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Jupiter Inlet
Lighthouse

JUPITER INLET LIGHTHOUSE (1860)

Today

circa 1880's

First lit on July 10, 1860. The City of Jupiter, FL and the federal government recently did an $850,000 renovation of the structure.

The Lighthouse is the oldest existing structure in Palm Beach County. The lighthouse is operated by the U.S. Coast Guard and is still an active aid to navigation. The Florida History Center & Museum offers tours Sunday through Wednesday, 10:00 a.m. to 3:15 p.m.

Location:	Jupiter, FL: Latitude 26° 56.9' 37" North; Longitude 80° 4.9' 17" West
Construction:	Brick with double masonry walls: the outer is conical, tapering from 31.5 inches (eight bricks thick) at groud level to 18 inches (three bricks thick) at the base of the lantern. The inner wall is cylindrical and two-bricks thick throughout. The circumference at the base is 65 feet and at the top about 43 feet.
Height:	156 feet (108' tower on a 48' hill, thought to be a Native American shell mound.)
Focal Plane:	146 feet. This is the level at which the beam of light is emitted.
Steps:	105 cast iron stairs spiraling counterclockwise around a central iron column; 3 landings.
Optic:	First order FRESNEL lens manufactured in Paris by Henry Lepaute.
Lamp:	1000 watt, 120 volt, GE quartz-iodine bulb socketed in a lamp changer with n identical spare. The second bulb rotates into position and turns on whenever the first bulb fails.
Range:	16 to 24 miles. This is the distance that the light can be seen by someone at sea. If someone is in an airplane, the light would be visible 40-50 miles away.
Electrified:	1928. The lens carriage is turned by a 1/3 horsepower motor.
Automated:	June 8, 1987. A photoelectric cell, located behind the Oil House turns the light bulb on and the motor on when the sun sets and off when it rises.
Daymark:	Red with black lantern. Coastal lighthouses have different markings to enable ships determine their location during daylight. Books are available that five the exact latitude and longitude, daymark, characteristic, etc., of every lighthouse in the order in which one would sail past them. Colors also make a lighthouse stand out from the background.
Characteristic:	Flashes 1.2 seconds, eclipses 6.6 seconds, flashes 1.2 seconds, eclipses 21 seconds and then repeats the cycle. The bulb does not blink (neither did the original lamps, which is why he lens was rotated.) As the bull's-eyes (there are four of them) cross the viewer's line of sight, he/she perceives the bursts of light as flashing.

History

Jupiter Inlet Lighthouse, a lighthouse to mark a dangerous shoal off "Point" Jupiter was proposed as early as 1851. Congress acted quickly and $35,000 was appropriated in 1853. Work on the lighthouse was hampered by the periodic closure of Jupiter Inlet. With the inlet closed, building supplies were brought in through the Indian River Inlet (which is now closed) nearly 35 miles north of the lighthouse site. The supplies were ferried down the shallow river in small boats.

Mosquitoes, sandflies, sickness and the threat of Indian attacks stopped work on the lighthouse several times. Finally, the lighthouse was completed and first lit on July 10, 1860. Built at a cost of $60,859.50, the 115 foot tall brick tower contained a fixed white light varied by a brighter white flash every 90 seconds. The light was produced by a state-of-the-art first order Fresnel lens made by the Henry Lepante Company of Paris.

The light didn't shine for very long. The assistant keeper participated in a successful plot to capture the lighthouse from its Union sympathizing head keeper. Important parts of the lens were removed from the tower and hidden for the duration of the war. After the war was over, the parts were recovered and the light relit on June 28, 1866.

Jupiter Inlet Light in the 1880's. Florida State Archives photo.

A second keeper's dwelling was built at the station in 1883. The keepers were relieved of rescue duties three years later when a life saving station was built on the south side of the inlet. A telegraph signal station was added to the lighthouse station in 1898. The original keeper's dwelling burned down in 1927. The light station was electrified in 1928 and damaged by a hurricane later the same year. The storm knocked out the electrical plant, forcing the keeper's son to turn the lens by hand and use the old style old lamps to keep the light going through the storm. During the storm, the top of the tower was reported to have swayed up to 17 inches. Several window panes were broken at the top of the tower, and one of the bulls-eyes section of the lens was shattered.

In 1973, Jupiter Inlet Lighthouse was put on the National Register of Historic Places.