OVERVIEW OF THE LIGHTHOUSE PARK NEIGHBORHOOD
Lighthouse Park evolved out of a 1793 Spanish land grant to Lorenzo Rodriguez,a naval captain,who cultivated an estate known as "Buena Vista" on this site for several decades. The grant, extending just west of an 18th century stone watchtower and several coquina quarries that bordered Escolta Creek, encompassed most of the high dunes and partially wooded areas at the northern end of Anastasia Island.
In 1871, five acres of the tract was sold to the U.S.Government, which built the extant Lighthouse and Lighthouse Keeper's house shortly thereafter. The remainder of the Rodriguez tract was acquired in 1872 by James Renwick,noted architect who designed St. Patrick's Cathedral, the Smithsonian Institution
building, and the tower on the Cathedral Basilica of St Augustine. Renwick sold the property to a family relation, William Aspinwall, whose executors began selling the estate between 1879 and 1886. Paul Capo Subdivision developed out of the sale to W.S.M.Pinkham in1879. Pinkham, mayor of St. Augustine between 1889 and 1897 and later superintendent of the county public school system,sold the property in 1882 to Paul Capo, a city councilman. Capo subdivided this high ground west of the Lighthouse in 1886. Moses Bean,a New Englander, purchased the largest section of the Aspinwall estate by the same year and quickly platted it as Anastasia or Carvers Subdivision. Dr.Charles Carver,a local dentist and promoter of the Oldest House, was Bean's business partner.
Extensive residential development was hampered by transportation difficulties across Matanzas Bay, although ferry and railway service in the late 1880s and a wooden bridge a decade later facilitated communication between "the new City of Anastasia" and The Ancient City,and brought tourists to explore the attractions on the island, including the Alligator Farm.
Residential construction commenced in the mid-1880s with most early development taking place north of the Lighthouse on White Street and Lighthouse Avenue. Development proceeded much more slowly in the Paul Capo
and Aviles Terrace Subdivisions, Keegan's addition developed from land of the U.S.Navy Wireless Station,which was declared surplus after World War II.
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In general, Lighthouse Park is essentially a 20th century neighborhood as over three quarters of the houses were built between 1910 and 1930. North Anastasia Island was included within the expanded corporate limits of St. Augustine in 1923.
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This 1881 painting by the artist Thomas Moran (1837-1926) titled "Old Watchtower at St. Augustine" depicts the 18th century Spanish built coquina lighthouse and keeper's house. As the shoreline eroded and the reality set in that the structure would soon collapse into the water, funds were acquired to build the St. Augustine Lighthouse we know today (constructed between 1871 and 1874). Moran's depiction of Anastasia Island's rural and picturesque landscape stands in contrast to what we see today. He likely painted the work using sketches as references since the Spanish built structure had already fallen into Salt Run by 1870. It is interesting to note that the cedar tree located on the left side of the painting in the middle ground is now one of many that call the park across from the Lighthouse home.
