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Historical Research

Lighthouse Technology: Illumination

2016-01-20T08:00:56-05:00January 20th, 2016|

This next installment in our series on lighthouse technology focuses on the illuminants lighthouses have used, especially those used at the St. Augustine Lighthouse in it history. Click the link below to read previous post in the series: Lighthouse Technology: Fresnel Lens Lighthouse Technology: Clockwork Mechanism Lighthouse Illumination This US Lighthouse Establishment 100 gallon oil butt sits in the oil room of the St. Augustine Lighthouse. Historically, lighthouses have served as a reflection [...]

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SHA 2016 is a Success! – Storm Wreck Symposium Presented in the Nation’s Capital

2016-01-13T08:00:09-05:00January 13th, 2016|

This letter, concerning the Storm Wreck vessel’s wrecking event, was written exactly 233 years before lighthouse archaeologists presented research on this wreck at the 49th annual SHA conference in Washington, D.C. On January 9, 1783, the commander of the British Royal Army in East Florida, Lieutenant Colonel Archibald McArthur, wrote a letter to the British Commander in Chief, Sir Guy Carleton, to inform him of the loss of the Rattlesnake, two victualing ships, [...]

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Lighthouse Technology: Clockwork Mechanism

2015-12-16T08:00:55-05:00December 16th, 2015|

This next installment in our series on lighthouse technology focuses on the clockwork mechanisms that rotate Fresnel lens, giving lighthouses their distinctive flashing patterns. Click the link below to read previous post in the series: Lighthouse Technology: Fresnel Lens Light Characteristic Lighthouses are equipped with unique light characteristic or flashing pattern that sailors can use to identify specific lighthouses during the night. Lighthouses can achieve distinctive light characteristics a few different ways. A lighthouse can [...]

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Lighthouse Technology: Fresnel Lens

2015-11-18T08:00:27-05:00November 18th, 2015|

Welcome to our newest blog series where we will examine the technological innovations that improved lighthouses and made coastlines around the world safer. Each installment of the blog series will cover an invention or technological application introduced at the St. Augustine Lighthouse in its history. This first installment will focus on the powerhouse of the lighthouse – the first order Fresnel lens. Lighthouse Illumination The first lighthouses, as we recognize them now, were simply bonfires [...]

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The Quest to Find New Shipwrecks

2015-08-12T08:00:03-04:00August 12th, 2015|

From St. Augustine Beach, especially north of the pier, there is a persistent speck on the horizon. The speck appears from the inlet with the rising sun. Turning south and growing bigger on the horizon, the speck becomes a boat, plunging into the morning swell. Aboard is our research team. 450 years of maritime history live in these waters. As you may well know, the St. Augustine Lighthouse & Maritime Museum houses a maritime research [...]

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Lighthouse History 1954 – 1974

2015-06-17T08:00:43-04:00June 17th, 2015|

This seventh installment in our ongoing series on the history of the St. Augustine Lighthouse focuses on the end of the lighthouse keepers at the lighthouse and environmental changes in the area. Click the links below to read previous posts in the series: Lighthouse History Pre-1874 Lighthouse History 1874-1894 (Part I) Lighthouse History 1874-1894 (Part II) Lighthouse History 1894-1914 Lighthouse History 1914-1934 Lighthouse History 1934-1954 1954 – 1974 Lighthouse keepers served a vital function, keeping [...]

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Lighthouse History 1934-1954

2015-05-19T08:00:04-04:00May 19th, 2015|

This sixth installment in our ongoing series on the history of the St. Augustine Lighthouse focuses on the changeover from the oil lantern to an electric lantern and the experience of the lighthouse and keepers during World War II. Click the links below to read previous posts in the series: Lighthouse History Pre-1874 Lighthouse History 1874-1894 (Part I) Lighthouse History 1874-1894 (Part II) Lighthouse History 1894-1914 Lighthouse History 1914-1934 1934-1954 The introduction of electricity in [...]

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First Chalupa Sea Trials Completed

2015-04-07T08:00:23-04:00April 7th, 2015|

The chalupa in her slings after launch at the Camachee Cove Marina March 11, 2015 The chalupa replica project hit a major mile stone this past Saturday, March 28, when it rowed out of Hospital Creek for the first time into Matanzas Bay. The craft was blessed and christened the San Agustín six days earlier on March 22nd at her home port located at the Fountain of Youth Archaeological Park. This grass roots collaborative community [...]

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Lighthouse History 1914 – 1934

2015-03-18T08:00:40-04:00March 18th, 2015|

This fifth installment in our ongoing series on the history of the St. Augustine Lighthouse focuses on the growth of the St. Augustine community during the early 20th century and the effect it had on the lighthouse and the people living and working there. Click the links below to read previous posts in the series: Lighthouse History Pre-1874 Lighthouse History 1874-1894 (Part I) Lighthouse History 1874-1894 (Part II) Lighthouse History 1894-1914 1914-1934 For much of [...]

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Lighthouse History 1894 – 1914

2015-02-18T14:28:29-05:00February 18th, 2015|

This fourth installment in our ongoing series on the history of the St. Augustine Lighthouse focuses on the tenure of Joseph Rantia and the arrival of our longest serving head keeper Peter Rasmusson. Click the links below to read previous posts in the series: Lighthouse History Pre-1874 Lighthouse History 1874-1894 (Part I) Lighthouse History 1874-1894 (Part II) 1894-1914 Promoted from 1st Assistant upon William Harn’s death, Joseph Rantia (often spelled Ranty) served as head keeper [...]

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