SANIBEL ISLAND LIGHTHOUSE

By  Mike Miller December 3, 2025

Sanibel Island Lighthouse, also known as Point Ybel Light, stands 98 feet tall on the eastern tip of Sanibel Island, Florida.

First lit on August 20, 1884, this iron-skeletal tower has guided ships safely into San Carlos Bay for over 140 years.

Located at Point Ybel, the lighthouse remains an operational aid to navigation, while its surrounding grounds are a beloved public park and one of the most photographed landmarks in Southwest Florida.

The push for a lighthouse on Sanibel began as early as 1833, when the island’s first English-speaking settlers petitioned the U.S. government due to the area’s growing maritime traffic, particularly from the cattle-exporting port of Punta Rassa.

Despite recommendations from the Lighthouse Board in 1856 and a site survey in 1877, construction didn’t begin until Congress allocated $50,000 in 1883. 

A prefabricated iron skeleton tower was made in Jersey City, New Jersey and shipped south on the schooner Martha M. Heath in the summer of 1884.

On July 10, 1884, just a few miles off Sanibel’s Point Ybel, the schooner struck a shoal in a squall, capsized, and sank in about 20–25 feet of water two miles from the island.

The entire cargo: the tower’s iron framework, stairs, lantern room parts, and even pieces meant for a second lighthouse at Cape San Blas, sank to the bottom.

Professional salvage divers wearing the classic canvas suits and brass helmets with surface-supplied air worked from boats.

They used ropes, block-and-tackle rigs, and small derricks mounted on the vessels. One piece at a time was moved.

By late July 1884, all major components were salvaged except two small gallery brackets that were either lost or too damaged to reuse. Those were simply replaced with new ones fabricated locally.

Because the iron had spent only a short time underwater and was heavily painted, rust damage was minimal.

The pieces were cleaned, repainted, and erected on the already-completed screw-pile foundation exactly on schedule. The light was lit just six weeks after the wreck on August 20, 1884.

So the lighthouse you see today on the eastern tip of Sanibel is literally built from wreck-salvaged iron raised by 1880s hard-hat divers.

It was one of the earliest documented successful underwater salvage operations for a federal lighthouse project in the United States.

The lighthouse was designed as a square, pyramidal, skeleton iron framework with a central spiral staircase. The central column stops about twenty feet from the ground and must be accessed by an external staircase.

The lighthouse was automated in 1949, ending the era of lighthouse keepers, and fully electrified in 1962. The original third-order Fresnel lens is now housed at the Sanibel Historical Museum and Village.

The lighthouse was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1974 for its architectural and historical significance.

The lighthouse was engineered to withstand hurricanes, a design proven resilient through storms including Hurricane Ian in 2022.

Ian destroyed the two keeper’s quarters and one leg of the tower yet left the lighthouse standing. The City of Sanibel now owns the lighthouse as well as the surrounding land.

Lighthouse Friends has an excellent page about the Sanibel Lighthouse and its keepers over the years. 

The Sanibel Lighthouse is located at 112 Periwinkle Way, Sanibel, FL 33957, at the eastern tip of Sanibel Island within Lighthouse Beach Park.

The Sanibel Causeway to the island is a toll bridge. The grounds are open to the public 24 hours a day, giving ideal opportunities for sunrise and sunset views.

Parking is available in metered lots near the beach and fishing pier. And there’s an app for that. Handicap parking is free with permit.

While the lighthouse tower is not open for public access, visitors can walk around the base of it and explore the surrounding beach park. It's a prime spot for shelling.

LIGHTHOUSE BEACH PARK WEBSITE

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