A Lighthouse and an Historic Fort – St. Marks, Florida [April 22, 2023]

 

2nd oldest and "most photographed" lighthouse in Florida

Back in the day, St. Marks was the 5^th largest city in Florida.  Farmers from North Florida and South Georgia exported their cotton and other crops by ship from there to New Orleans and Key West.  To protect the busy commerce, a lighthouse was built to mark the entrance to the St. Marks River.  Shipping dropped off after the Civil War, when goods could be moved more efficiently by railroad.  Today, St. Marks is a tiny town near where the St. Marks River and the Wakulla River meet with a few marinas and a busy boat ramp.  The written history of St Marks starts with the Spanish Conquistadors in 1528.  We visited St. Marks Lighthouse and the San Marcos de Apalache Historic State Park.

 

Our first view of the lighthouse, driving through the Refuge

Saint Marks Wildlife Refuge

St. Marks Lighthouse is in the lovely St. Marks Wildlife Refuge.  You travel about 10 miles through the Refuge past wetlands and ponds to reach the lighthouse located right on the water.  We visited on a Saturday when the lightkeepers home was open and staffed with volunteers.  It being the weekend, the refuge was teeming with bird watchers, particularly at one pond where we were told an owl had taken over an eagles nest, and her little fluffy owlets had hatched.

 

Pretty, pretty lighthouse

Lightkeepers office window where the keepers looked out to verify that the light was shining

The lighthouse was originally established in 1830.  It was relocated and rebuilt several times during its history.  It currently stands just a few feet from the waters edge.  What makes this lighthouse unique to us is that the lightkeepers home was built integral to the lighthouse itself and has walls 4 feet thick, as does the lighthouse.  The keepers home has been rebuilt several times, after being destroyed by (among other things) hurricanes, storm surge and burning by Union soldiers during the Civil War.  No one could tell us why the builders chose to build such thick walls.  We think that they would have kept the occupant’s cooler during the scorching Florida summer before air conditioning.  Also interesting, the keeper office had a little window which the keeper used to check that the light was shining out over the water.

 

Live Oak tree is so big that it almost obscures the lighthouse from this vantage point

150 year old Live Oak Tree

Next to the lighthouse is an enormous Live Oak tree.  Originally planted by an early lighthouse keeper, the tree is now about 150 years old.  Photographs of the lighthouse over the years document the growth of the tree.  During Hurricane Michael (which devastated this region in 2018), the tree became encrusted with salt and all of the leaves died.  An arborist recommended taking down the venerable tree because it had died.  They didn’t, and the tree is thriving and beautiful today.

 

Narrow lighthouse stairs

Volunteers open the keepers home about two Saturdays a month.  You can find the schedule on their website.  You can tour the keepers home, but you cannot climb the lighthouse.  The winding wooden stairs are narrow and unsafe.

 

4-foot wide window sill

During the late 1930’s, an all African American CCC corps built the road through the wetlands to the lighthouse, strung electricity to electrify the light, and built dykes to create the ponds that are part of the Refuge today.  Their work is documented at the lighthouse.  We learned in another display there about salt tubs that local folks used during the Union blockade during the Civil War to evaporate salt water to get salt to use for curing food. 

 

San Marcos de Apalache museum built on old fort foundations

Stones from Spanish fort used and reused for different structures over the years

The area was originally inhabited by Apalachee Indians.  Spanish Conquistadors exploring the area in the 1500s were beset by the Indians and also by insect born diseases like Yellow Fever.  In 1679 they built the San Marcos de Apalache fort at the intersection of the St. Marks and Wakulla Rivers on a small area of dry land in a vast wet landscape. 

 

Civil War earthworks

The fort changed hands many times, housing the Spanish, US, British, Seminole Nation, Confederate, and Union armies.  One use was as a hospital for ailing sailors (most of them had Yellow Fever) for the Navy in 1857.  The groups built and rebuilt the fort, often reusing the same materials.

 

San Marcos de Apalache is now a Florida State Park.  They have a very interesting 18-minute video describing the history of the fort.  Then you can take a self-guided walking tour of the grounds to look at the remnants of stone walls and earthworks.

 

At the lighthouse