Map Search    Florida Department of State Visit a Lighthouse Alligator Reef Amelia Island American Shoal Anclote Key Boca Grande Cape Canaveral Cape Florida Cape San Blas Cape St. George Carysfort Reef Cedar Keys Crooked River Egmont Key Fowey Rocks Garden Key Gilbert's Bar House of Refuge Museum Hillsboro Inlet Jupiter Inlet Key West Loggerhead Key Pensacola Ponce de Leon Inlet Port Boca Grande Sand Key Sanibel Island Sombrero Key St. Augustine St. Johns Light Ship St. Johns Light Station St. Johns River St. Joseph Bay St. Marks ->Maritime Trail Home ->Lighthouses Home    Next » Alligator Reef Photo courtesy of the Florida Division of Historical Resources.     Alligator Reef Lighthouse marks the reef named for the 1822 wreck of USS Alligator, a naval vessel commissioned to suppress piracy. Built in 1873, the iron platform rests on pilings driven into the reef. The structure rises 136 feet over the water, four miles east of Indian Key. Its keepers survived the notorious Labor Day Hurricane of 1935 which hit the Florida Keys, killing more than 400 people. The storm was so severe that it jammed the lighthouse's iron shutters closed and washed stone from a bridge four miles away onto the platform. Automated in 1963, the Alligator Reef Lighthouse uses a solar-powered light installed in 1997. This active navigation aid is not open to the public. Find out more: Additional Links: View more pictures of the Alligator Reef Lighthouse View a map of the Alligator Reef Lighthouse Communities | Environments | Forts | Lighthouses | Ports | Shipwrecks | Home The Florida Maritime Heritage Trail was created and is maintained by the Florida Department of State, Division of Historical Resources, with initial funding by Florida Coastal Management Program. Send comments to: [email protected]