Cape Florida Light

Cape Florida Light, at the south end of Key Biscayne, began in 1825 as a guide for ships near Biscayne Bay and the Florida Reef, though its service was interrupted by storms, war, and rebuilding before ending as a federal beacon in 1990. The site also holds a deeper history: before the lighthouse, enslaved people and Black Seminoles departed from Cape Florida for the Bahamas in the movement later called the Saltwater Railroad. The tower was damaged in 1835, nearly destroyed during a Seminole attack in 1836, rebuilt in 1847, heightened in 1855, and later preserved. Today it stands as one of Florida’s oldest surviving landmarks.

Florida · United States