# @stauglighthouse on Instagram

- **Type:** Image
- **Original URL:** https://www.instagram.com/p/CxOjuEVuR4f
- **Gondola URL:** https://gondola.cc/posts/18332219-stauglighthouse-instagram
- **Thumbnail:** https://img.gondola.cc/tr:w-,h-,fo-auto/thumbnails/32c3b1d6e3.jpg
- **Posted:** 2023-09-15T21:25:16.000+00:00
- **Account Owner:** St. Augustine Lighthouse & MM (@stauglighthouse) — https://gondola.cc/stauglighthouse

## Caption

Hispanic Heritage Month — Maria Mestre de los Dolores Andreu kept watch of our St. Augustine Lighthouse. She made history as the first Hispanic-American woman to serve in the US Coast Guard and command a federal shore installation. 

Her husband Joseph Juan Andreu kept the lighthouse until his tragic death in 1859, falling in the tower while whitewashing. She took over until 1862, making her Florida's first woman to serve as an official lighthouse keeper. That year, the light was ordered by Stephen Mallory (Confederate States Secretary of the Navy) and George C. Gibbs to be extinguished during the Civil War out of fear it would assist the Union Navy.

Retired Lieutenant Commander Marilyn Dykman, the first Hispanic-American woman to pilot a Coast Guard aircraft, said, “Maria Andreu’s leadership and perseverance as keeper of the lighthouse inspired generations of women to shine as female employees within federal service through her beacon of light. Andreu opened the doors for women in the Coast Guard like myself and will carry over throughout many generations to come.”

#HispanicHeritageMonth #staugustinelighthouse #staugustine #florida #saintaugustine #lovefl #lighthouse #light #lighthousekeeper

## Stats

- **Views:** 0
- **Likes:** 240
- **Shares:** 0
- **Comments:** 3

## Tags

lovefl, saintaugustine, staugustinelighthouse, lighthouse, lighthousekeeper, hispanicheritagemonth, florida, staugustine, light

---
Copyright (c) Gondola