{"id":6893,"date":"2020-05-28T19:00:00","date_gmt":"2020-05-28T23:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/wfsu.org\/local-routes-2\/?post=the-st-marks-relighting"},"modified":"2020-05-29T18:16:27","modified_gmt":"2020-05-29T22:16:27","slug":"the-st-marks-relighting","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/wfsu.org\/local-routes\/2020-05-28\/the-st-marks-relighting\/","title":{"rendered":"The St. Marks Lighthouse Relighting Hope"},"content":{"rendered":"

In this Local Routes segment, the historic St. Marks Lighthouse is lit for the first time by a lens in six years. Supervisory Refuge Ranger Robin Will discusses its history, and Nick Carlson makes a day trip down to the lighthouse to film it against the sunset.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n

Discovering the Lighthouse<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

I have an interesting relationship with St.\nMarks National Wildlife Refuge. It took a solid year and a half of living in\nTallahassee as an out-of-state college student to learn of its existence, and\nanother year and a half as an angler to discover how to catch fish there. Amid\nall the hikes, the trudging through oyster beds, and the endless battles with\ndeer flies, I didn\u2019t give much consideration to the historic St. Marks Lighthouse,\ndespite its undeniable presence, standing eighty-two feet tall above the\nrefuge. It solicited my curiosity, as a mere passing fancy, but only as of late\nhas it captured my full attention.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

With the state of Florida slowly opening back\nup after the COVID-19 pandemic, I found myself venturing back out to my\nfavorite spots – Lake Elberta, Alligator Point, and St. Marks National Wildlife\nRefuge. While it was refreshing to be able to get outside and enjoy these\nplaces again, I discovered that, in spite of the pandemic, St. Marks sported a\nfittingly symbolic new development. After six years of darkness, its historic\nlighthouse had once more begun shining over Apalachee Bay.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cA lighthouse without a light is really not a lighthouse.\u201d <\/p>Robin Will, Supervisory Ranger at the St. Marks National Wildlife Refuge <\/cite><\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

As someone who grew up in the Atlanta area, I\nhad never seen a functioning lighthouse in person, so I wanted to find out\nmore. In the spirit of the times, I scheduled a video call with Robin Will,\nSupervisory Refuge Manager for St. Marks.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cObviously we didn\u2019t see the pandemic coming\nwhen we picked May 2nd as our date to turn the light on,\u201d Robin explained. \u201cBut\nit sort of has acted as another type of symbol for people that we\u2019re gonna make\nit through…just being that type of symbol of something good to come.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"A
The tower of the historic St. Marks Lighthouse is 82 feet tall. <\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n

Ranger Will also informed me that the\nrelighting had been a long-time priority for North Floridians. \u201cThe historic\nsignificance of the restored structure and building, and just, people\u2019s passion\nand love of the lighthouse, has made the relighting a very important step.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cA lighthouse without a light is really not a\nlighthouse,\u201d she asserted. \u201cIt\u2019s just a nice building that\u2019s been restored and\npreserved, and the bricks have been painted, and the floors have been redone,\nand you can go inside it and see what it was like to live as a lighthouse\nkeeper and his family. But really, it\u2019s not a lighthouse.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"A
In <\/em>1960 the lighthouse automated. The Fresnel lens inside was deactivated, but did remain in the tower until 2014.<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n

In that moment, I realized that what she\u2019d\nsaid had struck a personal note with. My view of the lighthouse had been of a\nrelic from a bygone age, nothing to give too much consideration. But then I was\nreminded that at one point it did serve a purpose, of guiding ships through the\nbay\u2019s treacherous shoals, of serving as a cultural icon for North Florida. And\nI hadn\u2019t considered the place it held in the people\u2019s hearts. Even though it\nwas coincidence that the relighting had occurred on the day it did, that didn\u2019t\nchange its importance. Not only is it a beacon of hope in these trying times,\nbut it\u2019s a literal rekindling of the region\u2019s spirit, a soundless invitation to\nstay strong and keep going forward. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

I had to see it for myself so I embarked down\nto the Refuge to witness the lighthouse at night.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Refuge and the Lighthouse<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

The toll booth was empty, as the Refuge had\nsuspended entrance fees for the time being. Out of habit, I pulled into the\nparking lot outside the Education and Visitors\u2019 Centers. Without the familiar\nhum of car engines and the drum of footsteps, it was eerily silent, save for a\nclattering flagpole in the wind. But as I ventured further down Lighthouse\nRoad, the late afternoon sun shone in full, and the pools shimmered blue\nunderneath it. St. Marks remained as inviting and beautiful as ever.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I set up on the east beach behind the\nlighthouse, waiting for the sun to set, intending to capture the structure\nagainst a twilight backdrop. I quickly realized I was surrounded by a menagerie\nof life: hispid cotton rats, boat-tailed grackles, mud and fiddler crabs, and\nleaping mullet out in the bay. I also saw other people out near the lighthouse:\nfishermen, kayakers, and hikers, all having found opportunities to take\nadvantage of the outdoors.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"A
A hispid cotton rat makes an appearance near sunset.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
\"A
A boat-tailed grackle looks for dinner near the lighthouse.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

As night approached, and human visitors cleared out for the day, I watched the sun set over Apalachee Bay.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"A
The east side of the St Marks Lighthouse at sunset.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

The horizon darkened, and the light came on. Yet, it didn\u2019t seem as bright as what I\u2019d seen in videos and pictures. I later learned that the east side of the lens had been obscured with a film, so that migrating birds wouldn\u2019t become disoriented and strike the building. It was encouraging to know that the Refuge had prioritized wildlife when moving forward with the relighting. And although my particular angle wasn\u2019t the best, the sight of a historic lighthouse performing its original function, against a North Florida sunset, was not only inspiring, but also, assuring. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Silhouette
When the sun sets, the light turns on, but on the east side of the light, the glass has been treated to dim the brightness in order to protect migrating birds.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Discover More About the History of the Lighthouse<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
\"A<\/figure>
\n

Video: A Change of Command at the St. Marks Lighthouse<\/a> (Originally aired 2014)<\/em><\/h4>\n\n\n\n

St. Marks Lighthouse transfers of the ownership from the U.S. Coast Guard to the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. (Story originally aired on WFSU’s Dimensions April 16, 2014<\/a><\/em>) <\/a><\/p>\n<\/div><\/div>\n\n\n\n

<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"three<\/figure>
\n

Video: A Big Change at the St. Marks Lighthouse<\/a> (Originally aired 2015)<\/em><\/h4>\n\n\n\n

St. Marks Lighthouse Lens removed in November 2014<\/a> (Story originally aired January 7, 2015 on WFSU Dimensions)<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div><\/div>\n\n\n\n

<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

In this Local Routes segment, the historic St. Marks Lighthouse is lit for the first time by a lens in six years. Supervisory Refuge Ranger Robin Will discusses its history, and Nick Carlson makes a day trip down to the lighthouse to film it against the sunset. Discovering the Lighthouse I have an interesting relationship […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":6894,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"video","meta":{"tdm_status":"","tdm_grid_status":"","footnotes":"","wds_primary_category":0},"categories":[136],"tags":[52,527,225],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nThe St. Marks Lighthouse Relighting Hope - WFSU Local Routes<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/wfsu.org\/local-routes\/2020-05-28\/the-st-marks-relighting\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"The St. Marks Lighthouse Relighting Hope - WFSU Local Routes\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"In this Local Routes segment, the historic St. Marks Lighthouse is lit for the first time by a lens in six years. 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