Monthly Archives: September 2016

Seventy miles off Key West, Florida, lie the Dry Tortugas, which consist of 7 small islands. One of them–Garden Key– is the site of Fort Jefferson which is the country’s largest coastal fort and also the country’s largest masonry structure. It takes up 11 of Garden Key’s 16 acres. Construction started in 1846 and lasted … Continue reading »

Tybee Lighthouse is located at the mouth of the Savannah River in Georgia where the river meets the Atlantic. It is 1 0f  7 colonial lighthouses still standing. Beginning in 1726 there have been 4 lighthouses on the site, the current one having been built in 1773. It was heavily damaged by the Confederates in … Continue reading »

Sand Island Lighthouse is located 3 miles off shore from Mobile Bay, Alabama. Originally situated on 400 acres, it now sits on just 1,  It was completed in 1873 using the same plans used for Bodie Island and Currituck lighthouses on the Outer Banks. It was automated in 1948, decommissioned in 1971, and stabilized around … Continue reading »

Point Isabel Lighthouse is located just south of South Padre Island near the Rio Grande River, which separates Texas and Mexico. The lighthouse was built in 1853 and extensively damaged by the Confederates during the Civil War. It was deactivated in 1905, but returned to service in 1955. In 2000 it was restored to its … Continue reading »