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Carysfort Reef Lighthouse
Carysfort Reef Light is located approximately six nautical miles east of Key Largo, Florida. It was named for the HMS Carysfort (1766), a 20-gun Royal Navy post ship that ran aground on the reef in 1770. The lighthouse has an iron screw-pile foundation with a platform, and a skeletal, octagonal, pyramidal tower, which is painted red. The light shines 100 feet above the water.
Originally, in 1825, the first Carysfort Reef Light was a lightship named Caesar. The Caesar went aground during a storm near Key Biscayne. The owners bought the ship back and it was placed at Carysfort Reef. The lightship was often blown off-station by storms, and even went aground on the reef at one point. That first lightship developed dry rot and had to be replaced after only five years. A second lightship, named Florida, was then dispatched to the reef.
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