Hillsboro Inlet Lighthouse Photograph courtesy State Archives of Florida

Between 1885 and 1901, the Lighthouse Board petitioned Congress annually for funds to place a lighthouse at Hillsboro Inlet, providing the following justification for the light:

The establishment of a light at or near Hillsboro Point, Florida, would be of great assistance to all vessels navigating these waters. Steamers bound southward, after making Jupiter Inlet light, hug the reef very closely to avoid the current. The dangerous reef making out from Hillsboro Inlet compels them to give it a wide berth, and to go out into the Gulf Stream. Vessels coming across from the Bahama Banks would be able to verify their position if a light were placed here, a difficult matter in case they fail to make Jupiter Inlet. The establishment of this light would complete the system of lights on the Florida Reefs. The Board therefore renews the recommendation that $90,000 be appropriated for this purpose.

With funding in place, three acres of swampland north of the inlet were purchased in 1904. The contract for the skeletal tower was awarded to Russell Wheel & Foundry Co. of Detroit, while Barbier, Benard & Turenne of Paris was given $7,250 to provide a second-order bivalve Fresnel lens for the tower. When completed, the tower embarked on a 4,000-mile nautical journey through two of the Great Lakes, down the Illinois and Mississippi Rivers, across the Gulf of Mexico, and up the Atlantic seaboard to its new home. J.H. Gardner Construction Co. of New Orleans was allotted $16,792 to clear the land, lay the foundation and assemble the tower, while G.W. Brown Construction of West Palm Beach was paid $21,500 to construct the three keeper’s dwellings and other outbuildings.

With all of these projects completed, the keeper climbed the 175 steps to the top of the tower and lit the vaporized kerosene lamp inside the nine-foot-diameter Fresnel lens for the first time on March 7, 1907. To allow the lens to rotate, it floated on a pool of mercury contained in a cast-iron trough.

The first head keeper of the Hillsboro Lighthouse was Alfred Alexander Berghell, who transferred to the station after service at four other Floridian lighthouses: Pensacola, American Shoal, Dry Tortugas, and Rebecca Shoal. Little is known of his experiences as a lighthouse keeper, but the story of his youth was quite eventful. Born to wealthy parents in Finland, Alfred early on developed a passion for the sea. When Russia’s boy prince, who later would become Czar Nicholas II, visited Finland with his family, Alfred was part of a rowing crew that would provide recreational rides for the young prince. Alfred eventually enrolled in the Russian Naval Academy, located in Finland, and graduated as a captain at the age of 19.

Alfred’s life would forever change, when at his graduation ball, a Russian officer insulted the girl with whom Alfred was dancing. The two left the hall for a duel, wherein Alfred pinned the officer and ripped the Russian insignia off his uniform. Fearing arrest and possible banishment to Siberia, Alfred’s uncle, a senator, arranged for a passport, and Alfred left his homeland before daybreak, never to return. Alfred’s dream of a life at sea was now his, and over the next several years he would sail around the world four times. At age 30, he contracted a serious illness, and was two years in Australia recuperating. The illness left him hard of hearing, making it difficult for him to continue his work as a captain. Following the suggestion of a friend, Alfred sailed to America and began a career in the U.S. Lighthouse Service.

Fresnel lens in Hillsboro Inlet Lighthouse

Positioned so close to the shoreline, the Hillsboro Lightstation didn’t have much of a buffer to protect it from the tidal surge, which accompanied the occasional hurricane. The affect of a 1936 hurricane was recorded by a keeper: “On November 4, at 5 a.m., barometer reading 29.79; at 11 a.m., wind NE, about 70 miles per hour, barometer reading 29.30; at 4 p.m. wind SE. about 50 miles per hour, barometer reading 29.60. Seas swept across entire reservation from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. Steps and platforms of dwellings and base of tower were covered under sand; also concrete walks. Grounds were covered with trash and debris. Some mercury was slopped out of tub in tower, but lens operated O. K. No damage was done to Government property.” The station didn’t fare so well in 1947, when another hurricane destroyed the head keeper’s dwelling.

The lighthouse was electrified in 1932, and then fully automated in 1974. With no resident keepers, the dwellings became beachfront vacation cottages for senior military personnel. For decades, the revolving Fresnel lens continued to cast its beam out over the ocean, until the electric drive mechanism abruptly failed in 1992. As a temporary measure, a modern beacon was installed on the railing outside the lantern room. The two-ton Fresnel lens sat motionless for years, while its future was debated. A report was completed in 1996 that recommended the lens be removed and placed in a museum. The following year, a group of concerned citizens formed the Hillsboro Lighthouse Preservation Society, whose primary goal was to reactivate the Fresnel lens.

In 1998, the Coast Guard announced that the lighthouse would be renovated and the Fresnel lens reactivated. Several hundred pounds of mercury, which by then was of course known to be toxic, were removed from the lantern room, and a large five-foot ball bearing was installed to facilitate the rotation of the lens. A re-lighting ceremony was held for the refurbished lighthouse on January 28, 1999. Everything had been operating smoothly for several weeks, when the new ball bearing failed, and the lens was again frozen in place. It was back to the drawing board. A new ball bearing, designed by Torrington Bearing Co. and capable of supporting 20 tons, was placed beneath the lens and another re-lighting ceremony was held on August 18, 2000.

On June 14th, 2003, another ceremony was held at the lighthouse. No the lens had not failed again, but the US Postal Service issued a set of stamps featuring Southeastern lighthouses, and the Hillsboro Lighthouse was selected to represent Florida. Later that year, another ceremony was held for the dedication of the Barefoot Mailman Statue, which had been relocated to the lighthouse grounds.

Between 1885 and 1892, letter carriers would travel the 68-mile coastline between Palm Beach and Miami. Twenty-eight of the miles were covered by small boat, but for the remaining forty miles, the carriers would walk barefoot along the hard sand at the water’s edge – hence the name Barefoot Mailman. When the carrier would reach the Hillsboro Inlet, he would cross the waterway using a rowboat that was kept there for that purpose. Although several men served as letter carriers along the route, it is James E “Ed” Hamilton that is typically remembered as the Barefoot Mailman.

In October of 1887, Ed was making his way south along the route. Although he was not feeling well, he insisted on completing the trip. When he failed to return on the expected day, two of his friends set out to search for the missing mailman. When the two friends arrived at Hillsboro Inlet, they found Hamilton’s mail pouch, trousers, and shirt hanging on the limb of a tree, and his underclothes near the water’s edge. The rowboat used for crossing the inlet could not be found. It was theorized that a stranger, seen in the area recently, had taken the rowboat, forcing Hamilton to swim the inlet. As Hamilton was an excellent swimmer, it is believed that alligators, whose tracks were noted by Hamilton’s friends, must have been responsible for his disappearance.

The Barefoot Mailman Statue now overlooks the inlet, where one of the storied carriers lost his life. The statue, however, is not the only memorial on the lighthouse grounds. Near the generator and radio building that now serves as a small museum, stand a flagpole, fogbell, and plaque, honoring the keepers who served at the Hillsboro Lighthouse. With these two monuments on the lighthouse grounds, the service rendered by this dedicated servants will hopefully not be soon forgotten.

References

1. Hillsboro Lighthouse Preservation Society website.
2. Florida Lighthouses, Kevin McCarthy, 1990.

A more distant view is possible from a park just south of the A1A bridge over Hillsboro Inlet. Occasional tours of the lighthouse grounds, which are otherwise off-limits to the public, are offered by the Hillsboro Lighthouse Preservation Society.