Lighthouse at Castillo San Felipe del Morro, San Juan National Historic Site
Castillo San Felipe del Morro Main Page
A lighthouse was first erected at Castillo San Felipe del Morro (aka El Morro) in August 1846 on the Austria Bastion. It was manufactured by a New York company and shipped to San Juan where it was installed atop an octagonal stone base. The 18-foot-tall tower was made of iron, and it had a copper cupola. Being at the top of the fort, the light itself was 174 feet above sea level.
Drawing of the 1846 lighthouse on the Austria Bastion of Castillo San Felipe del Morro
In 1876 the iron tower and light were moved to the Ochoa Bastion where the current lighthouse stands today. A new octagonal base made of brick was constructed. The old base was left in place, and in 1885 the Spanish built a semaphore tower on top of it. This tower was torn down by the United States Army in 1940, and the stone base was removed. When on the Austria terreplein (gun deck), you can still see the outline of the octagonal base.
Drawing of the 1879 lighthouse on the Ochoa Bastion of Castillo San Felipe del Morro
A new Fresnel lens was installed in 1880. This is a lens invented in 1821 by Frenchman Augustin Fresnel that projected light much farther out to sea than any other lenses of the time.
When the United States Navy attacked San Juan on May 12, 1898, during the Spanish-American War, the lighthouse was hit by an artillery shell. Not long after the Americans occupied Puerto Rico when the war ended in December, the iron lighthouse tower and light—not the base—were removed. The following year an octagonal brick tower was built on the 1876 octagonal brick base and the original light was placed on top.
Photo of the 1899 lighthouse on the Ochoa Bastion of Castillo San Felipe del Morro
The new tower was of poor construction and developed a crack. It was replaced in 1908 with the current tower. So what stands today is the 1875 brick octagonal base, the 1908 brick tower, and the Fresnel lens (the cupola is from after 1899, but I do not know the exact date it was installed).
1909 lighthouse on the Ochoa Bastion of Castillo San Felipe del Morro, San Juan National Historic Site
The bricks of the new tower deteriorated rapidly due to a repeated cycle of water seeping into the mortar and then evaporating. Funds were provided by the U. S. Coast Guard for repairs in 1979, but at the last minute the State Historian Preservation Officer for Puerto Rico recommended that the entire structure be torn down and replaced with something that fit more with the architecture of the fort. As a result, the funds were returned to the Coast Guard and no repairs were made. The tower was eventually repaired by the National Park Service in the early 1990s, but it is now in poor shape once again. There are multiple cracks visible in the brick tower.
Visible cracks in the 1909 lighthouse tower on the Ochoa Bastion of Castillo San Felipe del Morro, San Juan National Historic Site
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Last updated on April 9, 2024
