Grand Turk Lighthouse is a lighthouse on Grand Turk Island, Turks and Caicos Islands. The 59-foot-tall (18 m) structure, overlooking North Creek, was completed by British architect Alexander Gordon in 1852 to alert sailors of the shallow reef. Brighter kerosene lamps and a more powerful Fresnel lens were added by the Chance brothers in 1943 and remained in use until 1972 when the lighthouse was electrified. Today, the lighthouse and lighthouse keeper's house are a historic site under the protection of the National Trust.
The structure is located on Lighthouse Road on the coast of Grand Turk. It is situated on a small limestone hill overlooking the shallow reef that extends from the northern end of the island. The building and an attached kerosene storage house overlook North Creek. This creek is said to closely resemble the description that Christopher Columbus gave for the first island he stumbled upon in the search of the New World in 1492. Donkey trails lead from the lighthouse to the beach beneath the bluff. Mangrove trees on the coast nearby help prevent erosion by retaining the sand.
The lighthouse is a white-washed structure made of cast-iron, measuring 59 feet (18 m). It initially had eight small Argand oil lamps, with reflectors magnifying the light by 450 times, driven by weights and machinery. The reflectors were constructed by Devill & Company of London in 1851. As the original lamps were not powerful, on dark, turbulent nights they could often not be seen, which led to shipwrecks off the coast even after the lighthouse had been established. Brighter kerosene lamps and a more powerful Fresnel lens were added by the Chance Brothers of Birmingham, England in 1943 which improved the situation. In 1972, the lighthouse was electrified and provides a bright beacon light to guide ships.
The original lens is now on display in the Turks and Caicos National Museum. The guard rail at the top is rusting due to age from the elements. The guard's house is where the guard would keep awake in the night to refill oil and kerosene lamps so that they would not get extinguished due to lack of oil. This house has small windows, likely designed to restrict light entering the building so that the guard could sleep more peacefully during full daylight.
Credit for the data above is given to the following websites:
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Grand_Turk_Lighthouse
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Grand_Turk_Island
Tags: Grand Turk Turks and Caicos Islands Grand Turk Lighthouse Grand Turk Island Turks and Caicos Completed: 1852 Alexander Gordon Height 59 ft (18m) town urban beach Caribbean nautical boating sand tropical buildings tourism Chance Brothers ocean Caribbean Sea
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Hollywood is a city in Broward County, Florida, between Fort Lauderdale and Miami. The average temperature is between 68 and 83 °F (20 and 28 °C). As of July 1, 2017, Hollywood had a population of 153,627. Founded in 1925, the city grew rapidly in the 1950s and 1960s, and is now the twelfth-largest city in Florida. Hollywood is a principal city of the Miami metropolitan area, which was home to an estimated 6,012,331 people at the 2015 census.
Joseph Wesley Young arrived in South Florida in 1920 to create his own “Dream City in Florida.” His vision included the beaches of the Atlantic Ocean stretching westward with man made lakes, infrastructure, roads and the Intracoastal waterway. He wanted to include large parks, schools, churches, and golf courses; these were all industries and activities which were very important to Young's life.[citation needed] After Young spent millions of dollars on the construction of the city, he was elected as the first mayor in 1925. This new town quickly became home to northerners known as snowbirds. These snowbirds flee the north during the winter and then escape the south during the summer to avoid the harsh climates.
By 1960, Hollywood contained more than 2,400 hotel units along with the construction of 12,170 single family homes. Young bought up thousands of acres of land around 1920, and named his new town "Hollywood by the Sea" to distinguish it from his other real estate venture, "Hollywood in the Hills", in New York.
Prospective purchasers of land were enticed by free hotel accommodation and entertainment, and "were driven about the city-to-be on trails blazed through palmetto thickets; so desolate and forlorn were some stretches that many women became hysterical, it is said, and a few fainted. Young had a vision of having lakes, golf courses, a luxury beach hotel (Hollywood Beach Hotel, now Hollywood Beach Resort), country clubs, and a main street, Hollywood Boulevard.
After the 1926 Miami hurricane, Hollywood was severely damaged; local newspapers reported that Hollywood was second only to Miami in losses from the storm. Following Young's death in 1934, the city encountered other destructive hurricanes and the stock market crashed with personal financial misfortunes.
Following the damage inflicted by Hurricane Irma in 2017, an initiative called Rebuild Florida was created by the Florida Department of Economic Opportunity (DEO) to provide aid to citizens affected by the natural disaster. The initial focus of Rebuild Florida was its Housing Repair Program, which offered assistance in rebuilding families' homes that were impacted by Hurricane Irma. The program priorities low-income vulnerable residents, such as the disabled, the elderly and those families with children under five.
A 2017 study put the city in thirteenth place for US cities most vulnerable to coastal flooding, with 69,000 residents living within FEMA's coastal floodplain.
Credit for the data above is given to the following website:
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hollywood,_Florida
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Tags: Hollywood Hollywood Beach city cityscape urban downtown skyline Broward County South Florida skyscraper building architecture commercial property cosmopolitan metro metropolitan metropolis Sunshine State real estate condominium palm trees high-rise urban palms beach hotels lighthouse
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The Sanibel Island Light or Point Ybel Light was one of the first lighthouses on Florida's Gulf coast north of Key West and the Dry Tortugas. The light, 98-foot above sea level, on an iron skeleton tower was first lit on August 20, 1884 and has a central spiral staircase beginning about 10 feet above the ground. It is located on the eastern tip of Sanibel Island, and was built to mark the entrance to San Carlos Bay for ships calling at the port of Punta Rassa, across San Carlos Bay from Sanibel Island. The grounds are open to the public, but the lighthouse itself is not.
Residents of Sanibel Island first petitioned for a lighthouse in 1833, but no action was taken. In 1856 the Lighthouse Board recommended a lighthouse on Sanibel Island, but Congress took no action. In 1877 government workers surveyed the eastern end of the island and reserved it for a lighthouse. Congress finally appropriated funds for a lighthouse in 1883. The foundation for the new lighthouse was completed in early 1884, but the ship bringing ironwork for the tower sank two miles (3 km) from Sanibel Island. A crew of hard-hat divers from Key West recovered all but two of the pieces for the tower.
Punta Rassa became an important port in the 1830s and remained so up to the Spanish–American War. It was primarily used to ship cattle from Florida to Cuba. Until the railroads reached the area in the 1880s, ranchers drove their cattle from open ranges in central Florida to Punta Rassa for shipment to Cuba.
The lighthouse was placed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1974. The City of Sanibel now owns the Point Ybel tract and structures, although the tower is still operational under U.S. Coast Guard control.
Credit for the data above is given to the following website:
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sanibel_Island_Light
Tags: Sanibel Island Light 2 Periwinkle Way Sanibel Florida USA Year first lit 1884 Tower height: 98 feet (30 m) Construction material: iron Focal height: 31 metre Fresnel lens iron pipe foundation Square pyramidal skeleton iron framework inclosing stair-cylinder and surmounted by lantern US National Register of Historic Places Sunshine State southwest Florida island nautical historic lighthouse blue sky sand Coast Guard Point Ybel Tract Punta Rassa
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The Sanibel Island Light or Point Ybel Light was one of the first lighthouses on Florida's Gulf coast north of Key West and the Dry Tortugas. The light, 98-foot above sea level, on an iron skeleton tower was first lit on August 20, 1884 and has a central spiral staircase beginning about 10 feet above the ground. It is located on the eastern tip of Sanibel Island, and was built to mark the entrance to San Carlos Bay for ships calling at the port of Punta Rassa, across San Carlos Bay from Sanibel Island. The grounds are open to the public, but the lighthouse itself is not.
Residents of Sanibel Island first petitioned for a lighthouse in 1833, but no action was taken. In 1856 the Lighthouse Board recommended a lighthouse on Sanibel Island, but Congress took no action. In 1877 government workers surveyed the eastern end of the island and reserved it for a lighthouse. Congress finally appropriated funds for a lighthouse in 1883. The foundation for the new lighthouse was completed in early 1884, but the ship bringing ironwork for the tower sank two miles (3 km) from Sanibel Island. A crew of hard-hat divers from Key West recovered all but two of the pieces for the tower.
Punta Rassa became an important port in the 1830s and remained so up to the Spanish–American War. It was primarily used to ship cattle from Florida to Cuba. Until the railroads reached the area in the 1880s, ranchers drove their cattle from open ranges in central Florida to Punta Rassa for shipment to Cuba.
The lighthouse was placed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1974. The City of Sanibel now owns the Point Ybel tract and structures, although the tower is still operational under U.S. Coast Guard control.
Credit for the data above is given to the following website:
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sanibel_Island_Light
Tags: Sanibel Island Light 2 Periwinkle Way Sanibel Florida USA Year first lit 1884 Tower height: 98 feet (30 m) Construction material: iron Focal height: 31 metre Fresnel lens iron pipe foundation Square pyramidal skeleton iron framework inclosing stair-cylinder and surmounted by lantern US National Register of Historic Places Sunshine State southwest Florida island nautical historic lighthouse blue sky sand Coast Guard Point Ybel Tract Punta Rassa
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The Sanibel Island Light or Point Ybel Light was one of the first lighthouses on Florida's Gulf coast north of Key West and the Dry Tortugas. The light, 98-foot above sea level, on an iron skeleton tower was first lit on August 20, 1884 and has a central spiral staircase beginning about 10 feet above the ground. It is located on the eastern tip of Sanibel Island, and was built to mark the entrance to San Carlos Bay for ships calling at the port of Punta Rassa, across San Carlos Bay from Sanibel Island. The grounds are open to the public, but the lighthouse itself is not.
Residents of Sanibel Island first petitioned for a lighthouse in 1833, but no action was taken. In 1856 the Lighthouse Board recommended a lighthouse on Sanibel Island, but Congress took no action. In 1877 government workers surveyed the eastern end of the island and reserved it for a lighthouse. Congress finally appropriated funds for a lighthouse in 1883. The foundation for the new lighthouse was completed in early 1884, but the ship bringing ironwork for the tower sank two miles (3 km) from Sanibel Island. A crew of hard-hat divers from Key West recovered all but two of the pieces for the tower.
Punta Rassa became an important port in the 1830s and remained so up to the Spanish–American War. It was primarily used to ship cattle from Florida to Cuba. Until the railroads reached the area in the 1880s, ranchers drove their cattle from open ranges in central Florida to Punta Rassa for shipment to Cuba.
The lighthouse was placed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1974. The City of Sanibel now owns the Point Ybel tract and structures, although the tower is still operational under U.S. Coast Guard control.
Credit for the data above is given to the following website:
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sanibel_Island_Light
Tags: Sanibel Island Light 2 Periwinkle Way Sanibel Florida USA Year first lit 1884 Tower height: 98 feet (30 m) Construction material: iron Focal height: 31 metre Fresnel lens iron pipe foundation Square pyramidal skeleton iron framework inclosing stair-cylinder and surmounted by lantern US National Register of Historic Places Sunshine State southwest Florida island nautical historic lighthouse blue sky sand Coast Guard Point Ybel Tract Punta Rassa
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