The Ponce de Leon Inlet Lighthouse began as the Mosquito Inlet Lighthouse in 1883. Construction began in 1884 and was completed in 1886. It was first lit in November 1887. In the 1920s the Lighthouse service added indoor plumbing and bathrooms in the keepers’ building. In 1925 electricity arrived at the light. The name was changed to Ponce de Leon Inlet in 1927.
When the Lighthouse Service was abolished in 1939 the Lighthouse was transferred to the Coast Guard. During World War II, the keepers quarters were turned into barracks for the Coast Guardsmen who protected the light and stood watch against enemy submarines. In 1953 the lighthouse became automated. The Coast Guard abandoned the Light Station in 1970 when a new light was established at the Coast Guard Station on the south side of the Inlet. Two years later the Ponce de Leon Inlet Lighthouse Preservation Association was founded as a non-profit, organization to restore and operate the property as a museum. In 1972, the Light Station was listed on the National Register of Historic Places as one of only a handful of 19th Century Light Stations to have all its original buildings still intact.
The Dee Zone 