The Florida Lighthouse Association was founded in 1996 for the purpose of creating awareness of Florida's 31 remaining historic lighthouses, the peril in which they exist and the heroic efforts of citizen activists in protecting, preserving and restoring these treasures. Each lighthouse is unique in history and architecture.
The Florida Lighthouse Association is a consortium of the individual lighthouse organizations and interested individuals from across Florida and the nation. We meet three times annually, rotating the meetings among the various lighthouses. This gives us an opportunity to allow members to personally experience each lighthouse and encourage the membership to support the member lighthouses.
Our Mission
Protecting, Preserving and Restoring Florida's Lighthouses!
The Florida Lighthouse Association is a nonprofit group of citizen activists dedicated to the preservation of the 31 remaining historic lighthouses that line our state's 1350-mile coastline. Once central to the economic growth and settlement of our nation, many of Florida's lighthouses face uncertain futures.
Our mission is to preserve, restore, protect and defend Florida's lighthouse towers, along with their material culture, buildings, artifacts and records to assure that the magic of Florida's lighthouses and lighthouse keepers will be available for the enjoyment and understanding of future generations.
Florida Lighthouse Objectives
To establish a statewide association of lighthouse organizations, lessees, owners, and enthusiasts by which to showcase Florida’s lighthouses and support the education of visitors and students from the nation and around the world concerning Florida’s lighthouses, and to search for innovative ways to provide world class interpretation of these historic sites and structures.
To support lighthouse preservation efforts and restoration of the light stations and their traditions, including the preservation of recent and former lighthouse sites, by organizations statewide through fund-raising programs and State and Federal grants, and to provide assistance to local lighthouse organizations in their forming and getting preservation projects under way;
To provide the facilities and the means for the research, interpretation and publication of information about Florida’s lighthouses past and present; and
To engage in all lawful purposes that will benefit the preservation of Florida’s lighthouses as permitted under the laws of the State of Florida for nonprofit organizations.
Meet the President
Jon Hill has served as the CEO/Executive Director of the Pensacola Lighthouse and Maritime Museum in Pensacola, Florida since 2009. He has a Bachelor of Arts degree in Anthropology/History & Maritime Studies from the University of West Florida. He has also studied Museology & Organizational Management at Northwestern University. During his tenure, the Pensacola Lighthouse has seen phenominal growth and undergone major, historic restoration.
Regarding the Lighthouse Renovation project, Jon says, “This was the most complicated project I’ve had the pleasure to manage. There were a lot of moving parts and multiple contractors from out of state that were brought together to make this restoration possible. To keep things interesting we had multiple buildings getting new custom roofs in the midst of hurricane season.
In 2017, when the Lighthouse desperately need an administration building, Jon and his team worked to get that done. “We needed an administration building for the museum.” Says Jon, “This project started with a photo of a building that was once on the property, and the proverbial back of the napkin drawing of a suitable floor plan. After a year of budgeting and planning and securing the funds, we broke ground on a replica of the Fort McCree Buoy Tender’s Cottage. For the immediate future it will house the offices, but it was built to easily be converted to either an income generating bed-n-breakfast or additional exhibit space.”
Jon is no stranger to the restoration needs of Florida’s Lighthouses. And his experiences in Pensacola make him well suited to lead the Florida Lighthouse Association into the future.
From the President
Come explore Florida’s lighthouses! Florida didn’t gain statehood until 1845 but there were already 13 lighthouses and 2 lightships protecting our coast and keys. Regrettably, only two of those lighthouses are still standing (Amelia Island and St. Marks). Today, there are 31 lighthouse towers dotted along our 1,350 miles of coastline and 113 miles of keys. These lighthouses need your support and all need continuing restoration work so they will be preserved for future generations.
Florida Lighthouse Association (FLA) is a not-for-profit membership organization. Our members play a critical role in our mission of preserving, restoring, protecting and defending Florida’s remaining lighthouse towers. By joining FLA, you support our mission and will enjoy our three membership meetings that end with a lighthouse visit. Speakers include local historians and sometimes, keeper’s descendants.
Run by a volunteer Board of Directors, FLA supports lighthouse organizations through knowledge sharing and two types of grants. Financial support for FLA’s mission comes from membership dues, charitable gifts and “Visit our Lights” license plate sales.
You can protect Florida’s lighthouses! Here’s how…
- Become a member and support FLA’s mission.
- Make a charitable gift to FLA – gifts from individuals play a major role in helping us operate as an organization and finances our educational and support grants.
- Florida residents buy our specialty license plate for your car. We receive $25 for each new “Visit Our Lights” plate and renewals. FLA commits 90% of these proceeds to grants for Florida lighthouse groups’
- historic restoration and preservation efforts.
- Volunteer to serve on a committee.
- Visit a Florida lighthouse.
Thank you for visiting our site and for your interest in lighthouses. Your opinion matters – please send me your comments: President@FloridaLighthouses.org.
Please help keep our lights bright!
Jon Hill
President
Officers & Committee Chairs

John Hill
President

Beverly Oakes
Executive Vice President
Sharon Belcher
Secretary
Barbara Bennet
Treasurer
Committee Chairs
Betty Lowe Phelps
Membership Recruitment and Retention

Dan Hogan
Governance

John Hill
Government Affairs (Ad-Hoc)
Dora Lee Rosendorf
Meeting Planning

Sharon McKenzie
Marketing/PR
Josh Liller
Marketing/PR

Ken Smith
Revenue Development
FLA Financial Reports
As a not-for-profit organization, we are required and please to share our IRS 990 Financial Reports. You may access them on our GuideStar account [https://www2.guidestar.org/]
Not Familiar with GuideStar?
Here are a few tips to help you navigate through the GuideStar process.
If you do NOT have a GuideStar account:
- Create an account - it is FREE and this is a reputable site with lots of information on nonprofits.
- Click on Register in the top left of the page.
- Create an account – When you have accepted the terms the page will tell you that they have sent you a confirmation email.
- Go to your email and find the email from customerservice@guidestar.org
- Click the link in that e-mail to activate your account:
- Welcome and thank you for registering at GuideStar.org. Click here to confirm your e-mail address and begin accessing the nonprofit data you need.
- At this point, you will be taken to GuideStar’s log in page.
- In the future, can go directly to http://www2.guidestar.org/ and log in.
After you log in, here’s how to access the FLA financial reports:
- Go to http://www2.guidestar.org/ and log in
- Once you are logged in on GuideStar’s home page complete the search boxes
- Choose “Nonprofit Search”
- Type in “Florida Lighthouse Association Inc”
- Click on Start Your Search
- Click on the red link FLORIDA LIGHTHOUSE ASSOCIATION INC
- Click on the grey tab “Forms 990 & Docs”
- Under Forms 990 Received from the IRS - Click on the year you want to review
Board of Directors
District One
Ron Ecker - Commissioner
Amelia Island - Chris Belcher
St. Augustine - Kathy Fleming
Cape Canaveral - Rocky Johnson
Hillsboro Inlet - Ken Herman
Mayport/St. Johns Ponce Inlet - Mike Bennett
Jupiter - Jamie Stuve
District Two
Eric Martin - Commissioner
Florida Keys Reef Lights Foundation - Jack Burrie
Dry Tortugas - Glen Simpson
District Three
Richard Sanchez - Commissioner
Boca Grande - Sharon McKenzie
Anclote Key - Dan Hogan
Egmont Key - Richard Sanchez
Cedar Key - John Hooker
District Four
Wanda Mayo - Commissioner
St. Marks - Craig Kittendorf
Cape San Blas - Charlotte Pierce
Pensacola - Jon Hill
Crooked River - Steve Allen
Cape St. George - Amy Hodson
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