Ponce De Leon Light Station Near Daytona Beach - Largest Lighthouse in Florida

Ponce de Leon Light Station is on Ponce de Leon Inlet in Florida, south of Daytona Beach. Ponce de Leon Inlet, originally called Mosquito Inlet, served the plantation owners in the area. They used the Mosquito River and the Indian River to ship their crops, such as cotton, rice and oranges but needed a lighthouse. After about four years of petitions, a lighthouse was commissioned in this area. It was a 45', cone-shaped, brick lighthouse completed in 1834. The government never provided the keeper with any oil for the lights in the tower, so it wasn't very productive. During a bad storm, the foundation was undermined and serious problems were created. That damage was followed by an Indian attack and in 1836, the lighthouse collapsed. A ten-acre piece of land was purchased in 1883 on which to build a new Ponce de Leon Light Station. The inspectors declared it to be "the most beautiful and best proportioned tower in the district".

There was a bit of tragedy associated with the building of the Ponce de Leon Light Station because the Chief Engineer, Orvill E. Babcock, lost his life by drowning in the Inlet during the construction of the lighthouse. The new Mosquito Lighthouse stands 175' tall and is the tallest lighthouse in Florida and the second tallest in the nation. There are 203 steps to the top and one keeper had a heart attack on this way up. The name Mosquito Inlet seemed to prevent people from settling there, so in 1927 the name was changed to Ponce de Leon Inlet after the great explorer. The Light Station's name was also changed.

The Ponce de Leon Light Station was deactivated in 1970 and interested citizens formed a Lighthouse Preservation Association to maintain the Light Station and its surrounding buildings. However, in 1982 the light was actually restored to active duty again due to tall buildings blocking the beacons that had replaced Ponce de Leon Light Station's light. The Ponce de Leon Inlet Light Station is listed on the National Register of Historic Places because it is one of only a few 19th Century Light Stations that have all their original buildings still intact. It is one of only ten lighthouses to earn this designation.

There are three keepers' buildings on the grounds that have been turned into museums. In 1897 Steven Crane, a famous author, was on the S. S. Commodore when it was shipwrecked off the shore of the Mosquito Inlet. He and a few of the crewmen, managed to get on a small dinghy, and seeing the Mosquito Light Station, steered to safety. When the remains of the S. S. Commodore were located, some of the artifacts were given to the Ponce de Leon Light Station museum and are presently on display. The Ayree Davies Lens Exhibit Building houses two first-order Fresnel lenses, a Cape Canaveral Lighthouse lens and the original fixed first order lens from Ponce de Leon Inlet Light Station. The Ponce de Leon Inlet Light Station has a lot to offer a visitor. The Keepers' dwelling, the Oil Storage building, the gift shop and the Light Station are all surrounded by a white picket fence. It makes a very striking scene!