Map Search    Florida Department of State « Previous    Visit a Lighthouse Alligator Reef Amelia Island American Shoal Anclote Key Boca Grande Cape Canaveral Cape Florida Cape San Blas Cape St. George Carysfort Reef Cedar Keys Crooked River Egmont Key Fowey Rocks Garden Key Gilbert's Bar House of Refuge Museum Hillsboro Inlet Jupiter Inlet Key West Loggerhead Key Pensacola Ponce de Leon Inlet Port Boca Grande Sand Key Sanibel Island Sombrero Key St. Augustine St. Johns Light Ship St. Johns Light Station St. Johns River St. Joseph Bay St. Marks ->Maritime Trail Home ->Lighthouses Home    Next » American Shoal Photo courtesy of the Florida Photo Archives.     Northern ironworkers built the American Shoal Lighthouse, as they did the other iron skeletal lights that mark Florida’s reefs. The parts were shipped to Key West for construction on the reef, which took almost two years. American Shoal was the last of the Florida reef lighthouses to be built. Located 15 miles east of Key West in four feet of water, it rises 109 feet above the surface. The U.S. Postal Service honored American Shoal with its own 25-cent stamp, issued in the 1980s. The stamp has two errors—it is misnamed American Shoals, and it shows a Coast Guard cutter, which draws at least 6 feet of water, cruising past the lighthouse in depths of about 5 feet. This active navigation aid is not open to the public. Find out more: Additional Links: Further Reading: United States Coast Guard publication, Historically Famous Lighthouses. View a map of the American Shoal Lighthouse Communities | Environments | Forts | Lighthouses | Ports | Shipwrecks | Home The Florida Maritime Heritage Trail was created and is maintained by the Florida Department of State, Division of Historical Resources, with initial funding by Florida Coastal Management Program. Send comments to: [email protected]