Sand Key Light

Sand Key Light is a lighthouse in Monroe County, Florida. Florida has 49 lighthouses on record at Wayfarrow, 7 of them in Monroe County.

It was built in 1853, in the Civil War era, making it the 7th oldest of the 30 in Florida with a recorded construction date; the tower stands about 132 feet tall (5th tallest of 16 measured in Florida); its light sits 108 feet above the water; the light characteristic is recorded as Fl(2) W 15s with R sectors (a group of 2 white flashes every 15 seconds), with a range of about 14 nautical miles; it was deactivated in 2015; the recorded designer or builder is George Meade; the structure is built of cast iron.

Status check, 2026-11: The current iron screw-pile skeleton tower was first lit July 20, 1853. It replaced the 1827 brick tower, which an 1846 hurricane destroyed, so the record's 1827 is wrong for today's tower. Lighthousefriends says the Coast Guard deactivated it in 2014 and the light now shows from a nearby 40-ft structure, but the Florida Lighthouse Association still lists it as active. The focal plane is 109 ft. Sand Key Light is listed on the National Register of Historic Places. It stands at 24.4639° N, 81.8794° W.

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