>>This program is brought to you in part by the Paul B. Hunter and Constance D. Hunter Charitable Foundation, a proud partner of WUCF and the Central Florida community.

>>On this edition of Florida Road Trip, we're following the lights along Florida's coast where towers were built to guide ships, warn mariners, and stan watch over changing shorelines.

>>When we say the oldest in Florida, we mean the oldest lighthouse structure continually stood without any major rebuilding.

>>And where Florida's beacons tell the stories of storms, shipwrecks, keepers and the families who made these towers their lives.

>>We were such a busy shipping channel here in the keys we couldn't not have a lighthouse.

>>Plus, where history stretches from the age of sail to the Space Coast.

>>So you take this 1800 lighthouse, and we share a space with this 2026 technology of blasting into space.

It's a really cool mix of past and future.

>>From dark coasts to guiding lights, Florida Road Trip is climbing higher for a look at Florida's lighthouses.

♪♪ >>Hi there and welcome to Florida Road Trip, I'm Scott Fais.

For centuries, Florida's lighthouses have assisted mariners when navigating dangerous waters and dark coastlines.

Today, we'll climb into the history of these cherished towers.

>>The light atop the Amelia Island Lighthouse shined for the first time in 1839.

Today, it's the oldest standin lighthouse structure in Florida.

But the tower didn't start here.

It was originally built on Cumberland Island, Georgia, and then taken apar piece by piece and moved across the Saint Mary's River and rebuilt on Amelia Island.

>>When we say the oldest in Florida, we mean the oldest lighthouse structure continually stood without any major rebuilding.

>>For Tom, this tower is part of his family's story.

His grandfather and his great grandfather served as keepers here, caring for the light and raising their families right on the property.

The O'Hagans were lighthouse keepers here in Amelia for almost 50 years.

They lived in the cottage here.

My mom was born here.

My uncle was born here.

>>Lif at the lighthouse had a rhythm.

Before electricity, keeping the light burning required constant attention.

>>The duties of the lighthouse keeper.

The filling of those oil lamps.

The trimming of the wicks.

So they gained the nickname "wickies" at that time because of that.

They had to, you know, have everything ready to go to for that night so that it could burn as bright as it could.

>>Through the night, the work continued.

>>They had to wind a cable.

They had like a 40 pound weight on the bottom of it.

And that was kind of like a clockwork mechanism that was attached to the bottom of the lens.

And so it was that weight fell and the lens would, would rotate in turn.

That cable had to be rewound about every four hours.

>>Family members helped wherever they could.

Yet daily life almost two centuries ago meant that supplies were often far away.

>>Back then, these lighthouses wasn't like there was a convenience store around the corner for a lot of them either.

So there were a lot of things that had to be done.

>>His family's lighthouse story didn't begin on Amelia Island.

Tom's great grandfather served as the keeper at Ponce Inlet.

In 1905, he moved his large family to Fernandina and then began a new chapter at Amelia.

Years later, during Worl War Two, the lighthouse operated around the clock, and new faces became part of daily life.

>>During the war, all lighthouses on the coast were to have a 24 hour watch from the tower.

So they sent my grandfather six young coastguard men, to help take those watches.

They became like part of the family in a sense.

>>Nearly two centuries after it was first lit, the Amelia Island Lighthouse is still active.

The Coast Guard maintains the beacon, while the city of Fernandina Beach cares for the historic structure.

Visitors can walk the grounds and take in the views, but this is one lighthouse visitors can't climb.

Preserving this illuminating part of Florida history takes ongoing care and strong community support.

>>It's great that we live in a time where historic preservation is important to people.

Even if you're not into lighthouses, I think a lot of people want to preserve history, and I think that's important.

>>For Tom, the Amelia Island Lighthouse is part of his family's story.

Generations lived here, worked here, and cared for the light.

Today, that same commitment continues to keep the beacon shining bright and its history alive for the community.

♪♪ >>Before completion of the Saint Augustine Lighthouse in 1874, there was just a simple structure keeping watch.

In the centuries that have followed, mariners have looked to the beacon on Anastasia Island to safely guide them.

Today, the Saint Augustine Lighthouse remains one of the oldest operating navigational aids in the United States.

>>Since the first Spanish period Here in Saint Augustine, we have evidence that shows there has always been some type of watchful structure here on the island.

That evidence came from a map published in 1589 of Sir Francis Drake' raid.

>>The Saint Augustine Lighthouse grew and changed right along with Florida, as control of the area shifte from the Spanish to the British and eventually to the United States.

The lighthouse evolved too.

>>Not many people are awar that the lighthouse that's here today is actually the second lighthouse to stand here in Saint Augustine.

That first lighthouse originated as a Spanish watchtower.

Then during the first British period, about 30ft was added.

Then late on, another ten feet was added.

It was also reinforced with coquina to become a coquina lighthouse.

It kind of looked like a fort, which was very cool.

It's gone through many changes up until the shoreline started creeping up to the doors, and then it was commissioned to build a lighthouse here, back away from those weathered elements.

>>That decision to move the lighthouse more inland is a major reason why it still stands today.

From its new spot, the beacon continues guiding ships through the area's challenging waters.

>>Throughout history and Florida's history.

That origin story of our state starts here in Saint Augustine as well as Pensacola.

We have that tie to the Spanish.

However, navigation was important.

The only way we connected through the world was by boat.

And how do you keep boats safe?

Hundreds of years ago and lighthouses were the key.

Our shoreline is so treacherous due to changing sandbars, hurricanes, narrow harbors, that it was really important to have something to guide ships safely into harbor.

Local men, called pilots, were even trained to go out to those vessels and navigate those boats safely into port, especially if there were people who were unfamiliar with our waterways.

>>Today, this coastline holds reminders of the voyages that didn't make it.

And the stories waiting beneath the waves.

>>One of the discoveries made by our team was of a British Revolutionary War shipwreck, nicknamed the Storm Wreck.

And what this discovery did is tie us closely to the American Revolution.

And it flips the script.

All of the people on board were escaping the Carolinas, coming down to Saint Augustine, because during the British period and the American Revolution, Saint Augustine was loyal to the Crown.

Imagine being forced from your homes to escape as a refugee to a safe haven.

And then when you get there, you shipwreck.

And the items recovered from this wreck really show the different values of people.

And what was the most important thing to take with them when starting a new life?

Some of those objects were a beer tap.

Some of them were irons and cannons, and just a really unique story to how we value similar things toda that were valued 250 years ago.

>>At one point, this beaco of safety went dark on purpose.

>>During the Civil War, souther sympathizers to the Confederacy removed that fourth orde lens from the first lighthouse.

Remember, this one wasn't built yet.

So at that old lighthouse, that lens was removed and buried somewhere in the town area.

It wasn't until much later, until 1867, that the lens was put back into the lighthouse.

In the lighthouse was relit.

>>Keeping that navigational light burning required commitment and sometimes breaking expectations.

>>One of the most fascinating stories that is a two-parter is that we've had two female lighthouse keepers in our legacy.

One who was named Maria Andreu, and she served at the old Saint Augustine Lighthouse just before the Civil War.

And then Kate Har who was the first woman to live in this house with her husband, Major Brevet William Harn.

But unfortunately, he passed away from tuberculosis and she stayed after his death to serve as assistant keeper here to collect his pension.

It was pretty rare but you would see it throughout lighthouse history everywhere.

Where in these remote areas, you know, these women were really tough and they knew what had to be done.

And it was even better if they had their children there to help them, which occurred here too.

Kate Harn had five daughters an a sixth was born in this house.

And at that time period there were visitors.

The girls would help wit the daily tasks of entertaining visitors while Kate would tend the light.

>>With the current house completed.

The structure was designed to be instantly recognizable both day and night.

>>One of the common questions we get is why is it painted in a funky way?

And that funky way is very important.

That is what's called a Lighthouse Day Mark.

Mariners could tell where they were based on the color scheme, and the paint scheme of a lighthouse.

Ours is very unique, with a red lantern black and white spiral which would notify or signal that mariners were in Saint Augustine.

Conversely, in the evening the light source from the lens was very unique.

Not many people are aware, but every lighthouse has a different light pattern.

Think of it like Morse code, but with light: Dot, dash, in a unique pattern.

For example, if you're somewhere this evening or you're somewhere on the beach where you can see our lighthouse beam, at night you would see one beam, then nothing for 30 seconds, a second beam, nothing for 30 seconds, and a final beam and a complete rotation of 90 seconds, which signal those mariners.

Oh, I'm in Saint Augustine.

One of the other popular concerns we get is that there's so many steps in this lighthouse.

And while there are so many steps, our lighthouse is actually really easy to climb.

There are eight landings to stop and rest as visitors climb.

And we often get remarks on, wow, it's so grandiose.

There's so much space in here.

And in fact, the steps were assembled up north during construction and brought down here to be reassembled.

And one of the ways that could be figured out when putting the steps in is by a Roman numeral and a dot system.

So Roma numerals would have to link up, and a dot would have to link up with other dots to build the staircase.

And that's just a unique architectural feature.

Our lighthouse is 165ft tall.

There are 219 cast iron steps all the way to the top.

We are the second tallest lighthouse in the state of Florida, and I believe we are the seventh in the United States.

But of course, I think we're the most beautiful.

This is the most iconic view in Northeast Florida.

Not only can visitors take in the rolling waves, whether they're big or small, based on a windy day here in Saint Augustine, they also can take in the pristine, preserved nature of the Anastasi State Park just across Salt Run.

And lastly look over our beautiful skyline of the historic downtown Saint Augustine and a bird's eye view of the Fort, the Cross, the Treasury and Flagler College.

>>But the height alone wasn't what protected ships.

The real breakthrough is in the light itself.

>>Lighthouse lenses were the key factor of navigation.

It was not these big tall towers that kept boats safe but it was their light source.

The invention of the Fresnel lens revolutionized lighthouse illuminations.

Previous lamps worked like a mirror to bend and move light, but it would spread out.

The creation of the Fresnel lens was revolutionary because it intensified and was a more efficient way for lighthouses to guide ships safely.

There were multiple prisms that made up the lens, and all of the had a very important position, and the reason is that it would make sure no light would escape the top, the bottom, the center of that light source so it could shine, for example, our first order Fresnel lens shines 19 to 24 nautical miles out over the horizon.

Today, this lens has over 390 glass prisms, and it still operates the way it did 150 years ago.

>>Visitors to the Saint Augustine Lighthouse and Maritime Museum can climb the tower, along with finding the exhibits on maritime navigation, archeology, and the lives shaped by Florida's coast.

>One of the coolest things about working at a historic light station is not only d we have six historic structures, we have over seven exhibits to interact with, and one of my favorite objects from our collection of over 20,00 objects is our lending library.

Lighthouse keepers would be stationed in different areas, sometimes really remote.

Here in the Lighthouse of Saint Augustine, originally there was no bridge to this island, so one of the sources of entertainment and education was throug an established lending library.

And the one we have on display had bee at other lighthouses in Florida.

And what a unique way that something we all connect with today is education, reading, books.

And that was so important back then.

>>This small detail, like the books themselves, allow the lighthouse to feel less like a monument and more like a place where people actually lived.

>>I think lighthouses are kind o like a time capsule of the past.

Throughout our lives, we learn about history in different ways, and what I've found is a connecting piece for me is that if a lighthouse has been around long enough, it has experienced every part of history.

We've talked about a watchtowe during the Spanish time period, all the way up through Civil War, as well as the birth of our country.

We need people to care.

There are so few o these historic structures left.

They hold so much memory of Florida's coast and it's such a unique story to tell for future generations.

♪♪ >>Across Florida, every lighthouse has a different story that contributes to our coastal history.

Ponce Inlet's chapter begins with the name, a name that still throws some folks off guard.

>>A lot of newcomers are fascinated when we tell them the story that this area, and also parts of other counties, as a matter of fact, about a fifth of Florida was referred to as Mosquito County.

>>One of those area with that name, the Ponce Inlet.

The area was originally known as the Mosquito Inlet until it was changed by the state in 1927.

But that meant the original name of the Ponce Inlet Lighthouse was... >>When it was first lit in 1887 was the Mosquito Inlet Lighthouse.

The Ponce Inlet Lighthouse is the tallest in the state, and one of the tallest brick lighthouses in the United States.

Its construction addressed the need for better navigation along this part of Florida's coast.

>>Florida's east coast by the 1870s is bustling with a lot of traffic heading down to the Gulf of Mexico and going nort and south along Florida's coast.

Well, specifically our lighthouse, for a lot of reasons, owes its existence to the fact that Cape Canaveral, which was built about 15 years before, was in existence.

Saint Augustine Lighthouse was in existence, but you had approximately a hundred miles of what was called "dark coast," and something had to be done about that.

>>To illuminate that stretch, engineers needed a place that could support construction and access.

>>And of course, the ideal place to do that well, to bring building materials in, to build and construct the lighthouse would be an inlet.

And hello, Mosquito Inlet was the place.

>>This wasn't the first lighthouse here, but it's the one that lasted.

>>Actually, there was another lighthouse at this inlet in 1835.

It was built on the south side of the inlet and had a very short life.

Within about nine months it collapsed upon itself because of a severe storm which struck the area.

And surprisingly it took 40 some odd years before they recognized the need for the lighthouse here.

So that lighthouse was never rebuilt.

The design of this tower, of course, is done in the early 1880s, and a brilliant engineer comes up with the concept that if you're going to build something very, very tall and you don't want to use metal as supports, what you can do is turn to the Romans.

And the Roman concept is actually what we are dealing with now.

It is a column within a frustum of a cone, and they support each other.

So it's very, very unique.

It's not solid even though the walls are eight feet thick and very sturdy on a 14ft deep foundation.

It is not solid.

>>But a tall tower wasn't enough.

The guiding power came from the light within.

>>You can almost trace the development of lamps with the fact that we started with kerosene.

These were huge lamps, required about three gallons of kerosene per night and they were lit inside.

If you can see over my shoulder.

Massive first order Fresnel lens.

>>Today, people can see firsthand how much lighthouse technology changed over time.

>>We have both our first order lens, first order meaning the largest lens, and we also have the Cape Canaveral first order lens for safekeeping.

They were very, very worried about damage from vibration from rocket launchers.

So we are a guardian of the Cape Canaveral Lighthouse right now.

>>For the lighthouse keepers, it was a place of work and it was home.

Reminders of those daily lives remain on site.

>>The former residences of the keepers and their families have an incredible array of artifacts from the period related not only to navigation and lighthouses, but also family life at that time.

>>As visitors climb the tower, they journey through history.

>>We're one of 12 National Historic Landmark, so designated we're probably the best example of what are called brick giants.

>>And after more than 200 steps to the top, the reward is the view.

>>Unparalleled.

You are seeing the Atlantic Ocean like you've never seen it before.

You're able to look at Daytona like you've never seen before, to the south.

New Smyrna, the inlet.

You're actually able to relat to things that you've only heard about before, like for instance, the inlet.

So it's amazing.

>>From Mosquito Inlet to Ponce Inlet.

This lighthouse is still standing because the community chos not to let its history go dark.

♪♪ >>Along a stretch of Florida coastline known for rockets and launch pads awaits another landmark that has led travelers for generations.

The Cape Canaveral Lighthous first began guiding expeditions well before the space age.

>>People from here know that our cape juts out quite a bit.

So if you think about back in the 1800s how dark it was, there's no lights or anything like that.

The fact that it juts out makes it a hazard for shipping and for commerce.

And there's also shoals, which are 13 miles offshore.

You take that with the shallow water because o the type of posts that we have.

And the ships are having shipwrecks.

>>Th first Cape Canaveral lighthouse went up brick by brick in the 1840s.

But the version people know today is different, and that difference is a part of what makes this lighthouse stand out from so many others in Florida.

>>Brick is great for being on the coast.

Weather exists and all the things that they thought were the amazing aspect of it.

However, it was only 65ft tall and the light wasn't very bright.

Technology of the time.

So what they did is they built an iron one and they built it 151ft tall.

>>In it, they put a new technology, a Fresnel lens that shined its light further out to sea.

Yet this wouldn't be the only change to the lighthouse.

In the 1890s, concerns about erosion and flooding led crews to dismantle the iron lighthouse and move it inland to the site where it stands today.

>>It is still on dry land, but in the last ten year since I first visited that site, I would say half o the beach has been eroded away.

It's on the north side of what is now Cape Canaveral.

So if you kind of think of Cape Canaveral like a point, it's slowly doing this.

And the old lighthouse is on that northern part that's being sort of choked away.

>>That kind of erosion gives researchers another way to understand the Cape, not just as a landmark for navigation, but as a place where the shoreline itself has shifted.

>>Archeological sites, including historic sites like the lighthouse site, give us a sense of where shorelines were and how people chose to use the landscape.

>>The relocation helps with th preservation of the lighthouse, but also presents a challenge for those looking to visit.

>>The fact that we're on an active military base, it's a very sought after lighthouse for lighthouse enthusiasts because it's hard to get on and you have to plan ahead so you can't just go and run in there and bring the family and go.

So you have to have base access in order to get on base.

Anyone else has to book a tour either they can do that through our website and they have to go through a vetting process.

>>Living in th lighthouse was also a process, but became a way of life for the dedicated family who cared for it.

>>Ours was actually meant to be lived in.

So there's three bedrooms, there's a kitchen.

So everything you need t actually live in the lighthouse.

Also, it's been disassembled twice and reassembled three times, so that's really cool.

That's a unique feature.

>>But Cape Canaveral's biggest twist, maybe what grew up around it.

Over time, the surrounding land became part of America's launch complex.

So this 19th century beacon built for ships now shares the horizon with rockets.

>>When NASA found this land and saw all this land around here, they decided that it was a great place to put the space program.

And of course, now we share the space.

So you take this 1800 lighthouse and we share a space with this 2026 technology of blasting into space.

It's a really cool mix of past and future.

>>That contrast is what makes the Cape Canaveral lighthouse different.

It's part maritime history, part engineering story and part Space Coast landmark.

You can trace Florida's path from coastal commerce to modern launch history by just standing right here.

>>So it's seen every launch that's ever occurred, and it's the only lighthouse that I'm aware of that has actually been a part of a space program and a gateway to space.

>>At Cape Canaveral, the view has changed in a big way over the years.

The mission of the lighthouse has stayed remarkably steady, helped people find their way, and stand watch over a coast that is always looking toward what comes next.

♪♪ When you envision a lighthouse, you probably get a picture of a tower standing on the shore or hugging the coastline.

In Key West, the lighthouse is actually located in the middle of town.

And when you hear the story why, it's placement makes a lot of sense.

>>We had an original lighthouse, and it sat right on the shoreline that was built and opened in 1825, and it worked great until it didn't.

We had a big storm, a big hurricane come through, and in 1846, it toppled into the ocean during that hurricane.

>>After the hurricane, the island needed a working light again.

Ships were still moving through these waters, and the lighthouse was part of the island's connection to the rest of the world.

>>The Federal government wasted no time in replacing that tower.

We were such a busy shipping channel here in the keys we couldn't not have a lighthouse.

They temporarily used a light ship in order to navigate traffic through the area, but they expedited the building of that tower and it opened in January of 1848.

>>The new tower became part of Key West's identity in a different way.

As the island grew around it, the lighthouse became a landmark woven right into the neighborhood.

We didn't need a tall lighthouse here.

Our houses are two stories.

It's very visible because everything around it is shorter than that.

The reason they never had to do any day marks on ours is because we're really the only masonry structure.

All of our other lighthouses here in the Florida Keys, with the exception of the Dry Tortugas, are all marking the reef system.

So they're built on top of th Florida coral reef, not on land.

And they're all a metal framework.

So instantly you can tell the difference.

>>Today, visitors experience the lighthouse in a much different way than what mariners once did.

The climb is part history, part adventure, and part reward.

>>They can take 88 steps up to what I think is one of the best views of Key West.

Get to the top of the tower.

We have a full 360 degree viewing platform that anybody can access, because Key West is two miles by four miles.

When you are at the top of that tower, you see this island from edge to edge to edge.

It's amazing.

You can see the other islands that make up the Florida Keys archipelago.

And while you're up there, we have placards that indicate what you're looking at.

>>You can see a lot from the top but don't expect to see Cuba.

The view is only part of the visit.

The lighthouse also preserves the lives of the keepers and the families who made this place work day after day.

>>Barbara Mabrity's an interesting lady that's associated with our lighthouse.

First of all, she was a female lighthouse keeper in the 19th century, which was unheard of in a lot of locations.

She survived the hurricane of 1846, when that tower toppled into the ocean, and she was the lighthouse keeper when it was rebuilt inland.

She served as a lighthouse keeper until she was 82 years old.

>>Her story shines a light on the larger piece of Key West lighthouse history, one that gives women a central place in the story of keeping the light.

>>We had two other female lighthouse keepers on that property as well, and it's our responsibility, we think, because we think that's a really unique story about our lighthouse, that we share, that three women lighthouse keepers.

It's just not a normal job for women in the 19th century.

We want people to not only climb the lighthouse to get that great view, but we want them to lear about the people that live there because this was their life, this was their livelihood.

>>The Key West lighthouse tell more than one story at a time.

It's about navigation, surviva and the people who kept watch.

It's also about community.

>>I think one of our headlines, right, is resilience in the community.

I mean, you look at it and you think about where you are.

Think about building back and other communities when things happen, they tend to rebuild exactl where the disaster has happened.

And I think part of the resilience of this community is kind of stopping taking stock and understanding where we live.

What is the potential for something like that to happen in the future, and how do we build it back that it's safe not only for the lighthouse keepers who are having to tend to that light, but also the mariners who were using it.

♪♪ >>The Pensacola Lighthouse stands as one of the nation's oldest, but it's not the original.

Its predecessor stood about a quarter mile to the east.

Today's lighthouse has endured cannon shots and lightning strikes, making its history just as unique as the lens found at the top.

>>This is the second lighthouse, and the first one was built and lit in 1824.

It was built by Winslow Lewis, and almost immediately it was felt to be insufficient to the needs of the mariners.

The pine trees on Santa Rosa Island were tall.

It was only a 40ft tower compared to this one, which was 151ft.

But the pine trees grew and they obscured the view of the tower.

>>In 1855, Congress appropriated money for a new lighthouse First order Fresnel Lens.

>>It was first in 1859, but not even a couple of years later.

We were here to witness a civil war.

The light witnesse the Battle of Santa Rosa Island.

Pensacola and Florida seceded from the Union.

Commodore Brant, here on base, resigned his commission with the US Navy.

Became part of the Confederacy.

And Lieutenant Slimmer, part of the army here took him, and approximately 70 to 80 troops went over to Fort Pickens and fortified themselves over there.

Eventually, it had a battle under Braxton Bragg.

During the month of November, they had about 5,000 cannon shells fired back and forth.

The actual lighthouse was struck 3 to 4 times.

>>As for that fancy new lens in the lighthouse It was removed during the war.

>>The lens was removed to kee the Federals having utilization of the lighthouse during the Civil War.

Confederates took it down and it one was either shipped to Montgomery and stored.

It was stored in place.

After the Civil War, it was shipped up to New York to be refurbished at the depot there, and then brought back down and reinstalled.

>>The lighthouse survived hits from cannons and also lightning twice.

We kind of proved those stories by when we were doing the restoration in 2014.

We opened it up and found the fascinators from those original lightning straps, you can see tha it was actually a lightning bolt that just went through the tower.

♪♪ >>Today you can climb all 177 steps all the way up to the top.

Let's take a look at the light.

One of 13 left in the world.

And then step outside to behold 360 degrees of the Emerald Coast, includin two states and three counties.

>>It's still actually use as an aide to navigation today.

Since its beginning and up until today, the Coast Guard still maintained the bul on the lens and the lens itself.

>>If you visit with someone who can't make the climb, there is still plenty of history to behold.

Housed in the keeper's quarters, built in 1869, awaits a museum with exhibits dedicated to the history of the tower, the women who kept the light, and a glimpse into what life was like living at the lighthouse.

Plus, there's more on the way.

>>Part of the exterior exhibits.

We've actually doubled our footprint here on base, with an archeological park and a recreation of a historic home that we discovere through archeological research in the woods.

This home was the home of Charles Hart.

It was a formerly enslaved person who worked on the East side at the Naval Shipyard.

During the Civil War, his family moved over here after the Confederates withdrew and built that homestead, and he worked here at the lighthouse for many years.

>>No matter where you shine light in Pensacola, you'll find history.

>>I think Pensacola is uniqu because it has a rich history.

♪♪ >>From the base of each tower to the top of every light.

Florida's lighthouses remind u that history is never far away.

These beacons have lit the path home for centuries, and today that traditio continues through their stories.

Thanks for joining us for Florida Road Trip, I'm Scott Fais.

We'll see you on our next cruise through history.

Until then, safe travels everyone.

♪♪ >>This program is brought to you in part by the Paul B. Hunter and Constance D. Hunter Charitable Foundation, a proud partner of WUCF and the Central Florida community.