We visted the lighthouse located on NAS Pensacola.  Pensacola is the oldest European settlement in mainland America (1559), its location has caused great turmoil, with many buildings destroyed by wars, and by numerous major hurricanes. The location, south of the original British colonies, and as the dividing line between French Louisiana and Spanish Florida, along the Perdido River, has caused Pensacola to change ownership several times. Pensacola was Spanish, then French, then Spanish, then British, then Spanish again, before becoming American, then Confederate, and then the current U.S. city.

Congress authorized construction of the lighthouse in 1823 at a cost of $6,000.  The light was first illuminated a year later.  When Florida seceded from the Union in 1961, the Confederates dismantled the lens and extinguished the light to prevent the navigational aid helping the Union ships.  The Union regained the lighthouse the following year and the lens was reinstalled and the light turned back on.

Janice and I climbed the 177 steps to the top and were rewarded by this view

What astounded me was the size of the 1,000 candlepower bulb that, when transmitted through the French-made lens, can be seen 27 miles from the lighthouse.

The primary bulb, seen just to the left of the "P" in Primary, above, is the only bulb that illuminates.  The bulb looks like it belongs in an oversized flashlight... not a lighthouse!  If the bulb burns out, the block holding the two bulbs rotates and the Secondary bulb takes over.  The bulbs last 2 to 3 years and cost about $1,000 each.