Hillsboro Inlet Light Station
Built 1905-1907, listed in National Register of Historic Places 1979
Hillsboro Inlet, Hillsboro Beach
Photo captions:
Early Image of Hillsboro Inlet Lighthouse Station
Image Courtesy of the Fort Lauderdale Historical Society
Hillsboro Inlet Lighthouse Station, 2011
Image Courtesy of Broward County Libraries Division
Aerial View of Hillsboro Inlet Lighthouse Station
Image Courtesy of the Broward County Historical Commission,Photograph by Fingold
Keeper’s Cottages, 2011
Image Courtesy of Broward County Libraries Division
The hazards to navigation off the dark coast of what is today Broward County are such that in 1901, the United States Congress recognized the need for a lighthouse at Hillsboro Inlet. In 1904, three acres of land was purchased at the Hillsboro Inlet and the overall drawing for the proposed lighthouse was approved and signed by the Office of the Lighthouse Engineer. It was to be an octagonal pyramid iron skeletal tower with a cylindrical central staircase. In 1905 the Russel Wheel and Foundry of Detroit, Michigan, was awarded the contract for the ironwork at the price of $24,000. The detailed design was based on an existing lighthouse on the exposed coast of Cape Fear, North Carolina.
The structure was first assembled to check for soundness and then taken apart and shipped. The fabricated metal components were moved by a steamer down the Mississippi River, into the Gulf of Mexico, and then to the Hillsboro Inlet. Erection of the lighthouse was awarded to a New Orleans contractor, J.H. Gardner Construction Co., for $16,729. The lighthouse stood 142 feet high when completed in 1907. In 1905 the support buildings around the lighthouse were constructed by G.W. Brown Construction of West Palm Beach for $21,500. These included three cottages for the lighthouse keeper and his two assistants, their families, and a barn for each family.
In 1905 a contract was awarded to Barbier, Benard and Turenne of Paris, France, for “one second order flashing lens” at a price of $7,250. The clamshell “bivalve” design of the Fresnel lens was revolutionary and gave a brilliant light equivalent to the light from 550,000 candles. It was installed in 1907 and the first keeper, Captain Alfred A. Burghell, was appointed. The first lamp was fueled by kerosene, which had to be carried up to the top of the lighthouse. In 1932, after electricity became available, the lantern was replaced by three 250-watt bulbs. In 1966, a 1,000 watt bulb was installed which increased the light to 5,500,000 candlepower, making the Hillsboro Lighthouse one of the most powerful lights in the United States. It is now one of the strongest in the world, with its beam visible 28 nautical miles out to sea.
After the United States entered World War II, armed Coast Guardsmen patrolled the beach on horseback and lookouts with binoculars manned the platforms on top of the lighthouse tower. The lantern room is reached by a winding iron stairway on the inside of the 9-foot diameter tower, secure from the wind and weather. There are 175 steps to the lantern room. In 1995 an extensive restoration of the lighthouse took place and in 1998 the Fresnel lens was restored. It had originally floated in toxic mercury but now is turned by a ball bearing system.
The tower and grounds are not open to the public except by special arrangement with the U.S. Coast Guard and the Hillsboro Lighthouse Preservation Society on eight tour days spread throughout the year. The lighthouse can be clearly viewed from across the inlet at Hillsboro Inlet Park on SR A1A in Pompano Beach. For more information, call 954-942-2102, email info@hillsborolighthouse.org, or visit www.hillsborolighthouse.org.