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Sunday, March 4, 2001

Two towers tame St. Johns

By JIM TILLER | News-Journal Photojournalist

When French explorer Jean Ribault arrived at the mouth of a wide river north of here in 1562, he probably did so with knuckles as white as his ship's sails.

The powerful tidal flows of the St. Johns River (named River of May by Ribault) bedeviled ship captains and threatened development of the settlement as a major port. No relief would come for almost three centuries.

Finally, in 1830, nine years after Spain ceded Florida to the United States, the St. Johns River Lighthouse was erected at the mouth of the river.

The wicked tidal flows quickly took their toll, though. Swift currents began eating away the shoreline bordering the lighthouse grounds. By 1833, the first lighthouse was leaning precariously and orders were given to remove the lamps, reflectors, and dismantle the tower. It was rebuilt in 1859 farther inland where it stands today. But it is not alone.

Mayport, the fishing village and naval air base, now has two lighthouses. The St. Johns Lighthouse (1954) is Florida's youngest, built to replace the lightship that had been stationed off the mouth of the St. Johns River since 1929.

Intrigued by both lights, I chose Mayport as my second installment to the Florida Lights series.

Both Mayport lighthouses sit on Jacksonville Naval Air Station property. Little did I know that actions half a world away would affect my visit. I arrived only a week after the USS Cole destroyer was bombed in Yemen. The base was on a "high security alert" and faced the possibility of a complete lockdown. To gain access to the lights, an escort to and from the base was needed.

Electrician's Mate 2 Darren Cotten of the U.S. Coast Guard, which maintains the lighthouses, agreed to shepherd me to both locations. The directions read like a Tom Clancy novel:

Take a right after clearing the security gate, turn left at the missile cruisers and proceed past the destroyers. Take a right at the aircraft carriers and proceed across the north end of the runway, but first check for F-18 jets landing.

Mayport's original light stands a few yards off the air station's main runway. At first glance, the lighthouse looked much like our Ponce de Leon Inlet Lighthouse. An orange brick sentinel surrounded by a sea of Navy gray.

There is no access to the inside of the lighthouse unless you climb through a window. When the Navy graded the area to build its runway, nearly 20 feet of the tower was buried, including the entrance. The lighthouse that once guided clipper ships and schooners safely into port now serves as a visual aid for fighter jet pilots landing and taking off at a dizzying pace.

The St. Johns lighthouse, meanwhile, bears little, if any, resemblance to the traditional beacons lining Florida's coastline. Built along the beach about a mile south of the inlet, the 64-foot octagonal tower shows a hint of art deco in the design, but was constructed with an eye toward function instead of aesthetics.

It produces a flashing white light, 83 feet above sea level that is visible 22 miles at sea. The St. Johns Light is fully automated and continues in active service today.

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