Legends of the Light After months of planning, we are less than a week away from beginning the installation of Legends of the Light a new exhibit here at the St. Augustine Lighthouse & Maritime Museum. The landings of the staircase will display historic photographs and stories of the people who lived and worked at the Lighthouse. The Maritime Archaeology & Education Center (MAEC) will present more keepers’ stories and play host to a large [...]
Right now, the sounds of construction punctuate the Lighthouse grounds, as a new building takes shape. The Maritime Archaeology & Education Center (MAEC) will house offices, education space, a maritime archaeology center, and a new exhibit space. Behind the scenes, our Interpretation division is working with exhibit designers to create an engaging and informative exhibit detailing the history of the St. Augustine Lighthouse and the people that lived and worked there. Maria Andreu was [...]
On April 5th, the World War II-era garage here on the light station was raised by professional house movers. As part of restoring and maintaining our historic campus, the building will be converted for use as WWII Coast Guard exhibit space and for the Museum’s café. For years, soil built up around the foundation, causing moisture and termite problems that almost completely destroyed the original structural fabric. In 2008, the Museum completed some internal work [...]
The new year arrived with a burst of cold air (Florida winter last three whole days this year, it was tough, but we powered through!) and the promise of exciting things on the horizon. Construction has begun on our new Maritime Archaeology & Education Center! We’ve written before about our new Maritime Archaeology & Education Center, which is finally under construction, but we haven’t shared what this new facility will mean for us [...]
A new facility at the St. Augustine Lighthouse & Maritime Museum will replace temporary spaces to provide a permanent, handicap-accessible home for maritime research and education programs. ST. AUGUSTINE, FL. – With 450 years of maritime history sitting off St. Augustine’s shores awaiting discovery, the St. Augustine Lighthouse & Maritime Museum is looking toward the future for space to save the past. Through funds raised in the nonprofit museum’s most recent capital campaign, as well [...]
The State of Florida presented local resident and former shrimp boat captain Ed Long with an award honoring his efforts to preserve the history of St. Augustine’s shrimping and boatbuilding industries. ST. AUGUSTINE, FL. – In 81 years, St. Augustine resident James Edwin “Ed” Long has witnessed a lot of change in his hometown. From 1951 until the 1990s, Long worked in the shrimping and shrimp boat building industry. Today, he is a keeper of [...]
On behalf of the St. Augustine Lighthouse & Maritime Museum, our Executive Director Kathy A. Fleming stands with our colleagues at the Florida Association of Museums against the Isolated Finds Legislation that is currently under consideration by the Florida Legislature. Here is the official statement from FAM: The Florida Association of Museums (FAM) represents over 400 art, history, science, and children museums in the state from the very smallest to the largest. As repositories of our cultural [...]
Four hundred and six lighthouses from around the world will participate in International Lighthouse Lightship Weekend from August 14th to 16th including the St. Augustine Lighthouse. ST. AUGUSTINE, FLA. –The St. Augustine Lighthouse & Museum will join 406 lighthouses from 85 different countries for International Lighthouse and Lightship Weekend (ILLW) August 14th to 16th with support from members of the St. Augustine Amateur Radio Society (SAARS). “We always enjoy participating in this worldwide event,” said [...]
The nonprofit St. Augustine Lighthouse & Museum recently finished a $280,000 restoration project with help from state funds, grants and a crowd-funding partnership with Dr. Guy Harvey. ST. AUGUSTINE, FLA. – St. Augustine’s most iconic landmark is looking brighter than ever following the completion of a three month, $280,000 preservation project to restore and protect the St. Augustine Lighthouse. State grants and appropriations, a grant from the Florida Lighthouse Association and crowd funding fueled by [...]
Volunteers at the St. Augustine Lighthouse & Museum completed a ship model of the HMS Victory that was started by Jim McNally and donated to the museum by his wife, Katie, after his passing. ST. AUGUSTINE, FLA. – It all began in 2012, with a generous donation and a public plea in The St. Augustine Record. What happened next tied together the St. Augustine Lighthouse & Museum, a group of passionate volunteers and the legacy [...]
