Jupiter Inlet Light

The Jupiter Inlet Light is located in Jupiter, Florida, on the north side of the Jupiter Inlet. The site for the lighthouse was chosen in 1853. It is located between Cape Canaveral Light and Hillsboro Inlet Light. The lighthouse was designed by then Lieutenant George G. Meade of the Bureau of Topographical Engineers. Meade's design was subsequently modified by Lieutenant William Raynolds. The Jupiter Inlet silted shut in 1854, forcing all building supplies to be shipped in light boats down the Indian River. Work was interrupted from 1856 to 1858 by the Third Seminole War. The lighthouse was completed under the supervision of Captain Edward A. Yorke in 1860 at a cost of more than $60,000.The lighthouse was built on a hill once thought to be an Indian shell mound or midden (and sometimes falsely rumored to be a burial mound), but which is now determined to be a natural parabolic sand dune. The top of the 105ft tower is above sea level. The light can be seen at sea. The lighthouse structure is brick with double masonry walls. The outer wall is conical, tapering from (eight bricks thick) at ground level to (three bricks thick) at base of lantern. The inner wall is cylindrical and two bricks thick throughout. Circumference at base is about and at the top about. The lighthouse was painted red in 1910 to cover discoloration caused by humidity. Hurricane Jeanne in 2004 sandblasted the paint from the upper portion of the tower, and the tower was repainted using a potassium silicate mineral coating.