Faro de Punta Higuero

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Built at a cost of 12,361 pesos by the Spanish, the initial lighthouse on Punta Higuero was activated on January 13, 1893 to direct mariners safely into Mayaquez Bay and through Mona Passage, which divides Puerto Rico from Mona Island. The tower's lantern room originally housed a sixth-order Fresnel lens, displaying light at a focal plane of sixty-nine feet. Initially powered by an oil lamp, the first light source was later upgraded in 1913 to a more powerful oil-vapor lamp. The U.S Lighthouse Service took control of Puerto Rico's lighthouses in 1900 and built a detached, fireproof oil house at Punta Higuero in 1914 to store volatile kerosene. Also in 1914, Jose Prieto, keeper of the lighthouse, was awarded the lighthouse efficiency pennant for maintaining the model station in the district. The original lighthouse consisted of a one-story dwelling made of stone and brick built around a thirty-two-foot-tall octagonal brick tower. A Historic American Engineering Record included this description of the old lighthouse: Its Mediterranean appearance came from an elaborate combination of exposed and indented brick work on faces, around doors and windows, and corners. The "castle" look was further emphasized by reddish stucco imitating stone-work on all facades and a very elaborate exposed brick cornice topped by a parapet built in lace-like brick-work. Punta Higuero Lighthouse was severely damaged by an earthquake striking the area at 10:20 a.m. on October 11, 1918, but it remained unaffected by the tsunami associated with the quake due to its bluff-top location. The nearby lighthouse at Punta Borinquen was rendered unusable by both the earthquake and the tsunami. Following the tremor and several aftershocks, an inspection of Punta Higuero Lighthouse found two serious cracks in the tower extending clear through the brickwork located two and eight feet above the roof of the dwelling. Other cracks were discovered in the arches above windows and doors in exterior walls, and a great deal of plaster had fallen from the walls. The dwelling was vacated due to safety concerns by the keepers, and $30,000 was requested to construct a new lighthouse out of reinforced concrete. A reinforced concrete yoke was placed around the tower for support until a new structure was completed.