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What may well be one of the most amazing lighthouse reconstruction rescues in history has been accomplished thanks to the effort of Florida’s St. George Lighthouse Association.
Toppled by Hurricane Dennis in October of 2005 most lighthouse aficionados, including myself, could never have imagined that volunteers would rescue the remains of the lighthouse, brick by brick and move them 14 miles, most of it over water, to a new location where it would rise to stand again as a monument to the past and now as a monument to the tenacity of dedicated people who would not let this lighthouse die.
As my husband Tom and I neared St. George Island by car, we spotted the tower in scaffolding, right at the end of the bridge. Over the years I followed the various stories in Lighthouse Digest and the reports in the magazine by Bob and Sandra Shanklin, “The Lighthouse People.” Years ago, Tom and I had even made our own adventurous trip to visit the lighthouse to photograph the beautiful structure.
I recalled the Shanklin’s photos showing the difference from 1989 when the tower was in pristine condition to those published just a few years later when in 1995 it was leaning and close to collapse. I remember when it was added to the Lighthouse Digest Doomsday List of Endangered Lighthouses. And I remember how sad I felt when the lighthouse collapsed in the hurricane.
Then I learned that volunteers were saving the lighthouse, brick by brick, and how they cleaned and restored each brick so the lighthouse could someday be rebuilt. I think the entire lighthouse community figured it would either never be rebuilt or it would take many years. It only took the group 2 1/2 years to raise over a half a million dollars and rebuild the structure.
As I was waiting for the lantern room to be hoisted into place, I enjoyed a nice conversation with Joe Barber, grandson of Edward G. Porter who was the lighthouse keeper from 1892 to 1913. We both hoped the lantern room would soon be lifted in place. But, there was a technical glitch and the project would have to wait until the next day.
The following morning the fog was so thick, Tom and I wondered if the project would proceed. But when we arrived at the site, there in the thick fog, we saw the workmen on top of the tower, getting it ready for the lantern room.
As we positioned ourselves for good photographs, the fog lifted and the sun came out as the giant crane slowly and ever so carefully lifted the lantern room to the top of the rebuilt lighthouse.
Afterwards, I borrowed a hard hat and was given permission to go inside the tower to view it from the inside. As I looked up inside the massive structure
it was hard to believe that 20,000 bricks were cleaned and restored by this
small group of volunteers. They are one dedicated group!
The work is far from being done. The volunteers will still need to paint the lighthouse, build the wooden steps, and install windows in the lantern room. And they still need to raise a good sum of money to complete those project.
This story appeared in the
May 2008 edition of Lighthouse Digest Magazine. The print edition contains more stories than our internet edition, and each story generally contains more photographs - often many more - in the print edition. For subscription information about the print edition, click here.
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