St. Augustine Lighthouse Webcam – See Florida’s 1874 Tower

The St. Augustine Lighthouse Webcam looks across the tree canopy of Anastasia Island at a tower that has been showing a light since 1874. The shaft fills the middle of the frame, its black and white spiral daymark climbing to a red lantern room at the top. Live oaks, cabbage palms and coastal scrub run along the bottom of the picture, and above them sits a wide slice of Atlantic sky. That sky is what changes hour to hour: flat blue on a calm morning, stacked with cumulus by mid afternoon, dark with squall lines when a summer storm pushes in off the ocean. What the camera gives is a close, steady view of a working aid to navigation that has stood on this spot for 150 years.

About the St. Augustine Lighthouse

The tower stands at the north end of Anastasia Island, a barrier island separated from the old town of St. Augustine by Matanzas Bay. It rises 50 meters (165 feet), and the light sits at a focal plane of 49 meters (161 feet) above the water. Construction ran from 1871 to 1874 to a design by Paul J. Pelz, with Hezekiah H. Pittee as builder, and the light was first shown on October 15, 1874. There are 219 steps from the base to the gallery. The stream credits Leonardi’s Nursery Landscaping as the camera’s location on the island.

This is not the first light on the site. An earlier tower dating from 1824 stood nearer the shoreline and lost its ground to erosion, collapsing into the sea in 1880. What remains of it is a submerged archaeological site, and the museum’s maritime archaeology program still works on wrecks and drowned sites along this coast.

The original first-order Fresnel lens is still in the lantern room, which is uncommon for a tower of this age. Before 1936 the light showed a fixed flash every three minutes; that year it changed to a 30 second flash, with a nominal range of 39 kilometers (21 nautical miles). The keeper’s house below the tower dates from 1876 and was gutted by an arson fire in 1970, then restored. The light was automated in 1955, and the station joined the National Register of Historic Places on March 19, 1981. The Coast Guard handed the tower and the lens to the museum in 2002, and the light remains an active aid to navigation.

Weather and Climate in St. Augustine

St. Augustine has a humid subtropical climate, Koppen class Cfa, with no real dry season. January is the coolest month, with highs near 19 C (66 F) and lows around 8 C (46 F). Those winter mornings tend to give the camera its hardest, cleanest light, and the tower reads sharpest against a cold blue sky. Spring warms quickly and brings long runs of clear afternoons before the humidity sets in.

July and August sit at the other end, with highs around 32 C (90 F) and overnight lows near 23 C (73 F). Moisture builds through the summer and the afternoon picture often softens with haze. August and September are the wettest stretch: the year averages 1,240 millimeters (49 inches) of rain, and August alone brings about 187 millimeters (7.4 inches) across roughly 17 rainy days, so cloud stacking behind the lantern is a common sight. Hurricane season runs from June 1 to November 30 and peaks between August and October. Direct landfalls here are less frequent than in south Florida, but a passing system can hold heavy cloud and rain across the frame for days at a time.

Things to Do Near the St. Augustine Lighthouse

The St. Augustine Lighthouse and Maritime Museum runs the site the St. Augustine Lighthouse Webcam is pointed at, and the 219 step climb to the gallery is the main reason people come. A ticket also covers the restored keeper’s house, exhibits drawn from a collection of roughly 19,000 objects, and the wooded grounds around the base. The museum opens daily from 9 in the morning until 6 in the evening.

Anastasia State Park lies a short drive away on the same island and holds the St. Augustine Amphitheatre, a 4,000 seat venue that runs concerts and markets through the year. The St. Augustine Alligator Farm Zoological Park keeps every living crocodilian species on one site and adds zip lines and wildlife shows. Further south, Fort Matanzas National Monument protects a coquina watchtower completed in 1742, reached by a free ferry, with wild barrier island shoreline around it that paddlers work their way along.

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Three more cameras worth opening if this view holds your attention.

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Frequently Asked Questions

Where is the St. Augustine Lighthouse located?

It stands at the north end of Anastasia Island in St. Augustine, St. Johns County, Florida, on the far side of Matanzas Bay from the old town.

What can you see on the St. Augustine Lighthouse Webcam?

The tower with its black and white spiral daymark and red lantern room, the live oaks and cabbage palms of the island canopy below it, and the Atlantic sky behind. Cloud, light and passing weather are what change through the day.

How tall is the St. Augustine Lighthouse?

The tower measures 50 meters (165 feet), and the light itself sits at a focal plane of 49 meters (161 feet) above the water.

How many steps does it take to climb the St. Augustine Lighthouse?

There are 219 steps from the base of the tower up to the gallery.

Is the St. Augustine Lighthouse still working?

Yes. It was automated in 1955 and remains an active aid to navigation, with its original first-order Fresnel lens still in the lantern room and a nominal range of 39 kilometers (21 nautical miles).

When was the St. Augustine Lighthouse built?

Construction ran from 1871 to 1874 and the light was first shown on October 15, 1874. An earlier tower from 1824 stood nearby until erosion brought it down into the sea in 1880.

What is the weather like in St. Augustine?

Humid subtropical. January highs sit near 19 C (66 F) with lows around 8 C (46 F), while July climbs to about 32 C (90 F) with lows near 23 C (73 F). Rain averages 1,240 millimeters (49 inches) a year, concentrated in August and September.

Can you visit the St. Augustine Lighthouse?

The St. Augustine Lighthouse and Maritime Museum owns and operates the site and opens daily from 9 in the morning until 6 in the evening, with the tower climb, the 1876 keeper’s house and the grounds all included.

Source: See St. Augustine