Culebrita Lighthouse

Culebrita Lighthouse (Spanish: Faro Culebrita) is the only remaining Spanish-era structure in the Culebra archipelago. Construction of the lighthouse began on September 25, 1882, and it was completed on February 25, 1886. The Spanish Crown built the lighthouse to help secure its claim over the main island of Culebra. It is the most eastern light outside mainland Puerto Rico. It guides navigation through the Virgin Passage and the Vieques Sound connecting in the Puerto Rico Light System with the Cape San Juan Light.

Isla Culebrita Lighthouse
Photograph taken in 1978
Isla Culebrita Lighthouse
LocationCulebrita, Culebra, Puerto Rico
Coordinates18°18′49″N 65°13′39″W
Year first lit1886
Deactivated1975
Construction1882
ARLHS numberPUR 004
USCG number31685
Heritageplace listed on the National Register of Historic Places 
Faro Isla de Culebrita
Nearest cityCulebra, Puerto Rico
Area1.5 acres (0.61 ha)
Built1886
MPSLighthouse System of Puerto Rico TR
NRHP reference No.81000686[1]
Added to NRHPOctober 22, 1981

It is located on Culebrita, a mile-long, half-a-mile-wide cay off Culebra, an island-municipality of Puerto Rico.[2]

It was one of the oldest operating lighthouses in the Caribbean until 1975 when the U.S. Navy and Coast Guard closed the facility. The United States Coast Guard has replaced the lighthouse with a solar powered light beacon.

The Culebrita Lighthouse was registered on the U.S. National Register of Historic Places on October 22, 1981; however, no work has been done to maintain the facility. In 1989, Hurricane Hugo caused extensive damage, and in 1995 the tower was destroyed by Hurricane Marilyn. The Culebra Foundation, starting in 1994, has tried to attract local and federal attention to save the lighthouse, but they have had little success. Presently, the lighthouse is in danger of collapsing.[3]

See also

References
  1. "National Register Information System". National Register of Historic Places. National Park Service. July 9, 2010.
  2. Puerto Rico. Office of Historian (1949). Tesauro de datos historicos: indice compendioso de la literatura histórica de Puerto Rico, incluyendo algunos datos inéditos, periodísticos y cartográficos (in Spanish). Impr. del Gobierno de Puerto Rico. p. 302. Retrieved 4 January 2020.
  3. "A punto de colapsar el Faro Culebrita" (in Spanish). Primera Hora. 2007. Archived from the original on March 17, 2007. Retrieved 2009-04-05.
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