Sombrero Key Light

Sombrero Key Light (from U.S. Coast Guard archives)
Location	near Key Vaca in Marathon, Florida
Coordinates	24°37′40.46″N 81°06′41.78″W / 24.6279056°N 81.1116056°W / 24.6279056; -81.1116056
Tower
Foundation	iron pilings with disks
Construction	cast iron
Automated	1960
Height	142 feet (43 m)
Shape	skeletal octagonal pyramid
Heritage	National Register of Historic Places listed place
Racon	"M" (— —)
Light
First lit	1858
Deactivated	2015
Lens	first-order Fresnel lens
Range	White 15 nautical miles (28 km; 17 mi), Red 20 nautical miles (37 km; 23 mi)
Characteristic	Fl(5) W 60s
Sombrero Key Light
U.S. National Register of Historic Places
Location	Offshore approx. 5.5 mi. SSW. of Marathon
Nearest city	Marathon, Florida
Coordinates	24°37′40.46″N 81°06′41.78″W / 24.6279056°N 81.1116056°W / 24.6279056; -81.1116056
MPS	Light Stations of the United States MPS
NRHP reference No.	12000092[1]
Added to NRHP	March 9, 2012

Sombrero Key Light is located offshore of Vaca Key in Marathon, Florida.^[2] The lighthouse is located on a mostly submerged reef. The name Sombrero Key goes back to the Spanish, and old charts show a small island at the spot, but by the later 19th Century the island had eroded away, with some parts of the reef exposed at low tide. As a result, the reef and the lighthouse have also been called Dry Banks.^[3]

The lighthouse was put in service in 1858, automated in 1960, and was deactivated in 2015. The foundation is iron pilings with disks, and the tower is a skeletal octagonal pyramid of cast iron. It is a 142-foot (43 m) tall red painted tower. It has two platforms. The lower one, 15 feet (4.6 m) above the water, held water and fuel tanks, the generator (after the light was electrified), boat hoists and a workshop. The upper platform, 40 feet (12 m) above the water, held the quarters for the staff. The original lens, a first-order Fresnel lens, is now on display in the Key West Lighthouse Museum. The Sombrero Key Light is the tallest lighthouse in the Florida Keys, and was the last lighthouse constructed under the supervision of Lieutenant George Meade of the Bureau of Topographical Engineers.

On February 1, 2019 it was announced that the lighthouse would be given away freely to any government agencies, educational agencies, non-profit corporations, or any community development organizations who wanted to use it for "educational, park, recreational, cultural or historic preservation purposes." This is in accordance with the National Historic Lighthouse Preservation Act. If none request it, then it will be auctioned off to anyone else who does.^[5]

On February 13, 2022 the lighthouse was listed for auction on GSAAuctions.gov with an opening bid of $15,000.^[6] On May 16, 2022 the lighthouse was sold for $575,000.^[7]

• McCarthy, Kevin M. (1990). "Sombrero Key Lighthouse". Florida Lighthouses. Gainesville, Florida: University of Florida Press. pp. 57–60. ISBN 0-8130-0993-6.

• "Historic Light Station Information and Photography: Florida". United States Coast Guard Historian's Office. Archived from the original on 2017-05-01. Retrieved June 29, 2008.