Mariners have always been drawn to the magnificent blue-green waters near Key West. It is impossible to resist the warm ocean breezes and sandy beaches, not to mention the breathtaking sunsets and colorful birds! As commerce and shipping increased in the area, the need for lighthouses became undeniable. One of the most dangerous hazards was Sand Key, a coral reef located just seven miles southwest of Key West.

Sand Key looms directly in the path of ships traversing the Gulf Stream into Key West. Once an island teeming with birds, the shape and exposure of Sand Key has shifted over the years, as the tides bring forth and take away the sand.

In the 1700’s, a British surveyor recognized the need to mark Sand Key, placing a pole on the island with a day-beacon. Additional markers appeared over the years until 1827, when officials erected a traditional, 60-foot masonry tower. Unfortunately, they did not anticipate the frequency and strength of hurricanes in the region. A series of storms erased the entire landscape of the island, sparing neither the lighthouse, nor the lives of the people living there. The hurricane of 1848 was its final undoing. Officials outfitted the ship Honey with a lighted beacon and placed it near Sand Key where it served until 1853.

To better resist the wind and water, the Lighthouse Board commissioned I.W.P. Lewis to construct an iron screwpile sentinel for Sand Key. Fabricated in Charleston, South Carolina, the new station featured an integrated Keeper’s Quarters, suspended on a platform 20-feet above sea level. The square, skeletal tower had a central column (or access tube) running through the center, which contained a staircase to the lantern room. Built with 450 tons of iron, Sand Key was lit for the first time in 1853. With a height of 120-feet, passing ships could readily see the beacon.

The first major test came for this new lighthouse in 1856, when a major hurricane washed away the entire island. The iron sentinel survived with no damage. The Keepers endured the storm inside the relative safety of the iron living quarters. Outfitted with nine equally sized rooms, one can admire the strength of the building, while imagining the intense heat held within the walls during the sweltering summer months.

After the beacon’s automation, the lighthouse was abandoned. All the wooden elements, including the dwelling’s floor, rotted while vandals did their damage. In 1989, a worker left his restoration supplies inside the Keeper’s Quarters, which caught fire and destroyed the platform. The hollow column, now serving as a chimney, accelerated the damage and crashed down through the dwelling.

Despite the damage, the U.S. Coast Guard has managed to repair the lighthouse and operate the solar power optic. Sand Key is now a part of the Wilderness Preservation System and is listed on the National Register of Historic Places. The original first order Fresnel lens is on display at the U.S.C.G. Academy in New London, Connecticut.