The Jupiter Inlet Lighthouse is the oldest surviving structure in Palm Beach County. Designed by Lieutenant George Gordon Meade, who would later command the Union Army at the Battle of Gettysburg, it was completed and lit on July 10, 1860, after a six year construction period.

Determining the light useful to Union ships and a detriment to their cause, Confederate sympathizers took control of the lighthouse in August 1861. They removed lamps and burners from the light, and buried the equipment. Throughout most of the war, Jupiter Inlet was an active area for Confederate blockade running and, by the end of the war, Union blockading ships had captured or sunk over 50 Confederate boats in and around the inlet.

The Union navy also sent numerous raiding expeditions into the area. In the summer of 1862, Union sailors landed and broke into the Jupiter Inlet Lighthouse and confiscated journals and other lighthouse records. In February 1863, another Union raiding force uncovered the hidden lighthouse apparatus and brought it to Key West, but the lighthouse remained darkened for the duration of the war.

The Jupiter Inlet Light returned to operation in June 1866. The lighthouse is now part of the Jupiter Inlet Lighthouse and Museum complex operated by the Loxahatchee River Historical Society. Located in a restored World War II barracks building, the museum contains exhibits on local history, including the Civil War.

www.lrhs.org

Information provided by the Florida Division of Historical Resources, a division of the Florida Department of State.