A1A Scenic & Historic Coastal Byway
St. Augustine Lighthouse, FL

One of the city's most familiar landmarks, the St. Augustine Lighthouse was one of a series of lighthouses constructed along the Atlantic coastline during the mid-nineteenth century. The northern tip of Anastasia Island, the location of the lighthouse, has been closely associated with the defense and maritime history of St. Augustine since the sixteenth century, when Spanish officials placed a sentry tower in the vicinity of what is now Lighthouse Park to overlook the approaches by water to the city.

About a century later the Spanish constructed a guard house and lookout tower at the site. Under British control in 1763, the tower was raised and a cannon placed atop of it to signal the approach of vessels. In 1821, upon the acquisition of Florida by the United States, federal authorities converted the Spanish watchtower to a lighthouse. The lighthouse that exists today was constructed in 1876.