Construction In late December 1824 and early January 1825, about five years after
Florida joined the United States,
U.S. Navy Commodore David Porter inspected the
Dry Tortugas islands. He was on the lookout for a site to build a naval station that would help suppress
piracy in the Caribbean. Unimpressed with what he saw, he notified the
Secretary of the Navy that the Dry Tortugas were unfit for any kind of naval establishment. He reported that they consisted of small sand islands a little above the surface of the ocean, had no fresh water, scarcely enough land to place a fortification, and in any case were probably not solid enough to bear one. While Commodore Porter thought the Dry Tortugas were unfit for a naval station, others in the U.S. government thought the islands were a good location for a lighthouse to guide ships around the area's reefs and small islands. A small island called Bush Key, later called Garden Key, was selected as the site for the lighthouse, which became known as
Garden Key Light. Construction began in 1825 and was completed in 1826. The lighthouse was constructed of brick with a whitewashed exterior. A small white cottage for the lighthouse keeper was constructed beside the lighthouse. In 1829, under recommendations from Commodore
John Rodgers, the survey ship
Florida stopped at the Dry Tortugas to evaluate the anchorage. Contrary to Commodore Porter's experience,
Josiah Tattnall III was delighted with what he found. The Dry Tortugas, he reported, consisted of 11 small keys and surrounding reefs and
banks, over which the sea broke. There was an outer and an inner harbor. The former afforded a safe anchorage during all seasons and was large enough to let a large number of ships ride at anchor. Of more importance, the inner harbor combined a sufficient depth of water for
ships-of-the-line, with a narrow entrance of not more than . Tattnall noted that if a hostile power should occupy the Dry Tortugas, United States shipping in the Gulf would be in deadly peril, and nothing but absolute naval superiority could prevail. However, if occupied and fortified by the U.S., the Dry Tortugas would constitute the advance post for a defense of the Gulf Coast.
Robert E. Lee, then a Captain in the U.S. army, shared this opinion and in February 1845 penned a letter to
Thomas Blake (Commissioner of the General Land Office) recommending the reservation of the Dry Tortugas for military use. Capt.
John G. Barnard then made a detailed reconnaissance in November 1844 and on 17 September 1845, the Dry Tortugas became a national military reservation. The use of enslaved labor was discontinued in 1863. The new fort was built so that the existing Garden Key lighthouse and the lighthouse keeper's cottage were contained within the walls of the fort. The lighthouse continued to serve a vital function in guiding ships through the waters of the Dry Tortugas Islands until the current metal light tower was installed atop an adjacent wall of the fort in 1876. The original brick lighthouse tower was taken down in 1877.
Design , Superintending Engineer from 1856 to 1860. During
World War I, the lighthouse was decommissioned, but a wireless station and naval seaplane facility was operational. It was listed on the
National Register of Historic Places on November 10, 1970. On October 26, 1992, the Dry Tortugas, including Fort Jefferson, was established as a
National Park. == Accessibility ==