BlockFrom the record
One of 50 National Register listings published here for Lee County · listed in 1980 · category: District · built in 1890.
Sources: the case file at the National Archives · the National Register database, National Park Service
Boca Grande Lighthouse
Built in 1890. Listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1980. 7 historic topographic surveys show this location, the earliest from 1956.
The listing
- What is counted as historic. The nomination lists 1 building, 1 structure as contributing to the listing.
- Address. S of Boca Grande on Gasparilla Island, Boca Grande, 33921
- When was it listed? February 1980
- Category. district
- Census division. Boca Grande
- When was it built? 1890
- National Register reference number. 80000953 - the number the National Park Service assigned this property when it was listed, and the key its nomination file is catalogued under at the National Archives.
Then and now
1956 to 1981The ground this property stands on, surveyed 25 years apart. Drag the handle to wipe between them. Both sheets are United States Geological Survey originals; neither has been altered.
Fires near this property
1 since 2008Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal wildfire occurrence database lists 1 fire within 5 miles of Boca Grande Lighthouse in 2008, burning about 187 acres in total. None started naturally. None was recorded as arson. Distance is straight-line from the map coordinates, so a fire counted here may appear on a neighbouring settlement's page as well.
| Reported cause | Fires |
|---|---|
| Recreation and ceremony | 1 |
The most recent of them, most recent first, with the day each was reported and the service that recorded it.
| Date | Cause | Size | Reported by | Name on the report |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 16 April 2008 | Recreation and ceremony | 187 acres | Florida Forest Service | CAYO FIRE |
Storms near this property
11 since 1993Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The National Weather Service names Boca Grande, the town this property stands in, in 11 storm reports between 1993 and 2008: 5 thunderstorm wind, 3 tornado, 3 waterspout. The reports record 1 injury. Each account below is quoted exactly as the forecast office filed it, from the NOAA Storm Events Database, and each date opens the federal record of that event.
| When | Event | Place named | Harm | What the report says |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| June 2000 | Tornado (F0) | Boca Grande | 1 hurt | A Skywarn Spotter reported that a waterspout came onshore as a tornado at the south end of Gasparilla Island. One man was injured by flying debris from the tornado before it lifted and dissipated. |
| August 2000 | Tornado (F0) | Boca Grande | $75,000 | The public reported that a waterspout moved onshore as a weak tornado along Treasure Lane, one mile northeast of Boca Grande. The local fire department reported that the small tornado caused minor roof, lanai, carport and glass damage to a few homes as it moved west across Jean Lafette, Gaspar Drive, East Railroad and Gasparilla Roads. Also, a few trees were uprooted or snapped half way from the base before the tornado lifted and dissipated near 14th Street in Boca Grande. |
| April 2004 | Thunderstorm Wind | Boca Grande | $25,000 | Thunderstorm winds caused damage to seven homes and downed trees and power lines from Boca Grande to Cape Coral. A mobile home on the 3300 block of Del Prado had part of the roof peeled back while another home on the 4500 block of Del Prado lost about 600 square feet of shingles. Other reports included damage to sheds and car ports. |
| July 1998 | Thunderstorm Wind | Boca Grande | $25,000 | Thunderstorm winds downed power lines, trees and large branches and slightly damaged roofs and windows in Boca Grande. |
| March 2000 | Tornado (F0) | Boca Grande | $5,000 | A waterspout was observed to move onshore as a tornado and cross Gulf Boulevard on the southern tip of Gasparilla Island. The tornado passed over South Lake Village and uprooted fifteen trees along South Bayou Drive. The tornado also damaged the garage door of a townhouse on the 700 block of South Bayou Drive before it lifted and dissipated. |
| March 1993 | Thunderstorm Wind | Boca Grande | $5,000 | Wind gusts to 75 mph blew down signs and tore shingles off roofs. |
| June 2008 | Thunderstorm Wind | Boca Grande | - | A home weather station measured a 65mph wind gust. Power lines were blown down along 4th Street. |
| June 2003 | Thunderstorm Wind | Boca Grande | - | Fire and Rescue reported numerous trees down on the island after the thunderstorm passed. |
| March 2000 | Waterspout | Boca Grande | - | A waterspout was observed to move onshore near Gulf Boulevard one mile south of Boca Grande on the southwest side of Gasparilla Island. |
| June 2000 | Waterspout | Boca Grande | - | A Skywarn Spotter reported a waterspout approximately 300 yards off the south end of Gasparilla Island. |
| August 2000 | Waterspout | Boca Grande | - | A family of up to three waterspouts was reported by the public three miles east northeast of Boca Grande.One of the waterspouts eventually moved onshore near Boca Grande. |
Maps showing this location
7 surveysUnited States Geological Survey topographic sheets whose coverage includes this point. Matched by taking the coordinate the National Park Service records for this property, then testing that coordinate against the published boundary of every sheet.
- 1956 USGS Charlotte Harbor quadrangle1:250000
- 1956 USGS Tampa quadrangle1:250000 - 2 printings
- 1958 USGS Port Boca Grande quadrangle1:24000 - 5 printings
- 1959 USGS Tampa quadrangle1:250000
- 1960 USGS Tampa quadrangle1:250000 - 2 printings
- 1972 USGS Tampa quadrangle1:250000
- 1981 USGS Charlotte Harbor quadrangle1:100000
Listed places nearby
6 within 8 milesOther National Register properties close enough to walk or drive between, ordered by distance from this one. Both positions come from the same geocoding pass that matched these properties to their map sheets.
| Photograph | Property | Distance | Listed |
|---|---|---|---|
 | Charlotte Harbor and Northern Railway Depot | 0.1 miles | 1979 |
 | Boca Grande Community Center | 0.4 miles | 1995 |
 | Whidden's Marina | 0.5 miles | 2000 |
 | First Baptist Church of Boca Grande | 0.5 miles | 2009 |
 | Downtown Boca Grande Historic District | 0.6 miles | 2011 |
 | Gasparilla Inn Historic District | 0.8 miles | 2008 |
Sources for this property
| National Archives record | The nomination case file for reference 80000953 in Record Group 79. |
| Lee County | All 50 listed properties in this county. |
Provenance
- Listing record. National Park Service National Register of Historic Places, listed-properties dataset, current to 2026-05-22.
- Map join. Address geocoded through the United States Census geocoder, then tested against the published boundary of every sheet in the USGS Historical Topographic Map Collection.
- How this page is made. Listing fields come from federal records; map-sheet coverage is a labelled coordinate-to-boundary calculation, not a source-field claim.
- Wildfire. Short, Karen C. 2022. Spatial wildfire occurrence data for the United States, 1992-2020 [FPA_FOD_20221014]. 6th Edition. Fort Collins, CO: Forest Service Research Data Archive. https://doi.org/10.2737/RDS-2013-0009.6 Collected with United States Government funding and usable without additional permissions or fees.
- Storms. NOAA National Centers for Environmental Information, Storm Events Database https://www.ncei.noaa.gov/stormevents/ A work of the United States government, no copyright under 17 U.S.C. 105. Narratives are quoted verbatim from the National Weather Service report and are not edited or summarised.