Editing Pensacola Lighthouse

{{Infobox_Lighthouse       
  | image_name = Pensacolalh.JPG
  | caption = The second Pensacola Lighthouse, date unknown   
  | location = Entrance to [[Pensacola Bay]]
  | coordinates = {{coor dms|30|20|47|N|87|18|29|W|region:US_type:landmark}}
  | yearlit = light ship, 1823;<br>first tower, 1825;<br>second tower, 1859
  | automated = 1965
  | yeardeactivated =
  | foundation =  granite
  | construction = brick
  | shape = conical tower
  | height = tower, 150 feet; 190 feet above sea level
  | lens = first tower, [[Wikipedia:Argand lamp|Argand lamp]] with parabolic reflectors;<br>second tower, first-order [[Wikipedia:Fresnel lens|Fresnel lens]]
  | range = 27 nautical miles
  | characteristic = Flashing white every 20 seconds
}}
The '''Pensacola Lighthouse''' (or '''Pensacola Light''') is a lighthouse located west of [[Fort Barrancas]] on the grounds of [[Naval Air Station Pensacola]].

The first Pensacola Light was the [[Wikipedia:lightship|lightship]] ''Aurora Borealis''. It was moved to Pensacola in [[1823]] from its previous post at the mouth of the Mississippi River after a lighthouse had been completed there. Because of frequent rough seas, the lightship had to be anchored inside the bay entrance, behind [[Santa Rosa Island]], and could not reliably be seen from ships outside the bay. 

In [[1825]] a 40 foot tower was built on a 40 foot bluff at the south entrance to [[Pensacola Bay]]. This light was also partially obscured by trees close to the tower and on Santa Rosa Island. In [[1858]] a new tower was built on the north side of the bay entrance, and was lit on [[January 1]], [[1859]]. The new, and current, tower is 150 feet tall, and also sits on a 40 foot bluff located on [[Naval Air Station Pensacola]], placing the light 190 feet above sea level.

[[Image:Pensacolabarbeacon.JPG|thumb|left|180px|The Pensacola Bar Beacon, with the Pensacola Lighthouse in the background.]]
The new location allowed the tower to serve as the rear range light marking the passage across the [[Pensacola Bar]]. Little is known of the first front range light. In [[1879]] a new front range beacon was erected 448 feet southeast of the light tower. This light, known as the Pensacola Bar Beacon, was a square pyramidal wooden tower, 26 feet tall, sitting on a point 29 feet above sea level, so that the light was 55 feet above the water. It had a sixth order [[Wikipedia:Fresnel lens|Fresnel lens]], and showed a fixed white light visible for 11 miles. The Pensacola Bar Beacon was removed from service and demolished some time in the early 1900s.

At the start of the [[Civil War]], Pensacola was controlled by Confederate forces, while [[Fort Pickens]] across the bay remained in Union hands. Confederate authorities removed the lens from the lighthouse, and most of the lighthouse supplies were requisitioned for the war effort. In November of [[1861]] an artillery duel between the two forces damaged the lighthouse tower.

Confederate forces later evacuated Pensacola, and were replaced by Union forces. In [[1863]] the Pensacola Light was relit using a fourth-order Fresnel lens. A new first-order lens was placed in the tower in [[1869]]. The tower was all white during the Civil War. Later, the upper two-thirds of the tower was painted black. Electricity was introduced to the lighthouse in 1939, eliminating the need to rewind the light rotation clockworks every 4 1/2 hours. the light was automated in [[1965]]. The lighthouse tower and associated buildings were placed on the National Register of Historic Places in [[1974]].

The [[Coast Guard Auxiliary Flotilla 17]] gave tours of the lighthouse until 2006, but announced in May [[2007]] that they were cancelling tower tours for liability reasons. The [[Navy Command Display Center]], which includes the lighthouse grounds and keeper's quarters, will still host Sunday tours between May and October annually.<ref>[http://pnj.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20070502/NEWS01/705020332/1006 Lighthouse cancels tours] - Pensacola News Journal, May 2, 2007</ref>

==Other images==
<gallery>
Image:PLight.jpg|circa [[1905]]
</gallery>

==External links & eferences==
{{refbegin}}
*[http://hdl.loc.gov/loc.pnp/hhh.fl0057 Historic American Buildings Survey (Library of Congress)] Survey number HABS FL-147
*[http://www.pensacolaauxiliary.com U.S. Coast Guard, Pensacola Auxillary]
*<cite style="font-style:normal" id="Reference-McCarthy-1990">McCarthy, Kevin M. (1990). ''Florida Lighthouses'', Paintings by William L. Trotter, Gainesville, Florida: University of Florida Press. ISBN 0-8130-0982-0.</cite>
*[http://www.cr.nps.gov/maritime/light/pensa.htm National Park Service Inventory of Historic Light Stations - Florida Lighthouses] - retrieved February 3 2006
*[http://www.uscg.mil/hq/g-cp/history/WEBLIGHTHOUSES/LHFL.html U.S. Coast Guard Historic Light Station Information & Photography - Florida] - retrieved February 3 2006
*[http://users.erols.com/lthouse/phs.htm Pensacola Lighthouse History] - retrieved February 3 2006
*[http://arlhs.com/awards/U_list.html AMATEUR RADIO LIGHTHOUSE SOCIETY - List of Lighthouse Coordinates] - retrieved February 3 2006
*[http://www.lhdigest.com/database/uniquelighthouse.cfm?value=3339 Lighthouse Depot - Pensacola Bar Beacon] - retrieved February 7 2006
*[http://www.pensacolaauxiliary.com Pensacola Lighthouse Tours] - retrieved June 15 2006
{{refend}}
{{reflist}}

[[Category:Naval Air Station]]
[[Category:National Register of Historic Places]]