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Managing Organization:
U.S. Coast Guard
Notes:
Alligator Reef Light was the most expensive of Florida's reef lights, at $83,000.
Tower Height: 136
Height of Focal Plane: 136
Description of Tower: White, iron skeletal tower with integral keeper's quarters, black lantern.
This light is operational
Date Established: 1873
Date Present Tower Built: 1873
Date Automated: 1963
Optics: 1873: First order Fresnel lens; now VRB-25, solar powered.
Current Use: Active aid to navigation.
Open To Public? No.
Directions:
The Overseas Highway from Florida City to Key West is the southernmost section of US 1. The 126-mile highway follows the railbed of the Florida East Coast Railway built in 1904-21 and destroyed by the 1935 Labor Day hurricane. There are 42 bridges, one seven miles long. The first viewing location for the Alligator Reef Lighthouse extends from the southern end of Upper Matecumbe Key (MM 80), across the Tea Table Channel bridge to the north end of Lower Matecumbe Key (MM 77). The best offroad spot to photograph the lighthouse is at MM 79. All the views from shore are extremely distant; a long lens (probably at least 400mm) is needed for photos.
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