They're not carrying oil up 219 steps or performing the daily arduous tasks that a Light Keeper would have had to do in the days before electricity. However, today those of us that work at this functioning piece of Americana have our own responsibilities in keeping an aid to Navigation -- just ask Cory and Angela. This weekend Cory and Angela enrolled in our Guest Keeper Program here at the St. Augustine Lighthouse. They participated [...]
There’s no better time of year than now to watch the view from the top of our Lighthouse. From my station above the trees I can see the ever-changing ocean, the trees in bloom and, best of all, the birds returning to build nests across the street at the Alligator Farm. The wood stork are already building homes in the treetops above the swamp and visit our backyard to gather nesting material and generally hang [...]
Lecture Title: "Perpetually Boyling: Sugar Production in the West Indies and the Archaeological Investigation of the Sugar Mill on Guana Island, British Virgin Islands†Speaker: Chuck Meide, LAMP Director Program: "Sweet Digs: Archaeology of Sugar Mills" (three lectures and a tour of Dunlawton Sugar Mill) organized by the Florida Public Archaeology Network, Museum of Arts and Sciences, and Volusia County When: 31 March 2007, 11 am Where: Museum of Arts and Sciences, Daytona Beach For [...]
There is a $23 milllion dollar need for Florida’s lighthouse properties. If you take the Florida lighthouse study of 2002, and add 5% for inflation and hurricanes each year, you come up with a staggering need based on bifurcated missions and overlays of ownership. Lighthouse expert and preservation architect Ken Smith of Jacksonville is the expert who helped set these very modest numbers: Here are some samples: $3.5 million to stabilize Alligator Reef. This lighthouse [...]
It could have been a disaster. The morning of our biggest event of the year the man in charge of Lighthouse Festival, our Director of Operations, was kept home by a gastro-virus. Our LAMP staff was less than a week away from co-hosting a large Marine Archaeology Symposium, we were in the process of installing the first phase of what will become a major exhibit on the history of the St. Augustine shrimp industry, a [...]
Northeast Florida Symposium on Underwater Archaeology Various speakers. This three-day symposium is jointly sponsored by the Guana-Tolomato-Matanzas Research Reserve and LAMP. Located at the auditorium in the GTM Reserve Educational Center. Special Rates available at local hotel in Vilano Beach for out of town guests. When: 20-22 March 2007, 9 to 5 each day Click here to visit the 2007 Symposium webpage with more information including full program
17 March 2007 Lighthouse Festival Fun for the whole family, the festival includes everything from pony rides to archaeological exhibits and a maritime archaeology lecture series. St. Augustine Lighthouse and Museum, all day event Lighthouse Festival Lecture Series (all lectures will take place in the Salt Run Community Center/ St. Augustine Yacht Club, across from the Lighthouse on the water) […]
This morning a few of us went to Switzerland Point Middle School to help judge entries for the first annual History Fair. We were blown away by the number of first-rate entries and had a delightful time interviewing the participants. We have a good supply of bright, creative middle-schoolers in our county and some very talented teachers to guide them. That’s good to know. […]
Sinkhole Dive Demonstration Sorry, this event has been CANCELLED. LAMP Divers will stage an underwater archaeology demonstration at Sheeler Lake, a 20,000 year old sinkhole site with the potential to yield prehistoric archaeological sites. Divers will explain the equipment and techniques used for a preliminary reconnaissance dive. This event will take place at the Mike Roess Gold Head Branch State Park in Clay County. Call Christy Pritchard at 904-819-6420 for more information.
I have heard from The Cape Canaveral Lighthouse Association, the lantern room has been hoisted back atop the Cape Canveral Lighthouse. The relighting is set to be scheduled in about a month after final work is completed. Congratulations to the Cape Canaveral Lighthouse and the United States Air Force for fabulous work in this regard. This is a very unique and special tower at the Cape, and it deserves this kind of treatment. Here is [...]