Cape St. George Lighthouse to Offer Tours This Fall
Cape St. George Lighthouse to Offer Tours This Fall
The St. George Lighthouse Association will begin offering official Lighthouse tours this fall, including an ambitious 92-step hike for visitors interested in venturing to the top of the 77-foot tall lighthouse that overlooks St. George Island and the Gulf of Mexico. The tours will be conducted through the Cape St. George Lighthouse Association and will include a detailed history of the 156-year old mariner's beacon as well as tour through the adjacent lighthouse museum and St. George Island Visitors' Center.
The beginning of the official tours this fall will mark an end to most of the major lighthouse reconstruction, although plans to build a lighthouse keepers' house and landscaping plans are currently ongoing.
Efforts to relocate and rebuild the St. George Lighthouse began three years ago, after the beacon, once located on Cape St. George, toppled into the Gulf in 2005 following years of battering from wind and waves. An extensive restoration and fundraising effort by area volunteer lighthouse enthusiasts salvaged bricks from the original lighthouse and rebuilt
the historic landmark in its current location.
The Cape St. George Island Lighthouse will soon be included as part of a three county self-directed driving tour of lighthouses along the coast of Franklin, Wakulla and Gulf Counties. Earlier this summer, the St. George Lighthouse Association was awarded a grant to create a brochure that details a self-directed driving tour of lighthouses along the coast including the Cape St. George Light, the St. Marks Lighthouse, the Crooked River Lighthouse, and the Cape San Blas Lighthouse.
The brochures will display a map of the drive between the four lighthouses, and with each lighthouse will include a history and description, contact information, a picture, the days and hours when the lighthouse can be viewed, and
mention any amenities such as parks, museums, playgrounds, or visitor centers.
The Cape St. George Lighthouse, Museum and St. George Island Visitors' Center is one of several projects funded through the Franklin County Tourism Development Council (FCTDC). For more information about the FCTDC, please visit www.anaturalescape.com . For more information about the St. George Island Lighthouse or Visitors' Center, contact the St. George Island Visitors Center at www.seestgeorgeisland.com or Lighthouse Association at www.stgeorgelight.org
