Excavations on the first lighthouse in St. Augustine continue by our staff in the Lighthouse Archaeological Maritime Program (LAMP). The Old Spanish Watchtower became Florida’s first lighthouse. Congress appropriated $5,000 to retrofit and complete the lighthouse and awarded the contract to Elias Wallen who reported on March 25, 1824 that the lighthouse was operational and that Winslow Lewis fit the new beacon with “ten patent lamps and ten fourteen inch reflectors.” It finally feel into the ocean by 1880, after the current St. Augustine Lighthouse was built from 1871-74. #staugustinelighthouse #archaeology #excavation #research #history #staugustine #watchtower #lighthouse #floridahistory #saintaugustine #staugustinefl