Hispanic Heritage Month at the St. Augustine Lighthouse & Maritime Museum. From 1824 to 1845, Juan Andreu served as the Keeper of the first St. Augustine Lighthouse, formerly called the Old Spanish Watchtower. Of Minorcan ancestry, Andreu is the first Hispanic-American to serve in the Coast Guard and the first to oversee a federal installation of any kind. This tower was built in 1737 by the Spanish. Made of coquina stone, it was formerly a wooden watchtower. The U.S. government claimed it and made it a lighthouse in 1824. 📸: Photo of the first St. Augustine Lighthouse from the 1860s in the museum archives. This tower and attached keepers’ house feel into the ocean by 1880. #HispanicHeritageMonth #light #staugustinelighthouse #lighthouse #floridahistory #ushistory #museum #photooftheday #photography #lighthousekeeper #spanish #spain #staugustinebeach #anastasiaisland