Florida Historical Markers Programs - Marker Detail

Description: Cape Florida, the southern tip of Key Biscayne, was discovered by John Cabot in 1497, less than five years after Columbus first landed in the West Indies. Cabot continued his voyage into the Gulf of Mexico, but returned to Key Biscayne the following spring, and named it "The Cape of the End of April." Juan Ponce de Leon landed on the key in 1513, and christened it "Santa Marta." Its present name "Biscayne" is derived from the Indian word "Bischiyano" which meant "the favorite path of the rising moons." After the United States received Florida from Spain in 1821, and at the urging of the Navy, plans were drawn for a lighthouse on the tip of the Cape. The tower was completed December 17, 1825, and is one of the oldest structures in South Florida. In July of 1836, shortly after the beginning of the Second Seminole War, the lighthouse was attacked by Indians. John W.B. Thompson, the lighthouse keeper, was injured, and his Negro helper Tom was killed, before the arrival of a rescue ship. A temporary army post, Fort Bankhead, was established on the Cape in 1838, and became the headquarters of the 2nd Dragoons, commanded by Colonel William S. Harney, the "old Indian Fighter." At the same time, the key was a main base of the Navy's "Florida Squadron," under Lieutenant Commander John T. McLaughlin. The lighthouse was raised to its present height of 95 feet in 1855, but the light was wrecked by southern sympathizers in 1861, and was dark for the duration of the Civil War. It was restored in 1867, and guided ships through the dangerous reef waters until 1878, when it was extinguished for the final time. Larger ships needed a light further out at sea, and the new Fowey Rock light took its place.