lighthouse. In preparation for the event, the lighthouse received a new coat of paint thanks to the Tampa Bay Rough Riders and volunteers from the Coast Guard. A new plaque was unveiled at the base of the lighthouse during the festivities, and birthday cake was served to over 200 people. For the past several years, Christmas lights have been placed on the tower by volunteers from the Egmont Key Alliance to bring a little holiday cheer to the island.

In 2013, the lens pedestal from Egmont Key Lighthouse was shipped to Tallahassee to be restored by the Florida State Conservation Laboratory. Volunteers working at the lighthouse hope this is just one small step towards restoring the lighthouse to its pre-1944 appearance.

MEASUREMENTS: L = 7” x W = 5¼” x H = 8”

CONDITION: Very good. Displayed for a short time in glass-enclosed curio cabinet.

If damaged in shipping, buyer must save damaged carton to show shipper’s rep condition of boxes.

NOTE: for the most part, I only collected full size Harbour Lights. GLOWS and Little Lights of Mine will be clearly identified as such should I find I have any.