The Hillsboro Inlet Lighthouse is located at Hillsboro Inlet, FL. It's between Fort Lauderdale and Boca Raton, FL. Although this lighthouse was not built until 1907, it wasn't because no one had spoken for it. In fact as far back as 1851 requests were made to get a lighthouse built at Hillsboro Inlet. The Lighthouse Board decided not to build a new structure, but acquired a steel skeleton tower which had been displayed at the 1904 Great St. Louis Exposition. After the tower was transported to Hillsboro Inlet, workers erected it alongside a trio of wood-framed houses built for the keeper and his assistants. The completed lighthouse is a 137-foot tall pyramidal structure. The lower framework was painted white and the entire upper portion black. A central spiral stairway rises 175 steps from ground level to the watch room beneath the lantern room. The lantern room was equipped with a second-order Fresnel Lens with light provided from a kerosene lamp. In 1932 the light was electrified and its strength increased from 630,000 to 5,5000,000 candlepower, making it one of the strongest beacons of light on the Atlantic Coast at the time. The head keeper's house was destroyed by a hurricane in 1947.
In 1974 the Hillsboro Inlet Lighthouse was automated, and the remaining keepers' quarters were later converted to vacation retreats for senior military personnel. In 1999, due to requests from local civic groups, the Coast Guard reversed a previous decision to have the Fresnel lens removed and placed in a museum. There was a historic relighting of the original second-order Fresnel lens. If you click on the picture, the lens can be better seen and appreciated.
At the time of my visit here in 2001, this was an active light.
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