Amelia Island North Range, FL 
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Throughout the first half of the nineteenth century, vessels approaching the northeastern coast of Florida faced one of the most difficult entrances along the southern Atlantic seaboard. Fernandina Harbor and the mouth of St. Marys River were protected by a constantly shifting bar, influenced by tides, storms, and the strong littoral currents of Cumberland Sound. Mariners approaching from seaward relied primarily on Amelia Island Lighthouse, first lit in 1838, as their principal landfall. From offshore, vessels steered toward the main light until they reached depths where local knowledge, soundings, and buoys guided them across the bar.
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As commerce expanded and Fernandina developed into an important port for lumber, cotton, naval stores, and later rail connections, this method proved inadequate. By mid-century, the Lighthouse Board recognized that Fernandina required both offshore guidance and precise directional control near the bar. This led to the establishment of two distinct but complementary systems:
Congress formally addressed Fernandina’s navigational hazards on August 18, 1856, appropriating $5,000 for “two beacon-lights and keeper’s dwelling on or near the north front of Amelia Island.” On the same date, an additional $2,000 was appropriated for “a beacon light to range with the Amelia Island light and the outer bar,” including funds for a causeway across the marsh leading to that beacon.
In 1858, the two North Range beacons on the north front of Amelia Island were completed and scheduled to be lighted for the first time on November 1. The official description issued by the Lighthouse Board in September 1858 provides a clear picture of the original North Range Lights. The seaward (front) beacon stood on a wooden framework painted red, with a focal plane 60 feet above sea level and illuminated by a sixth-order Fresnel lens showing a fixed white light. The inner (rear) beacon was mounted on a keeper’s dwelling painted white with a red roof; its focal plane was 35 feet above the sea and likewise displayed a fixed white light. In ordinary weather, the lights were visible for approximately six nautical miles.
To enter Fernandina Harbor, mariners were instructed to bring Amelia Island Lighthouse to bear southwest or west-southwest in seven fathoms of water and run toward it until the North Range beacons came into alignment. Once the beacons were “in range,” bearing west three-quarters north, vessels followed that line until reaching the inner buoy, safely crossing the bar.
At the same time, negotiations were underway for the purchase of the site for the separate beacon that ranged with Amelia Island Lighthouse, which appears to have been lit in 1858 or 1859 and maintained by the keepers of the main lighthouse. This beacon allowed vessels to approach the mouth of the river more directly before relying on the North Range to mark the turn across the bar.
By 1863, the North Range beacons—spaced roughly one-third of a mile apart—were well established as the primary range for the channel into St. Marys River and Fernandina Harbor. That same year, however, both beacons were destroyed during the Civil War, as were many navigational aids along the southern coast.
In the postwar years, the Lighthouse Service moved quickly to restore essential aids. By 1867, the beacon in front of Amelia Island Lighthouse had been re-established about five-eighths of a mile seaward of the main light. This beacon was movable, mounted on wheels and a short tramway, allowing it to be shifted as the bar changed. A long plank walk across the marsh connected it to the lighthouse.
During the late 1860s, repairs and improvements continued both at the main lighthouse and along the approaches to the North Range. However, the North Range itself was not immediately re-established, leaving Fernandina dependent once again on a combination of the main light, its ranging beacon, and buoys.
Growing maritime traffic soon made the absence of permanent range lights untenable. After the appropriation for “restoring lights on the southern coast” reverted to the treasury in 1870, Congress appropriated $12,000 in 1871 to rebuild the two beacons on the north side of Amelia Island. Plans were prepared for a keeper’s dwelling and new beacons on the land near Fort Clinch already owned by the government, eliminating any delay for site acquisition.
Construction began in December 1871 and was completed in May 1872. The rear range light was displayed from a short square tower mounted atop the roof of a two-and-a-half-story keeper’s dwelling, while the front light shone from a square window in the enclosed portion of a movable, square frame tower resting on a tramway. The lights were activated on June 1, 1872. The movable design of the front beacon was a critical feature. After severe northeasterly or southeasterly gales, the channel across the bar often shifted, and the beacon could be moved laterally to realign the range. This adaptability defined the North Range throughout its existence.
Throughout the 1870s, the beacons were repeatedly shifted, repaired, and braced as storms and shoaling altered the channel. The original wooden front beacon that ranged with Amelia Island Lighthouse deteriorated badly and was replaced in 1876 by a new iron beacon, reflecting broader Lighthouse Service trends toward more durable materials.
In 1880, major changes occurred. Due to changes in the channel, the beacon that ranged with the main light was discontinued on January 1, and by March 15 the North Range itself was substantially altered. The old configuration was replaced by a new set of catoptric fixed red lights displayed from skeleton frame towers. The iron beacon formerly associated with the main light was reused as part of the rear light of the new North Range.
From 1880 to 1895, John Miles, an African American keeper, served at Amelia Island North Range. In 1887, Keeper Miles wrote the following letter to A.A. Marks, the world’s largest manufacturer of artificial limbs at the time:
Permit me to say that your artificial leg with rubber foot attached, which I have been continuously using since September, 1886, is all that you have claimed for it.
I have but seven inches of thigh stump. My occupation is U.S. Light House Keeper, North Beacon Ranges, Amelia Island, Fla., and I have to go up and down in one of the ranges 45 feet high, on iron-rod steps, at least twice a day; so I have good reason to say your limbs are all you claim for them.
In 1890, a new wooden substructure, twenty feet high, was built for the iron tower from which the rear light was exhibited. At the same time, a new tramway was built for the front beacon, which was moved sixty-five feet to the south. Sand fences were built to protect the property from drifting sand, but 1,000 cubic yards of sand had to be removed with spade and wheelbarrow from the immediate vicinity of the dwelling.
In 1893, the Lighthouse Board noted that it had become impractical to relocate the existing heavy structures to match the channel, and the lights thus became “a source of danger rather than of assistance to navigation.” The range beacons were discontinued in December 1892, and light triangular structures, which could be easily and rapidly moved to as the channel changed, were substituted for them. By 1899, the channel had shifted so far southward that only buoys could properly mark it, and Amelia Island North Range Lights were officially discontinued on May 15, 1899.
