The Great Hurricane of 1846 Destroys Key West's Lighthouses

October 11, 1846 — A powerful hurricane wrecked Key West and Sand Key's lights, leaving a lasting story of loss and rebuilding.

By Wm. E. McMullen II

An Island in the Storm's Path

On October 11, 1846, a powerful hurricane struck Key West. The Florida Keys History Center describes a city where buildings were damaged or destroyed and the lighthouses at Key West and Sand Key were left in ruins. It records a storm surge exceeding seven feet.

These are nineteenth-century accounts, not measurements from a modern network of instruments. The documented destruction is the foundation of the story; assigning an exact modern wind speed is unnecessary to understand the catastrophe.

A Light Lost

The original Key West lighthouse had first been lighted in 1826. Barbara Mabrity served as its keeper. The Key West Art & Historical Society records the tower's destruction in the 1846 hurricane and the deaths and injuries among people sheltering there, including members of Mabrity's family.

A lighthouse was both a working aid to navigation and a place where people lived. Its collapse therefore carried two kinds of loss: sailors lost a coastal light, while the keeper and her community suffered a personal tragedy. A building's function should not obscure the people inside it.

Returning to the Work

A replacement Key West tower opened in 1848. Mabrity returned as keeper and remained in the service until 1864. The surviving lighthouse is therefore not the original tower that fell in October 1846.

That distinction helps visitors read the landscape. An old structure can represent rebuilding after a disaster rather than survival through it. Its history includes the decision to replace what was lost and the people who resumed the work.

Why It Matters

The October 11 hurricane connects maritime history with the vulnerability of island communities. Damage to a navigation light affected more than the shoreline immediately around it, while the losses at the tower show the human cost behind an official service record.

Mabrity's return is a documented act of persistence, not a reason to minimize the disaster. Remembering both destruction and rebuilding gives Key West's lighthouse a fuller meaning: it stands within a history of labor, danger, bereavement and renewed service.

Sources for Additional Reading

• Monroe County Public Library, Florida Keys History Center — October 11
• Key West Art & Historical Society — Barbara Mabrity and the Key West Lights