Alligator Light
It all started…
When World Renowned Artist, Lighthouse Larry decided to swim, in his native town of Islamorada, to Alligator Lighthouse and back, alone and self-supported, his friends thought he was crazy. When he then said out loud “every open water swimmer should experience this,” Larry became the anchor to the Swim for Alligator Lighthouse.
The Fighting Manatee Swim Club, the Masters swim club of Islamorada, accepted the challenge to present a world class open water swim event in the Florida Keys. The Fighting Manatees presented the Inaugural Swim for Alligator Lighthouse in 2013. It’s here to stay!
Proceeds from the swim benefit the Friends of the Pool in Islamorada, providing scholarships for high school students. They also support small investments towards the preservation of Alligator Light. The Swim brings awareness to treasured Historic Lighthouses on Florida’s Coastal Waterways. Friends of the Pool is an all volunteer 501c3 organization.
Alligator Reef Light
Is located 4 nautical miles (7.4 km; 4.6 mi) east of Indian Key, near the Matecumbe Keys of Florida in the United States, north of Alligator Reef itself. The station was established in 1873.
It was automated in 1963 and was last operational in July, 2014, and is being replaced by a 16′ steel structure with a less powerful light located adjacent to it. The structure is an iron pile skeleton with a platform. The light is 136 feet (41 m) above the water. It is a white octagonal pyramid skeleton framework on black pile foundation, enclosing a square dwelling and a stair-cylinder. The lantern is black. The original lens was a first order bivalve Fresnel lens.
The light characteristic of the original light was: flashing white and red, every third flash red, from SW by W 1/2 W through southward to NE 1/8 E, and from NE by E 3/4 E through northward to SW 3/8 S; flashing red throughout the intervening sectors; interval between flashes 5 seconds. It had a nominal range of 14 nautical miles (26 km; 16 mi) in the white sectors and 11 nautical miles (20 km; 13 mi) in the red sectors. The new light has a range of approximately 7 nautical miles (13 km; 8.1 mi). It is listed as number 980 in the USCG light lists.
Historical Information
The name honors the U.S. Navy schooner Alligator, part of the U. S. Navy Anti-Piracy Squadron that had recently been established in Key West, which went aground at this location in 1822.
- The Alligator was blown up after removing as much as possible from it to prevent it from being used by pirates.
- Countless vessels have also sunk here on the reef’s jagged coral.
- This lighthouse cost $185,000 to build at that time.
- To support the tower, a 2,000 lb (900 kg) hammer was used to drive the 12″ (300 mm) iron pilings ten feet (3 m) into the coral.
