Editing Key Biscayne (section)

===Surveys and lighthouses===
[[File:U.S. Coast Survey Base Marker (Key Biscayne, Florida) 01 rotate and crop.jpg|thumb|upright|U.S. Coast Survey Base Marker]]
The numerous ship wrecks that occurred along the southeast coast of Florida from Key Biscayne to the [[Dry Tortugas]] was a cause for concern. Between the late 1840s and the late 1850s, more than 500 ships were wrecked on the [[Florida Reef]]. The Assistant United States Coast Surveyor reported that in the period from 1845 through 1849, almost one million (United States) dollars worth of vessels and cargoes were lost on the reef.{{sfn|Blank|1996|p=63}}

In 1846, the [[United States Congress|U.S. Congress]] appropriated $23,000 to rebuild the Cape Florida lighthouse and work was completed in 1847.

In 1849 the United States Board of Engineers conducted a preliminary survey of the coast of Florida. In a report written by Lieutenant Colonel [[Robert E. Lee]] in March, 1849, the Board recommended that Key Biscayne be made a military reservation.{{sfn|Blank|1996|p=61}} Later that year, the [[United States Army Corps of Engineers|United States Army Corps of Topographical Engineers]] set up a camp with an [[Astronomy|astronomical]]/[[magnetism|magnetic]] station to serve as a datum base for a [[surveying|survey]] of the Florida Keys and the Great Florida Reef.{{sfn|Blank|1996|pp=63–65}}

To learn more about the Great Florida Reef, Alexander Bache invited [[Louis Agassiz]] to study it. The U.S. Coast Survey sent Agassiz to Key Biscayne in 1851. He wrote a detailed report for Bache on the reefs stretching from Key Biscayne to the Marquesas Keys.{{sfn|Blank|1996|p=75}}

The [[triangulation]] survey was conducted by the [[United States Coast and Geodetic Survey|United States Coast Survey]] with men detailed from the U.S. Army and U.S. Navy. Approximately forty men were based at Cape Florida working on the survey when [[Alexander Dallas Bache]], Superintendent of the U.S. Coast Survey, went to Key Biscayne in 1855 to take charge of it. The survey eventually covered Key Biscayne, Biscayne Bay, the Florida Keys from south of Key Biscayne to the [[Marquesas Keys]], and [[Florida Bay]] from the Keys to [[Cape Sable]].{{sfn|Blank|1996|pp=63–65}}

In 1861, [[Confederate States of America|Confederate]] militants sabotaged the lighthouse so that it could not guide [[Union (American Civil War)|Union]] sailors during the blockade of [[Confederate States of America|Confederate]] [[Florida]]. The lighthouse was repaired and re-lit again in 1866.{{citation needed|date=September 2024}} In 1878 the Cape Florida Light was replaced by the [[Fowey Rocks Light]], {{convert|7|mi|km|spell=in}} southeast of Cape Florida.{{sfn|Blank|1996|pp=85–86}}

From 1888 to 1893, the [[Cape Florida Light|Cape Florida lighthouse]] was leased by the [[United States Secretary of the Treasury]] for a total of US$1.00 (20 cents per annum) to the [[Biscayne Bay Yacht Club]] for use as its headquarters. It was listed as the southernmost yacht club in the United States, and the tallest in the world. After the lease expired, the yacht club moved to [[Coconut Grove, Florida|Coconut Grove]], where it continues.{{sfn|Blank|1996|pp=81–85, 96}}

In 1898, in response to the growing tension with Spain over [[Cuba]], which led to the [[Spanish–American War]], the Cape Florida lighthouse was briefly made U.S. Signal Station Number Four. It was one of 36 along the U.S. [[East Coast of the United States|East Coast]] and [[Gulf Coast of the United States|Gulf Coast]] from [[Maine]] to [[Texas]]. The Signal Stations were established to provide an early warning of any approach of the Spanish fleet.{{sfn|Blank|1996|pp=112–113}}

The north base marker for Key Biscayne was discovered in 1970 as workers were clearing land. It was at first mistaken as a gravestone for someone named A. D. Bache.{{sfn|Blank|1996|pp=61–66}} The survey base marker at Cape Florida ended up under water, as the south end of the island eroded. It could be seen at low tide as late as 1913. In 1988 the Cape Florida base marker was recovered from under water and installed near the Cape Florida lighthouse.<ref>[http://www.waymarking.com/waymarks/WM3ZVD_US_COAST_BASE_SURVEY_MARKER Historical Marker for Cape Florida Survey Marker] retrieved 2009-07-28</ref><ref>[http://i663.photobucket.com/albums/uu354/Factoids2000/Cape%20Florida/CapeFlorida2.jpg Cape Florida Survey Marker photograph] retrieved 2009-07-28</ref>