Keeping the lights on

The Ponce Inlet Lighthouse is the tallest
lighthouse in Florida. (Photo credit:
Gerri Bauer)

Lighthouse living has never been easy. Even before I learned about daily operations at lighthouse stations, I understood how challenging life could be for keepers and their families. Especially in the 19th and early 20th centuries.

You can learn the details by visiting Ponce Inlet Lighthouse, the tallest lighthouse in Florida and second tallest in the nation. The view from the top is amazing (I climbed it years ago when much younger!) and the stories on the ground are equally interesting.

During its early years, the lighthouse needed a keeper, first assistant and second assistant to handle the workload. Some duties were requirements I'd never have imagined - such as hanging up white linen curtains in the lantern room every day to prevent damage from sunlight. Then taking them down each night. Before electricity, the five wicks in the kerosene lantern had to be trimmed during the night. The next morning, the lamp and lens had to be cleaned. All of this, every single day.

Meanwhile, down on the ground, daily chores included station maintenance, tending a vegetable garden and hunting and fishing to supplement items received by supply ships. The keeper's and assistants' wives had their hands full doing laundry, sewing, cooking, cleaning and raising children. In the1890s, those children had to travel by boat to the nearest town, New Smyrna, to attend school. 

And everyone did everything accompanied by ever persistent mosquitos. Before Ponce Inlet gained its current name, it was called Mosquito Inlet. 

Today, you can tour the keeper and first assistant's house and see many day-to-day items that residents used throughout the decades. Educational displays are set up throughout both buildings. The second assistant's house is viewed from the outside in, to get an idea of what the living arrangements were like. Keep in mind that electricity and indoor plumbing didn't arrive at the station until the 1920s.

I haven't even touched on the subject of the lights that have made the lighthouse a beacon for  seafarers since 1887. There's an entire building dedicated to lighthouse lenses. Plus, there are maritime-related exhibits. And did I mention the gift shop? 

Well,  yes, it's easy to see I'm a fan of the Ponce Inlet Lighthouse complex. Last time my husband and I visited we joined as members. Consider doing the same!

Information for this blog post is from the book, A Beacon for Mosquito: The Story of the Ponce Inlet Lighthouse, by Ellen J. Henry. The paperback book is published by the Ponce de Leon Inlet Lighthouse Preservation Association and is available in the gift shop. A larger, coffee-table version of the book is available at the lighthouse's online gift shop, which is found on the main website: https://www.ponceinlet.org