I’m just finishing Wood’s Chase and needed a location for the final scene. I wanted a location on the Atlantic side between Key West and Big Pine Key where most of the action takes place. My neighbor in Big Pine had recommended that I try fishing the drop off by the American Shoal Lighthouse for yellowtail snapper which gave me a first-hand look at the structure and location (and the fishing was very good).
The six iconic lighthouses marking the Florida Keys reef were built in the mid to late 1800s to mark dangerous sections of the reef. The last of the string of structures spanning from Miami to Key West to be completed was the American Shoal Lighthouse.
It is the least known of the famous steel structures which include: Fowey Light (off Key Biscayne), Carysfort Light (off Key Largo), Alligator Light (off Islamorada), Sombrero Light (off Marathon), American Shoal Light (off Summerland Key), and Sand Key Light (off Key West).
The American Shoal reef is also the least visited of the lighthouses, most of which are protected areas with mooring balls. The only action you will usually see near the American Shoal light are boats fishing nearby. The word is the reef around the light is not as spectacular as the other lighthouse or the famous Looe Key, which ironically is only marked by an 18’ tall marker. Originally the reef was marked by a 38’ pole with a white barrel on top.
The American Shoal Lighthouse was completed and inaugurated on 7/15/1880 and last served a hundred years later during the Mariel Boatlift when it was temporarily manned as an observation tower.
The steel structure was built by the Phoenix Iron Company of Trenton, NJ for a cost of $47,000 and the completed lighthouse came in at $93,664, almost $30,000 under budget.
The lighthouse was constructed with nine iron piles, one central pile surrounded by eight arranged in an octagon were sunk ten feet into the reef to create the lighthouse’s foundation. Inside additional piles, which sloped upward from the foundation to the watch room, a two-story, eight-sided dwelling was constructed. It is very similar in design to Fowey Light.
The keepers and original Fresnel lens were replaced with an automated beacon, and Coast Guard personnel were removed from American Shoal Lighthouse in 1963.
The Coast Guard is now auctioning the lighthouses. The estimated selling price is $15,000. Sounds cheap except they all require millions of dollars in repairs.