The Pensacola Lighthouse is a National Historic Landmark and an active U.S. Coast Guard aid to navigation. The Lighthouse offers both indoor and outdoor exhibits, ghost hunts, tours of the 1869 keeper’s quarters, a gift shop and is home to Navy Blue Angel practice flights!
Located on the Naval Air Station Pensacola, this historic landmark is one of Florida’s best-preserved lighthouses. The Lighthouse and Museum are operated by a local non-profit organization, whose mission is “Preserving the Past to Enlighten Our Future.” The Lighthouse has an original first order Fresnel lens and has been in use since 1859. The mission of the Pensacola Lighthouse Association is to preserve and maintain this historic site, while serving as an advocate for preservation on the local and state levels.
Pensacola’s unique location on the edge of the Gulf of Mexico has attracted many seafarers, including pirates, but also led to hundreds of shipwrecks over the years. The Lighthouse is the third iteration of the original lightship, and still continues to serve as an active aid to navigation today.
The museum’s goal is to serve guests from all backgrounds, but the primary demographic served are families from Escambia and two adjacent counties – Santa Rosa County, Florida and Baldwin County, Alabama. This project will have a direct impact on those visitors by providing an opportunity to see themselves and their history represented at the Museum in a more authentic way than would otherwise be possible.