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Photo, Print, Drawing Fort Jefferson, Tortugas Harbor Light, Garden Key, Key West, Monroe County, FL Dry Tortugas National Park Garden Key Lighthouse Garden Key Harbor Light Garden Key Light Tower

View 17 images in sequence.
[ Photos from Survey HABS FL-44-F  ]

More Resources

View 6 images in sequence.
[ Drawings from Survey HABS FL-44-F  ]
[ Data Pages from Survey HABS FL-44-F  ]
[ Photo Captions from Survey HABS FL-44-F  ]

About this Item

Title

  • Fort Jefferson, Tortugas Harbor Light, Garden Key, Key West, Monroe County, FL

Other Title

  • Dry Tortugas National Park Garden Key Lighthouse Garden Key Harbor Light Garden Key Light Tower

Names

  • Historic American Buildings Survey, creator
  • Smith, Jared A.
  • U.S. Light House Board
  • Henry-LePaute, Augustin Michel
  • Arzola, Robert R., project manager
  • Croteau, Todd A., photographer
  • Clark, Kelly, project assistant
  • U.S. National Park Service (NPS), Southeast Regional Office, sponsor
  • Dry Tortugas National Park, sponsor
  • Ortiz, Jarob J., photographer
  • Davidson, Paul, project manager
  • De Sousa, Daniel, delineator
  • Clark, Kelly, project assistant
  • U.S. National Park Service (NPS), Southeast Regional Office, sponsor
  • Dry Tortugas National Park, sponsor
  • Pierce, Ryan, delineator
  • McPartland, Mary, transmitter
  • McPartland, Mary, transmitter

Created / Published

  • Documentation compiled after 1933

Headings

  • -  forts & fortifications
  • -  lighthouses
  • -  military organizations
  • -  national parks & reserves
  • -  aids to navigation
  • -  navigation
  • -  Florida--Monroe County--Key West

Latitude / Longitude

  • 24.6282,-82.872217

Notes

  • -  Significance: The Tortugas Harbor Lighthouse was constructed of boiler-plate iron and erected February-April 1876 as an aid to navigation for local harbor traffic. The design was created under the direction of the Light House Board by Major Jared A. Smith, then Superintending Engineer at Fort Jefferson; his approved drawings are dated January 10, 1876. Iron was second to brick in popularity for use in lighthouse construction, beginning with the first in the U.S. in 1844, due to its durability and ease of construction. Iron lighthouse sections and their component parts could be easily cast and assembled on site ( and disassembled and moved if needed). Tortugas Harbor Lighthouse is comprised of four tiers of precast iron construction. The first two levels of the structure are hexagonal, while the third and fourth levels are cylindrical and encompass the Watch Room and Lantern Room, respectively. With a range of only 13 miles, the Tortugas Harbor Lighthouse was used mainly as a beacon; the principle aid to the navigation in area being the Loggerhead Key Lighthouse, located 2-1/2 nautical miles west of the fort. Both lighthouses were built to help ships traveling to and from the Gulf of Mexico negotiate the treacherous reefs that surround the area. The Tortugas Harbor Lighthouse was built to replace the original brick lighthouse built in 1825 and located on what is now the Fort Jefferson Parade Ground (prior to the fort's construction). The erection of the new lighthouse in iron was prompted by a severe hurricane that came through the area in September 1875, damaging both brick lighthouses, here and at Loggerhead Key. Rather than repair the original brick structure, a stronger iron lighthouse was erected atop the bastion, also raising visibility. The Tortugas Harbor Lighthouse rises 37' above the terreplein, or about 82' above ground level. The boiler-plate iron is¼" thick and is reinforced by a framework of channels and T-irons, with riveted and bolted connections. The hexagonal first tier is accessed from below through the bastion stair tower or from the fort's terreplein. The walls of the hexagon are pierced by a double-leaf door and two windows. The second tier, also hexagonal, includes four windows; it tapers inward to meet the smaller, circular tiers above. The circular third tier or Watch Room section includes an outer gallery supported by iron brackets. The uppermost level comprises the circular Lantern Room and originally contained the fourth-order lens manufactured by Augustin Michel Henry-LePaute of Paris, France for the 1825 lighthouse. The Tortugas Harbor Lighthouse was automated in 1912. Automation eliminated the need for a light keeper and corresponded with the accidental burning of the keeper's house. The lighthouse was finally decommissioned in 1921, at which point the lighthouse at Loggerhead Key became the sole aid to navigation in this area. Although dark, the Tortugas Harbor Lighthouse remained in situ. Suffering from deterioration, major repairs were first undertaken in 1939, including the recoating of the corroded sections of steel, and likely much of the steel plate reinforcement that was later reported, in 1969. Deterioration continued, however, and the lighthouse remained closed to visitors. Finally in 1971, the lighthouse underwent a more substantial rehabilitation, including repair of the entire upper tiers, replacement of deteriorated structural parts, additional braces and plates, and the repair of interior carpentry and millwork. The metal handrail was also replaced with like materials. In 1976, Tortugas Harbor Lighthouse was placed in the National Register of Historic Places as a contributing resource to the Fort Jefferson National Monument Historic District. The site was transferred to the National Park Service in 1992 and remains in its stewardship. The Tortugas Harbor Lighthouse is currently undergoing restoration, prompting the HABS documentation.
  • -  Unprocessed Field note material exists for this structure: N2285
  • -  Survey number: HABS FL-44-F
  • -  Building/structure dates: 1876 Initial Construction
  • -  Building/structure dates: 1912 Subsequent Work
  • -  Building/structure dates: 1939 Subsequent Work
  • -  Building/structure dates: 1971 Subsequent Work
  • -  National Register of Historic Places NRIS Number: 70000069, 01000228

Medium

  • Photo(s): 20
  • Color Transparencies: 1
  • Measured Drawing(s): 6
  • Photo Caption Page(s): 3

Call Number/Physical Location

  • HABS FL-44-F

Source Collection

  • Historic American Buildings Survey (Library of Congress)

Repository

Control Number

  • fl0840

Rights Advisory

Online Format

  • image
  • pdf

Rights & Access

The Library of Congress does not own rights to material in its collections. Therefore, it does not license or charge permission fees for use of such material and cannot grant or deny permission to publish or otherwise distribute the material.

Ultimately, it is the researcher's obligation to assess copyright or other use restrictions and obtain permission from third parties when necessary before publishing or otherwise distributing materials found in the Library's collections.

For information about reproducing, publishing, and citing material from this collection, as well as access to the original items, see: Historic American Buildings Survey/Historic American Engineering Record/Historic American Landscape Survey (HABS/HAER/HALS) Collection - Rights and Restrictions Information

  • Rights Advisory: No known restrictions on images made by the U.S. Government; images copied from other sources may be restricted. https://aj.sunback.homes/rr/print/res/114_habs.html
  • Reproduction Number: ---
  • Call Number: HABS FL-44-F
  • Access Advisory: ---

Obtaining Copies

If Digital Images Are Displaying

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    • Make note of the Survey Number (e.g., HAER NY - 143) and Sheet Number (e.g., "Sheet 1 of 4"), which appear on the edge of the drawing. (NOTE: These numbers are visible in the Tiff "Reference Image" display.)
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  • Data Pages
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  • P&P reading room staff can provide up to 15 quick copies of items per calendar year (many original items in the holdings are too old or fragile to make such copies, but generally HABS/HAER/HALS materials are in good enough condition to be placed on photocopy machines). For assistance, see our Ask a Librarian page OR
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Cite This Item

Citations are generated automatically from bibliographic data as a convenience, and may not be complete or accurate.

Chicago citation style:

Historic American Buildings Survey, Creator, Jared A Smith, U.S. Light House Board, Augustin Michel Henry-Lepaute, Robert R Arzola, Kelly Clark, Southeast Regional Office U.S. National Park Service, et al., Croteau, Todd A, and Jarob J Ortiz, photographer. Fort Jefferson, Tortugas Harbor Light, Garden Key, Key West, Monroe County, FL. Dry Tortugas Islands Florida Monroe Monroe County Key West, 1933. translateds by Mcpartland, Marymitter, and Mcpartland, Marymitter Documentation Compiled After. Photograph. https://aj.sunback.homes/item/fl0840/.

APA citation style:

Historic American Buildings Survey, C., Smith, J. A., U.S. Light House Board, Henry-Lepaute, A. M., Arzola, R. R., Clark, K. [...] Pierce, R., Croteau, T. A. & Ortiz, J. J., photographer. (1933) Fort Jefferson, Tortugas Harbor Light, Garden Key, Key West, Monroe County, FL. Dry Tortugas Islands Florida Monroe Monroe County Key West, 1933. McPartland, M. & McPartland, M., transs Documentation Compiled After. [Photograph] Retrieved from the Library of Congress, https://aj.sunback.homes/item/fl0840/.

MLA citation style:

Historic American Buildings Survey, Creator, et al., photographers by Croteau, Todd A, and Jarob J Ortiz. Fort Jefferson, Tortugas Harbor Light, Garden Key, Key West, Monroe County, FL. trans by Mcpartland, Marymitter, and Mcpartland, Marymitter Documentation Compiled After. Photograph. Retrieved from the Library of Congress, <aj.sunback.homes/item/fl0840/>.