(SGI Beach)

Measuring approximately 28 miles in length, St. George Island consistently rates as one of the top Beaches in the US. It is a Gulf Coast paradise offering miles of uninterrupted beautiful sand beaches St. George is one of the last inhabited, yet unspoiled, barrier islands of Florida. There are miles of uncrowded beaches for sunning and shelling, with clear Gulf waters for swimming, excellent fishing, and pristine marshes for wildlife viewing.

St. George Island State Park
Nine miles of undeveloped beaches and dunes, surrounded by the Gulf of Mexico and Apalachicola Bay, provide the perfect setting for St. George Island State Park. Florida state parks are open from 8 a.m. until sundown 365 days a year.

St. George Island Lighthouse
A lighthouse for St. George Island was first requested by Florida's Territorial legislature in 1829. It took until 1831 before Congress appropriated money. The new lighthouse was completed in 1833 on the extreme west end of the Island where it marked an entrance into Apalachicola Bay. At the time, the City of Apalachicola was a bustling cotton port that was supplied by river commerce from both Florida and Southern Georgia.

The lighthouse was 65 feet tall and contained 13 lamps with 15 inch reflectors. Unfortunately, the low height of the lighthouse and trees on the point of Cape St. George screened the lighthouse from many directions and limited the value of the light. After a number of petitions and requests in the 1840's, St. George Island Light was replaced by Cape St. George Light in 1848. One condition of the contract for new lighthouse was that materials of the old lighthouse could be used in its construction. The lighthouse was probably torn down to furnish materials for Cape St. George Light.

Cape St. George Light
The Cape St. George 65 foot tall lighthouse was first lit in December 20, 1848. The light was produced by 15 lamps with 16-inch reflectors. Unfortunately, this tower didn't last very long. A hurricane in the fall of 1850 cracked and undermined the tower, and another hurricane in August of 1851 toppled Cape St. George lighthouse. In the summer of 1852, the present 74-foot tower was completed 250 yards further inland from the ruins of the old tower. Construction went quickly as two thirds of the brick from the ruins were salvaged and re-used.

Cape St. George was extinguished with the start of the Civil War. In late 1861, a passing Union ship reported that the lens had been removed from the tower. After the war, the lens was found and the light was exhibited again on August 1, 1865. A new keepers dwelling was built in 1878. Soon after it was completed, hurricane driven waves passed over the island, damaging the tower and probably destroying the dwellings. Fuel for the light was changed to mineral oil in 1882 and later to incandescent oil vapor in 1913. The assistant keepers dwelling burned down sometime in the 1940's. Finally in October 1949, the lighthouse was made automatic and unmanned. Then in July 1994, the Coast Guard removed the light from the top of the tower