The Tampa Lighthouse That's Still Standing A Century After The 1921 Hurricane

Publish date: 2024-05-07

The Egmont Key Lighthouse was built in 1848, a matter of months before the storm now known as "the great gale of 1848" hit the area, as NOAA notes. A man named Sherrod Edwards was light keeper at that time, and the Egmont Key Lighthouse stood on an island at the entryway of Tampa Bay, the only lighthouse between the panhandle and Key West (via Tampa Bay Soundings). When the "great gale" came, it's believed Edwards rode out the storm in a rowboat tied  to a Palm Tree.

The original Egmont Key structure, built at a cost of $10,000 or a bit less than $400,000 today, did not fare so well, though (per Official Data). In the "great gale" the Egmont Key Lighthouse was damaged beyond repair and the lighthouse as it stands today was rebuilt in 1858 for a cost of $16,000 or $624,000 in today's money. Other nearby structures on the site were later added or torn down (via Official Data). 

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