Sanibel Island Lighthouse Story
Sanibel and Captiva islands are two sister islands just off of Florida’s west coast. The two islands are connected by a bridge. They are located between Fort Myers and Naples and are just a little closer to Fort Myers. Because of the location, it was an obvious choice for a place to build a lighthouse.
Building a light house on Sanibel Island was first suggested in 1856 but no action was taken by the Lighthouse Board. After the Civil War, a lighthouse was again requested and the decision was discussed. Even way back then it the Congress of the United States a long time to take action. Finally, in 1883, $50,000 (fifty-thousand dollars) was finally granted and construction of the lighthouse was begun in 1884 on Sanibel Island.
The lighthouse was being built on the Eastern most tip of Sanibel Island but the superstructure was fabricated in the north. The components were shipped by boat. In addition to the lighthouse itself, there were also two square keeper’s homes built on the site. These dwellings had hipped roofs and were built upon iron pilings. A 162 foot long wharf was also constructed.
As can be imagined, the construction was not without its problems. The ship what was carrying the lighthouse material sank only two miles from Sanibel Island. Fortunately divers were able to recover much of the material. The lighthouse is built like a pyramid around a cylindrical central column. The cylindrical column ends about ten feet above the ground and must be accessed by a staircase on the outside of the structure.
Even though there was a multitude of problems encountered during the construction of the lighthouse, it was ready for business on August 20, 1884.
The first lighthouse keeper was Dudley Richardson. The light was a kerosene lantern reflected by a third-order Fresnel lens. Richardson was the sole lighthouse keeper until 1890 when Henry Shanahan moved to Sanibel Island from Key West with his wife and two children. The Shanahans subsequently had five more children.
In 1892 Dudley Richardson retired and Henry Shanahan applied for the position of head lighthouse keeper but his application was turned down because he was illiterate. However, when Shanahan threatened to resign, he did receive the promotion. Henry’s wife died leaving him with seven young children.
It so happened that there was a widow also living on the island. She had five children of her own. Eventually Henry and the widow married and had one more child of their own making a grand total of thirteen.
When Henry passed away in 1913, his son, Eugene, took over as head lighthouse keeper.
Finally in 1923 the houses were modernized. They got indoor plumbing and porches and the lighthouse was modernized as well. It was converted from kerosene lanterns to acetylene gas.
After a hurricane caused severe erosion, the lighthouse was finally automated in 1949.
The buildings have been used by various groups over the years included the employees of the “Ding” Darling National Wildlife Refuge. Today they are occupied by city employees rent free in exchange for providing maintenance and supervising the property.
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