Reference specialist Marilyn Ibach caught sight of this photo in the Historic American Buildings Survey (HABS) documentation for the Cape Saint George Lighthouse, Cape St. George, Apalachicola, Franklin County, Florida.
Marilyn remarked:
This 1852 lighthouse caught my eye because it’s at such an angle! (275 degrees off north). This November 1998 photo shows the lighthouse soon after Hurricane Georges hit it; further damaged by erosion and pounding waves, it finally toppled on October 21, 2005.
Learn More:
- View the entire set of HABS documentation for the lighthouse.
- Learn from the Saint George Lighthouse Association about the history of the lighthouse and post-2005 preservation activities.
- Explore other images relating to lighthouses in the collections.
Comments
There’s more to this story than mentioned above. The lean of the lighthouse was corrected (by digging out the soil on one side) and the lighthouse stood up straight until its collapse in 2005. Volunteers gathered the brick remains and used the historic brick to rebuild the lighthouse in another location on St. George Island. HABS documentation helped in the reconstruction of the lighthouse!