US Coast Guard
photo, circa 1960
Carysfort Reef is named for the 1770 grounding (the ship later sailed away with little damage) of the H.M.S. CARYSFORD. The name given to the spot was later altered to "Carysfort". This reef has the dubious distinction of being the closest part of Florida to the Gulf Stream. Ships sailing southward hug the coast in order to avoid the Stream. This, coupled with the lack of visible landmarks and the varying nature of the various currents in the area made Carysfort Reef one of the most dangerous locations in Florida for ships. This danger was recognized early, but at that time, there was no construction technique for building a structure on a submerged reef that is exposed to the full force of the sea. Instead, the reef was marked with a lightship.
The first lightship built for the station ran aground on her maiden voyage from New York in 1824. The ship was salvaged and served for only about five years before dry rot forced its retirement. A new lightship was quickly found.
In June 1837, the lightship's Captain John Walton and one of his crew were shot and killed on Key Largo by Seminole Indians. The Indians ambushed Walton and his group when they went ashore to tend a vegetable garden. Three other crewmen escaped in their boat, two of whom were wounded.
The lightship was never an effective marker. It supported only small lights, and those some distance from the dangerous reefs. Storms would wash the lightship off station, and dry-dock periods for costly maintenance required that the reefs be unmarked.
Finally, in 1852 the Carysfort Reef Lighthouse was built. It used a new design with iron pilings (screw piles were not used because of bottom conditions) and an externally braced skeleton tower. First lit on March 10, 1852, the tower stands 100 feet tall when measured from high water to the center of the lens. It was originally lit with 18 lamps in 21 inch reflectors. These lamps were replaced by a first order Fresnel lens in 1857.
In contrast to other lights located further north, Carysfort Reef Lighthouse remained operational during the Civil War. The light was later converted to incandescent oil vapor and then electrified in the late 1930's.
US Coast Guard photo, 1959.
After 112 years of service, the lighthouse was automated and unmanned in 1964. Sometime after 1967 the first order lens was removed and replaced by a smaller third order lens. The third order lens was removed in the early 1980's.
In 1987, the Coast Guard spend over $100,000 for a major overhaul and repainting of the structure.
Silent World Dive Center is located at MileMarker 103.2 bayside, in Key Largo's Central Plaza. For reservations or further information, call us at 800-966-DIVE (3483) or 305-451-3252; write us at P.O. Box 2363, Key Largo FL 33037, or email us at Silent World. We look forward to meeting you!
