Congress approved funding in 1901 for a light near Hillsboro Point to fill a 90-mile void between Jupiter and the Cape of Florida. Manufactured in Detroit, Michigan, and reassembled at Hillsboro Inlet in 1906, the 142-foot-tall skeletal structure has 175 stairs leading to its 9-foot-diameter fresnel lens. Originally lit by kerosene and rotated on 400 pounds of mercury powered by a weight wound by hand crank every four hours, it began operation on March 7, 1907. The 3-acre site included 3 homes, 3 barns, an oil house, boathouse, walks, and wharf. By the 1920s, electricity powered the light, and after several major hurricanes a protective breakwater was constructed. During World War Two, the light was darkened when it served as a U.S. Coast Guard Station, and it remains under their administration today. Mechanical failure in the early 1990s led to a temporary beacon replacing the fresnel lens and removal of the mercury. The Hillsboro Lighthouse Preservation Society was formed in 1997 to preserve the original lens, which was revitalized with a ball bearing system in August 2000. Visible for 28 nautical miles, the beam of "Big Diamond" is one of the most powerful in the world.