Sanibel Island
Cyberlights Lighthouses - Sanibel Island  

Sanibel Quick Facts

Year Station Established: 1884

Is the Light operational? Yes

Year Light First Lit: 1884

Year Automated: 1949

Shape: Pyramidal Skeletal

Tower Height: 102   ft.

Original Optic: 3rd Order, Fresnel

Present Optic: 300mm

Existing Keepers Quarters? Yes
     Year Constructed: 1884
      Number of Stories: 1
      Architectural Style: West Indian Vernacul
      Construction Materials: Frame on iron piles



         Cyberlights Lighthouses

Sanibel Island Lighthouse
Sanibel Island, FL

Cyberlights Lighthouses - Sanibel Island Lighthouse

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(7 photos, 899KB total download)

Sanibel Island Lighthouse Videos
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Last Visited: October, 2008

History:
The Sanibel Island Light or Point Ybel Light is the first lighthouse on Florida's Gulf coast north of Key West and the Dry Tortugas. It is located on the eastern tip of Sanibel Island, and was built to mark the entrance to San Carlos Bay for ships calling at the port of Punta Rassa, across San Carlos Bay from Sanibel Island. The grounds are open to the public, but the lighthouse itself is not.

Residents of Sanibel Island first petitioned for a lighthouse in 1833, but no action was taken. In 1856 the Lighthouse Board recommended a lighthouse on Sanibel Island, but Congress took no action. In 1877 government workers surveyed the eastern end of the island and reserved it for a lighthouse. Congress finally appropriated funds for a lighthouse in 1883. The foundation for the new lighthouse was completed in early 1884, but the ship bringing ironwork for the tower sank two miles (3 km) from Sanibel Island. A crew of hard-hat divers from Key West recovered all but two of the pieces for the tower.

Punta Rassa became an important port in the 1830s and remained so up to the Spanish-American War. It was primarily used to ship cattle from Florida to Cuba. Until the railroads reached the area in the 1880s, ranchers drove their cattle from open ranges in central Florida to Punta Rassa for shipment to Cuba.

The lighthouse was placed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1974. The Coast Guard leases the light station site to the city of Sanibel, Florida.

Source: Wikipedia

Latitude/Longitude: 26.452972,-82.014222

Nearest Address: 112 Periwinkle Way, Sanibel, FL

Directions:
  • From Fort Myers take the Sanibel Causeway Blvd Bridge onto Sanibel Island.
  • At the end of the bridge take a left onto Periwinkle Way.
  • Take Periwinkle Way 1.3 miles, turning left but still on Periwinkle Way.
  • Go another 0.4 miles to the lighthouse


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