Principle Keeper's Dwelling

The largest of the original Light Station dwellings, this building was the home of the Principal keeper and his family. The kitchen wing of the house was originally separated from the living quarters by a short breezeway, but this opening was enclosed in the late 1970s to provide more exhibit space. The kitchen now houses temporary exhibits and currently features a new exhibit on Florida shipwrecks. A full cellar lies underneath the kitchen, as well as a 5,000 gallon cistern used to collect rainwater off the roof for drinking, cooking, cleaning and bathing.

This building also houses exhibits on the $1.25 million restoration of the lighthouse tower, an exhibit on maritime navigation techniques through the ages, and an exhibit on cats at the lighthouse. A new exhibit, entitled "Down Like Lead: 400 Years of Florida Shipwrecks," tells the tale of shipwrecks off the Florida coast from the first days of European exploration through World War II. Five new interactive displays are spaced throughout the exhibit and allow museum visitors to study lighthouse beacons, shipwrecks, underwater archaeology, sails, and the sounds of the sea. As part of the new exhibit, an archaeological "dig box" has been installed on the porch of the museum allowing potential archaeologists the opportunity to find their own "buried treasure."