The Key West Lighthouse is just across the street from where Ernest Hemingway's house stands on Whitehead Avenue. It's said that Hemingway would look for the light to make his way home from Sloppy Joe's Tavern after an evening of libations.
The Key West Lighthouse served as much more than a beacon home for Hemingway. It lit the way for ships passing near the edges of south Florida from 1848 until it was decommissioned in 1969.
The Lighthouse may look familiar to those of you who know the lighthouse at St. George Island. They were similar in style. The one in Key West has 88 steps up a spiral iron staircase and a narrow ledge to walk around for a 360-degree look at Key West. The historical society has thoughtfully placed pictures of the view labeled with various landmarks all around the walkway so you know what you're looking at. And yes, I climbed yet another lighthouse! Because the steps are narrow and there are only two small landings for crossing paths, it's customary to call out "coming up" or "coming down" so others will know to wait.
There is a lighthouse keeper's house also on the property which had a lot of information about the lighthouse and the early keepers. Interestingly, and unusual for the period, the Key West Lighthouse was initially kept by women rather than men.
The entrance fee for the lighthouse and museum is $17/adult and $13/senior with student discounts as well. And until I was looking up the link for this post, I didn't realize that if we had purchased our tickets online, it would have saved us $1.50/ticket. So it pays to do even some last minute website checks of places you're planning to visit in case you can get a little discount.
~ Cindy D.
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