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[Congressional Record Volume 155, Number 9 (Thursday, January 15, 2009)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Pages E104-E106]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]

EGMONT KEY CELEBRATING 150 YEARS OF ``LIGHTING THE WAY'' INTO TAMPA BAY

                                 ______
                                 

                          HON. C.W. BILL YOUNG

                               of florida

                    in the house of representatives

                       Thursday, January 15, 2009

  Mr. YOUNG of Florida. Madam Speaker, the Tampa Bay community I 
represent celebrated the 150th anniversary of one of the key aids to 
navigation on all of Florida's west coast last November, the Egmont Key 
Lighthouse.
  The Lighthouse has a rich history and includes being destroyed once 
by a major hurricane, being rebuilt and staffed by a long list of 
dedicated keepers, being at the center of civil war intrigue, and now 
being home to a national wildlife refuge. Throughout its storied 
history it has stood tall as the only lighthouse between Key West and 
the Florida Panhandle and marks the entrance to Tampa Bay, one of our 
Nation's busiest waterways.
  Because its history is so interesting Madam Speaker, I will include, 
following my remarks a column from the Tampa Bay Soundings newspaper by 
Captain Richard Johnson, the past President of the Egmont Key Alliance. 
He and the members of the alliance have not only worked hard to share 
the history of Egmont Key and the Lighthouse, but also to preserve 
structures on the island. Also I will include with my remarks further 
information about the legacy of Egmont Key from the Web site 
LighthouseFriends.com.
  Madam Speaker, we continue to protect Egmont Key and the lighthouse, 
which was added to the Register of National Historic Places in 1978, by 
providing Federal funds to renourish the shoreline surrounding the 
island and by studying a way to provide a long-term solution to protect 
the island's original buildings.
  In the meantime, the Egmont Key Lighthouse will continue its mission 
to ensure the safe navigation along the Gulf of Mexico and

[[Page E105]]

into Tampa Bay just as it has throughout the past 150 years. Please 
join me in thanking all those who have served to keep its beacon lit 
and who continue to serve today with President Jim Spangler and the 
Egmont Key Alliance to keep its history alive and its structures sound.

    Lighting the Way: The Egmont Key Lighthouse, Tampa Bay Soundings

                      (By Captain Richard Johnson)

       It has been 150 years since light keeper Sherrod Edwards 
     first carried cans of lamp oil up the spiral staircase of the 
     lighthouse on Egmont Key. But this magnificent beacon, 
     rebuilt ``to withstand any storm'' after a hurricane in the 
     late 1840s, still stands guard at the entrance to Tampa Bay, 
     welcoming mariners and visitors.
       The 71-foot-high lighthouse has been vital to the safety of 
     commerce on Florida's west coast for more than a century. 
     First constructed in 1848 to support commercial trade along 
     the nation's Gulf Coast, it was the only lighthouse between 
     the Panhandle and Key West. While guiding ships along the 
     coast, it also marked the entrance to the increasingly 
     important port of Tampa.
       The first lighthouse was built with brick and cost $10,000. 
     It was located about 100 feet northeast of the existing 
     structure on the north end of the island. The keeper's house, 
     also brick, was constructed nearby for Edwards and his 
     family. The lighthouse was first lit in April 1848 when they 
     moved in. Less than six months later, in September, a 
     hurricane ravaged the lighthouse. Stories say Edwards and his 
     family took refuge in a rowboat tied to a palm tree as water 
     rose over the island.
       With the first tower damaged beyond repair, a new, taller 
     lighthouse--which still stands today--was constructed in 1858 
     for $16,000. Other buildings were added over the years. A 
     small brick building was constructed in 1895 near the 
     lighthouse to store lamp oil; a larger brick building erected 
     in the 1920s housed the island's radio transmitter.
       Other structures have since been torn down. Two large sheds 
     near the bayside dock served as a depot for navigational 
     buoys along Florida's Gulf Coast in the late 1800s. For a 
     time, all buoys between St. Marks and Key West were 
     maintained and stored on Egmont Key. An assistant light 
     keeper's house was added in 1899. All that remains of that 
     house is a cistern, which is still used today.
       Over the years, numerous improvements were made to the 
     light station and the dock was rebuilt several times. Almost 
     every recorded annual report to the Lighthouse Board includes 
     some reference to repairs, improvements or rebuilding, mostly 
     to mitigate damage from storms.
       The life of the lighthouse keeper was not easy. For the 
     most part, the light keeper, his assistant and their families 
     were the only people on the island. Bulk supplies like oil 
     for the light were brought in just once a year, and the 
     families raised much of their own food, while traveling by 
     small boat to Bradenton or Tampa for other supplies.
       Maintaining a lighthouse with an oil lamp required constant 
     attention to trimming and adjusting wicks, cleaning the 
     chimney and lenses, and washing the windows of the lantern 
     room. While the light was bright and well-focused for an oil 
     lamp, it was not nearly as bright as an electric light, and 
     scrupulous attention to maintaining the cleanliness of every 
     part of the system was necessary to ensure that the light 
     would not be obscured. Each day they worked from dawn until 
     about 10 a.m. just cleaning up and preparing the light for 
     the next night's work. Curtains hung from dawn until dusk to 
     prevent discoloration of the lens glass.
       In 1939, the Coast Guard took over the lighthouse service 
     and converted the newer light-keeper's house into a barracks 
     for a small crew. A few years later, the lighthouse was 
     renovated. With the upper portion of the brick tower 
     deteriorating, the tower was trimmed several feet for 
     stabilization, and an aircraft-style rotating beacon replaced 
     the original oil lamp. Illumination surged from 3,000 
     candlepower to 175,000 candlepower, visible on a clear night 
     from as far as 22 miles away.
       But it wasn't until the late 1980s that the light was fully 
     automated and the Coast Guard personnel reassigned. Shortly 
     after that the Florida State Park Service joined the U.S. 
     Fish and Wildlife Service in caring for the island's natural 
     resources.
       Through the years, a series of light keepers about whom we 
     know very little, worked through heat and hurricane, battling 
     mosquitoes and winter gales, to keep the Egmont light working 
     and the station in good order. Even with modern advances in 
     navigation, the light remains an important aid to mariners 
     and aviators destined for Tampa Bay.
       Capt. Richard Johnson, president of the Egmont Key 
     Alliance, teaches sailing at the St. Petersburg branch of the 
     Annapolis Sailing School. For more information on Egmont Key 
     or the Egmont Key Alliance, call 727-867-8102.

               Egmont Key, Florida, LighthouseFriends.com

       Description: When Florida was under British control, 
     surveyor George Gauld named the small island found at the 
     entrance to Tampa Bay Egmont Key, after John Perceval, second 
     Earl of Egmont and First Lord of the Admiralty. Through the 
     years, the island has served as home to two lighthouses, a 
     fort, a movie theater, a cemetery, boat pilots, and a radio 
     beacon. Today, all that remains on the island is a truncated 
     lighthouse, crumbling remains of the fort, a small colony of 
     gopher tortoises, and a park ranger to interpret the island's 
     history.
       In 1833, the Secretary of the Treasury received multiple 
     petitions for a lighthouse at Egmont Key to assist vessels 
     transiting Florida's Gulf Coast between Key West and the 
     Panhandle. However, it wasn't until after Florida achieved 
     statehood in 1845 and its legislature petitioned Congress in 
     December of 1846, that funds were granted for the Egmont Key 
     Lighthouse. Francis A. Gibbons of Baltimore signed a contract 
     with the government to provide a lighthouse and dwelling at a 
     cost of $6,250.
       The contract called for a 40-foot, brick tower, topped with 
     an octagonal lantern that would shelter 13 lamps backed by 
     21-inch reflectors. The lighting apparatus was supplied by 
     Winslow Lewis at a cost of $1,330. The St. Marks customs 
     collector, a Mr. Walker, who oversaw the construction, 
     recommended that ``in consequence of the heavy gales of wind 
     in this country,'' the 34 x 20, one-story, brick dwelling 
     should ``be placed at least 100 feet from the tower, so in 
     case of its prostration, the house and lives would not be 
     endangered.'' Walker also insisted that the tower be built on 
     a foundation of driven pilings rather than on a foundation of 
     ``dry shells and sand'' as promoted by the frugal Stephen 
     Pleasonton, Fifth Auditor of the Treasury.
       Work began on the lighthouse during the summer of 1847, and 
     the lamps were to be lit by January 1, 1848 according to the 
     contract. However, the supply ship Abbe Baker, which was 
     transporting bricks from New York for the lighthouse, ran 
     aground on Orange Key, and roughly half of the bricks had to 
     be tossed overboard to refloat the ship. By February of 1848, 
     the tower stood at a height of twenty feet, but work was 
     halted until a new shipment of bricks arrived. The tower was 
     officially certified on April 19, 1848, and shortly 
     thereafter Sherrod Edwards, the first keeper of the Egmont 
     Key Lighthouse, activated the light. At that time, the 
     lighthouse was the only one between Key West and St. Marks.
       On September 23, 1848 a powerful hurricane covered Egmont 
     Key with several feet of water. Keeper Edwards and his 
     family, according to local legend, survived the storm by 
     seeking refuge in a small boat tethered to a Palmetto tree. 
     Shortly thereafter, Keeper Edwards rowed his family ashore 
     and resigned. It was likely due to Walker's pile foundation 
     that the tower survived the storm. The lighthouse was 
     subsequently struck by lightning, which opened cracks in the 
     tower. In 1854, a concrete pad was poured around the base of 
     the tower, but by 1856, it was apparent that a replacement 
     tower was necessary.
       A new tower, twice as tall as the original, was completed 
     in 1857 near the northern end of Egmont Key, and probably 
     ninety feet inland from the previous tower. A fixed-light 
     produced by a third-order Fresnel lens was exhibited from a 
     focal plane of eighty-six feet starting in 1858.
       In 1861, keeper George V. Rickard found himself caught in a 
     struggle for control of the lighthouse. The collector in Key 
     West was loyal to the Union, while the collector at St. Marks 
     sided with the Confederates. Rickard feigned allegiance to 
     Union blockaders near the island, until their absence allowed 
     him to flee the island. After crating up the Fresnel lens, 
     Rickard absconded to Tampa with the lens and as many supplies 
     as he could transport.
       The lighthouse soon fell under Union control and was 
     reactivated using a makeshift light. After the war, a fourth-
     order lens was used until 1893, when it was replaced by a 
     third-order lens with a red sector.
       In 1898, during the Spanish-American War, Fort Dade, part 
     of a comprehensive coastal defense system, was constructed on 
     the island. Named for the army commander, who along with his 
     detachment, was killed by Seminole Indians in 1835, the fort, 
     along with Fort DeSoto on Mullet Island to the northeast, 
     stood watch over the entrance to Tampa Bay. The fort was 
     staffed during World War I as well, and by the time it was 
     deactivated in 1923, a movie theater, bowling alley, tennis 
     courts, and miles of brick roads were found on the island.
       In 1944, the upper portion of the lighthouse was removed 
     along with the Fresnel lens, and a Double Head DCB-36 
     Rotating Beacon was placed on top of the capped tower. The 
     remaining keeper's dwelling was demolished in 1954 and 
     replaced by a one-story barracks. In 1974, Egmont Key became 
     a National Wildlife Refuge, managed by the U.S. Fish and 
     Wildlife Service. The island was also added to the National 
     Register of Historic Places in 1978, due to the lighthouse 
     and remains of Fort Dade. The lighthouse was automated in 
     1989 when the present optic, a DCB-24 Rotating Beacon was 
     installed, and today the Florida Park Service and U.S. Fish 
     and Wildlife Service work together to manage the island.
       In November of 2008, a celebration was held on the island 
     to commemorate the 150th birthday of the Egmont Key 
     Lighthouse. In preparation for the event, the lighthouse 
     received a new coat of paint thanks to the Tampa Bay Rough 
     Riders and volunteers from the Coast Guard. A new plaque was 
     unveiled at the base of the lighthouse during the 
     festivities, and birthday cake was served to over 200 people. 
     For the past several years, Christmas lights have been placed 
     on

[[Page E106]]

     the tower by volunteers from the Egmont Key Alliance to bring 
     a little holiday cheer to the island.

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