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In the wonderful novel by Patrick Smith, “A Land Remembered“, he talks about the cattle drives that took place across the state of Florida to Punta Rassa. Punta Rassa is located on the mainland across San Carlos Bay from the eastern end of Sanibel Island. This is where the cattle were loaded onto ships to be transported to Cuba. In 1856 the Lighthouse Board recommended a beacon be established on Sanibel Island to light the port. It wasn’t until after the Civil War in 1883 that the grant for sufficient funding, all of $50,000, was given. In 1884 the project was completed and the lighthouse was operational. Heck, Today our federal government spends more money than that on a senator’s backyard lighting at a barbeque.
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