The St. Augustine Lighthouse & Maritime Museum is one of the city’s most visited museums — welcoming visitors from all over the country and beyond. Yet, many residents and visitors alike are unfamiliar with the humble beginnings of the museum and how a group of local women committed to historic preservation saved the Keepers’ House from the wrecking ball.
In 1970, a fire gutted the abandoned Keepers’ House located at the St. Augustine Light Station. The following year, St. Johns County purchased the property from the U.S. Coast Guard with the intention of demolishing the burned-out shell of the building. Enter the Junior Service League of St. Augustine and the idea of restoring the Keepers’ House as a museum and community center. The women of the JSL literally turned back the bulldozers, saving a piece of local history.
In 1981, the members of the Junior Service League adopted the Keepers’ House as their newest service project. The JSL signed a 99-year lease with St. Johns County for the Keepers’ House and grounds and launched an estimated $300,000 campaign to restore the exterior of the building to its original beauty.
Through the assistance of Hamilton Upchurch, who served in the Florida House of Representatives, the League approached the State of Florida and the Bureau of Historic Preservation. The agency provided a matching grant of $15,000, requiring the League to raise an additional $15,000. The League members raised money in a variety of ways, including reaching out to businesses like Winn-Dixie and CSX in Jacksonville and private foundations such as the David Family Foundation. Members also sold prints of the Keepers’ House by local artist Scott Young and hosted progressive dinners. The League also started the Bud Light 5K Run in a partnership with Burkhardt Distribution, an event known today as the Lighthouse 5K and Fun Run.
With the completion of the Keepers’ House project, the Junior Service League reached out to Coast Guard operations in Jacksonville to inquire about the potential of leasing the lighthouse tower and opening it to the public. The League received a guarantee that the Coast Guard would paint the tower prior to it handing it over to the League.
In 1992, the League launched the tower restoration project with the primary goal of restoring the tower and repairing the damaged Fresnel lens. Unfortunately, in 1986, a vandal shot and damaged 19 of the 370 glass panels in the Fresnel lens.
The Coast Guard prepared to remove the historic Fresnel lens and replace it with an airport beacon, thus destroying the historic value of the lighthouse tower. Yet, prior to 1992, no lighthouse in the country had undertaken a restoration of its Fresnel lens.
With the help of two Coast Guard lampists, Joe Cocking and Nuck Johnston, the League partnered with Artworks Florida who fabricated replacement parts for the damaged glass in the lens.
Dan Spinella, who started Artworks Florida, had previously worked with Walt Disney Imagineering and brought his talents to the project. On May 21, 1993, a communitywide celebration was held on the grounds of the museum for the relighting of the original Fresnel lens. The following year, the restoration work on the tower and the oil house took place, completing the final stage of the League’s restoration of the original light station buildings.
Because of the success of the Junior Service League of St. Augustine and their restoration of the Keepers’ House and lighthouse tower, other lighthouses across the country launched similar projects. The St. Augustine Lighthouse is a symbol not only to the determination of a local service organization to save our history but also as a blueprint for other organizations to save historic lighthouses across the country.
To learn more about the St. Augustine Lighthouse & Maritime Museum, go to staugustinelighthouse.org. The museum is open every day from 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. except Thanksgiving Day and Christmas Day.
