The St. Simons Lighthouse and Keeper's Dwelling were completed in 1872, replacing the lighthouse destroyed during the Civil War. Orlando Poe, chief engineer for the U.S. Lighthouse Board, supervised the design, and Charles Cluskey, architect of many outstanding buildings in Georgia, served as contractor from 1868 until his death in 1871. Since 1872, a 3rd order Fresnel lens made in France has projected the light guiding mariners into St. Simons Sound. The light was converted from oil lamp to electricity in 1934 and automated in the mid-1950s, ending the need for a resident keeper. It remains an active aid to navigation maintained by the U.S. Coast Guard Auxiliary. In 1971, the federal government conveyed ownership of the dwelling to Glynn County, and since 1975 the Coastal Georgia Historical Society has operated it as a museum of coastal history. In 2004, the Society acquired the St. Simons Lighthouse under the National Lighthouse Preservation Act. The gazebo to the left of the Keeper's Dwelling was once the ornamental cover for a water tank at the summer cottage built by shipping magnate F.D.M. Strachan on St. Simons Sound around 1910; it was donated to the Coastal Georgia Historical Society and moved to this property in 1989. Built in 2007-08, the A.W. Jones Heritage Center serves as headquarters for the Coastal Georgia Historical Society and houses the Museum Store, an event hall, archives, and administrative offices.
