St. Mark's Lighthouse

St. Marks Lighthouse is a National Historic Landmark that has served as a navigational aid for over a century and a half, guiding military and commercial vessels to the entrance of the St. Marks River. Located within the St. Marks National Wildlife Refuge in Florida, the structure represents the region’s maritime history and natural conservation heritage.

History

The history of St. Marks begins in the 1820s, when it emerged as a port for Florida.^【1】 At the time, St. Marks served as a port for the fertile farmlands of Middle Florida and certain districts of South Georgia. Farmers transported their goods by wagon along a road connecting Tallahassee, the regional capital, to the town of St. Marks. However, navigation challenges existed in Apalachee Bay and the St. Marks River; ships frequently ran aground or became stuck in shallow, muddy waters.

These issues prompted William P. DuVal, Governor of the Florida Territory, to write a letter in 1828 emphasizing the need for a lighthouse.^【2】 The Territorial Legislature responded by passing an act on 23 May 1828 authorizing construction and appropriating $6,000. However, investigations revealed that the selected site and construction plans required more funding, so the appropriation was increased to $14,000. A contract for the tower’s construction was signed with Winslow Lewis for $11,765, and the first light was activated in March 1830.^【3】 However, because the tower was built of brick and stone—contrary to the contract’s stipulation of “brick or stone”—the government ordered its reconstruction. Calvin Knowlton oversaw the reconstruction, and the tower was completed in 1831 in compliance with the contract. Samuel Crosby was appointed the first keeper of the St. Marks Lighthouse and lit the whale oil lamps in the tower in 1831.

Samuel Crosby, the first keeper of the St. Marks Lighthouse, was still on duty in 1835 when the Second Seminole War broke out. Upon hearing reports that Seminole attacks targeted lighthouses at Cape Florida and Mosquito Inlet, Crosby expressed concern for his family’s safety and submitted a written appeal to authorities. In his first request, he asked for a small military unit to be stationed near the lighthouse to protect both the structure and his family. This request was denied. Undeterred by the seriousness of the situation, Crosby wrote again, requesting a small boat be provided so his family could be evacuated in an emergency. This second request was also rejected. The Seminole warriors chose not to attack the St. Marks Lighthouse, and Crosby continued serving as head keeper for four more years after these events.

Reconstruction and Natural Threats

By 1842, the lighthouse structure was threatened by erosion. In response, Winslow Lewis—who had also been involved in the original construction—was rehired under a new contract to relocate the tower to a safer location. Lewis’s contractors began by dismantling the lighthouse and its lighting apparatus, then completely demolished the original 1831 brick tower. A new site, farther inland and away from the water, was selected for the new tower. After construction was complete, the previously dismantled lighthouse and lighting apparatus were reinstalled. This reconstructed structure withstood hurricanes that occurred during the 1840s and 1850s, including the particularly devastating September 1843 hurricane, which nearly destroyed the town of Port Leon and caused extensive damage to St. Marks.^【4】

St. Marks Lighthouse (Flickr)

Civil War Era and Elevation

In the 1860s, a new threat emerged for the lighthouse: the American Civil War. In 1865, Confederate forces were stationed near the lighthouse to protect the area from potential Union attacks.^【5】 Prior to this, the lighting mechanism in the tower had been removed to prevent it from aiding Union blockade ships patrolling Apalachee Bay. In March of that year, a Federal fleet of sixteen ships appeared off the coast and began bombarding the area around the lighthouse in preparation for landing troops.

After the war ended, the tower underwent repairs during the autumn and winter of 1866. The Annual Report for that period noted the installation of a fourth-order lens. The new Fresnel lens was first lit on 8 January 1867 by Keeper David Kennedy. This lens was removed from the tower in November 2014 for preservation. In 1883, the tower was extended by ten feet, raising its focal plane. With this final modification, the tower reached its current focal height of 82 feet (approximately 25 meters) above sea level.^【6】

The Gresham Family and the National Refuge

Charles Fine served as keeper from 1892 to 1904, after which his wife, Sarah Fine, assumed the role. One of the Fine daughters, Lela, was born and raised in the lighthouse and later married John Y. Gresham, who became its keeper. Gresham served longer than any other keeper at the St. Marks Lighthouse. The Gresham children grew up in relative isolation from other settlements and received their formal education from a private schoolteacher who lived with the family. One such teacher, E.W. Roberts of Mississippi, fell in love with one of Gresham’s daughters and married her when he turned twenty-three. Another daughter, Eula, became acquainted with Jesse Bishop, a local fisherman from St. Marks, who was frequently seen fishing near the lighthouse. Believing her father would disapprove of the relationship, Eula secretly met with Bishop and eventually eloped with him. As Gresham had predicted, their marriage ended in divorce.

During Gresham’s tenure, the land surrounding the lighthouse was incorporated into the St. Marks Migratory Bird Sanctuary, which later became known as the St. Marks National Wildlife Refuge. The refuge encompasses over 86,000 acres of land serving as a wintering ground for migratory birds. Although the U.S. Coast Guard assumed responsibility for all U.S. lighthouses in 1939, the Gresham family continued to serve as keepers until their retirement in 1949.^【7】 Gresham’s son, Anton, also served as a U.S. Coast Guard member and followed his father as Responsible Officer for two years.

Keepers of the St. Marks Lighthouse

• 18 January 1830–before 1839: Samuel Crosby, First Keeper
• March 1839: Benjamin Metcalf, Keeper
• 29 July 1840–1843: John P. Hungerford, Keeper
• 4 March 1844–April 1850: Needham Dudley, Keeper
• 27 April 1850–after 1853: Mrs. Ann Dudley, Keeper
• 28 August 1854–20 September 1859: John J. Allen, Keeper
• 20 September 1859–27 October 1859: RH Alexander, Keeper
• 27 October 1859–20 August 1860: William Blythe, Keeper
• 28 August 1860–10 January 1861 and 18 April 1867–10 December 1879: David M. Kennedy, Keeper
• 7 September 1867–12 May 1875: James M. Kennedy, Assistant Keeper
• October 1872–October 1876: RR Fletcher, Assistant Lightkeeper
• 12 May 1875–1888: Samuel Forbes, Assistant Lightkeeper
• 29 January 1880–12 May 1880: Mark Richardson, Keeper
• 22 June 1880–23 July 1881: James H. Breen, Keeper
• 26 November 1880–1 October 1882: Isaac Dent, Assistant Keeper
• 1 February 1881–1 May 1892: George H. Gibson, Keeper
• 14 April 1892–26 August 1904: Charles Fine, Keeper
• 14 September 1904–1916: Sarah J. Fine, Keeper
• 1 March 1916: Jesse H. Bishop, Keeper
• 1 April 1916–April 1918: UM Gunn, Keeper
• 1 May 1918–1949: JY Gresham, Keeper^【8】

Automation and Current Status

The lighthouse was automated in 1960 and continued to serve as an active navigational aid for vessels in Apalachee Bay. Although the original Fresnel lens remained in the tower, it was deactivated during a 2001 renovation and replaced with a modern solar-powered beacon mounted outside the lantern room.

In 2006, Congress passed legislation authorizing the transfer of the lighthouse from the Coast Guard, but the transfer was delayed until lead contamination was cleaned up. Finally, in October 2013, ownership of the St. Marks Lighthouse was officially transferred from the U.S. Coast Guard to the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (St. Marks NWR). The original Fresnel lens was removed from the tower during 2014 restoration efforts and relocated to the Ponce Inlet Lighthouse for preservation. It is now on display at the refuge’s Visitor Center.^【9】

With the Coast Guard removing its own beacon in 2016, the St. Marks Lighthouse became dark for the first time since the Civil War. Between November 2017 and April 2018, restoration work was carried out on both the keeper’s house and the lighthouse tower. In 2019, a fourth-order Fresnel lens replica was installed on the tower and is now illuminated seasonally as a Special Aids to Navigation.