You may expect to find Florida’s oldest standing lighthouse in St. Augustine, when it’s actually here on Amelia Island. Since the early 1800s, the Amelia Island Lighthouse has been a beacon to travelers, and today you can learn about the landmark from someone who experienced it firsthand!
When it comes to touring a historic monument, it’s rare that you get to hear the stories from a firsthand source. But at the Amelia Island Light, the historian actually lived at the site as a child! The landmark was closed for decades, but Ms. Helen O’Hagan’s family had watched over the lighthouse for decades. Now it’s ready to be shared. Besides being the oldest lighthouse in Florida, it’s the only one to feature a spiral granite staircase – each step is an individually cut stone!
While the structure sits on Amelia Island today, it was actually transplanted from Georgia’s Cumberland Island back in 1839. During the same time period, other lighthouses were built along the coast, but almost all fell into the sea. Luckily the Amelia Light was placed ¾-mile inland – the furthest inland in the state – and managed to survive the test of time and weather.
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Things to know:
Region: Northeast Florida
Average temperature: July high 90.7 degrees, low 71.8 degrees F.
Related activities: The Amelia Island Plantation Golf School is located at the prestigious Long Point Golf Course. Amelia Plantation Nature Center Programs include light hikes or bike tours discovering birds, turtles, edible plants, night creatures and crabs. Several tours are designed for children and include educational crafts about the featured topic.
Fun facts: In 1562, the French raised the first of eight flags over Amelia Island. This began a chapter of the island's history that has been described as "the French visited, the Spanish developed, the English named, and the Americans tamed."
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