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Hillsboro Inlet Light
Pompano Beach,
Florida
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General Information
Date Established: 1907
Date Present Tower Built: 1907
Date Automated: 1974
Height of Tower: 142 ft.
Height of Focal Plane: 132 ft.
Location
Distance from You:
Open to Public?: No; must be member of preservation society
Related Links
Official Website
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Photos
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Description
Octagonal pyramid iron skeletal tower with cylindrical central staircase housing a 2nd order bivalve Fresnel lens built in 1907. The lighthouse is on the north side of the Hillsboro Inlet, surrounded by the Hillsboro Club, an exclusive resort, which prevents access to the lighthouse for the casual visitor.
In 1992, the electric drive mechanism for the two-ton lens failed, and the Coast Guard installed a temporary beacon on the outside railing. A 1996 report recommended removing the Fresnel lens and placing it in a museum. Local citizens formed the Hillsboro Lighthouse Preservation Society whose goal was reactivation of the Hillsboro Lighthouse with the Fresnel lens. In 1998, the Coast Guard announced the Fresnel lens would be retained, and a new bearing was built for the lens. The light was re-lit in January 1999. However, a month later, the new bearing failed, and the lens once again stoped rotating. A new bearing was designed and the light was re-lit again on August 18, 2000.
The Hillsboro Lighthouse was commemorated on a United States postage stamp in 2003.
There are two suggested locations to view the lighthouse, both in Pompano Beach:
1. Pompano Beach City Park on Highway A1A, at the south end of Hillsboro Inlet Bridge
2. South jetty on the HIllsboro Inlet. Access is from the east end of NE 16th St., public beach access. Walk about about 0.4 mile to the South jetty (on the inlet) for view
Directions:
From the north, take Interstate 95 south to Exit 42, Hillsboro Boulevard. Head east to US highway A1A. Turn south (right) on A1A approximately 4 miles to the Hillsboro Inlet draw bridge. At the south end of the bridge, you can turn left into the Pompano Beach City Park or continue south on A1A to NE 16th Street, where you can turn left to go to public beach access and the 1/2 mile walk to the south jetty.
From the south, take Interstate 95 north to Exit 36, Atlantic Boulevard. Head east to US Highway A1A. Turn north (left) on A1A until you reach the Pompano Beach City Park at the south end of the draw bridge, or for the view from the south jetty on the inlet, turn right at NE 16th Street.
Tours:
Tours are given periodically (about 4 per year) by the Hillsboro Lighthouse Preservation Society. Membership is required to tour. See their web site for tour information.
| Submitted by: oceanview |
Date posted: Sun Sep 10, 2006
| Views: 711
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