Ponce De Leon lighthouse. - Orlando / Florida Guide
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The Ponce De Leon Inlet Lighthouse Museum was built in 1887 and is one of only a few lighthouses left in the United States.
You start your visit at the entrance buildings which houses a gift shop, rest rooms and library. This was built only 18 years ago but from plans originally drawn in 1883.
Next move onto The Woodshed Video Theatre and Privy exhibit. Here you can enjoy a 20 minute film that tells you all you want to now about this lighthouse. And as the name suggests, here you will find and original loo!
Having armed yourself with all the historical knowledge about the lighthouse you should wander down to the boat yard where you can see an old boat called Gay Wind and also some rafts used by Cuban refugees.
Now move on to The Second Assistants Dwelling. After this place had served its time as a home, it became first The Town Hall and now a small museum.
Having seen what the assistants home was like, you can know see where the Principal Keeper lived. This is also now a museum.
The lighthouse tower is an impressive 175 feet tall and has a girth of 32 feet. It took more than 4 years to build and has 230 steps to climb. The reward for the effort is a spectacular view.
Next we move onto The Pump House. This was once a working water pump and windmill. In 1925, electricity was installed and the mill dismantled. The well still provides water for the lawns today.
The first assistants home has been restored to its turn of the 20th century glory and is really evocative of the era.
The wood shed and loo had an electricity generator installed in 1940 and 3 years later a radio mast was added.
Lighthouse lenses and other lighthouse paraphanalia are exhibited in the Ayres Davies Lens Exhibition area. These lenses would have been carefully cleaned and polished thousands of times by the lighthouse staffs.
A 600 pound bronze warning bell was cast in 1911 and installed in Charleston Harbour. It was lost in a storm shortly afterwards and not recovered til 1987 when it was donated to this museum.
Finally a visit to the Oil Storage House concludes your visit. Here the kerosene was stored in 5 gallon drums til 1927 when 2 large storage tanks were installed. Vandals burnt this housing down in 1970 but it was restored in 1989.
Ponce De Leon Inlet Lighthouse Museum
4931 South Peninsula Drive
Ponce Inlet
Florida
32127
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