"In 1932 the tower was disassembled and moved to a spot 175 feet inland"

As I made my way to the door at the bottom of the tower, I could hear the Lizards rustling in the bushes, planning their attack.  

Nice view of Boca Grande Rear Range Lighthouse from the approach side.  You can also get a good view from the beach on the other side.

In addition to the Boca Grande Lighthouse at the southern tip of Gasparilla Island you can visit the metal tower lighthouse called the Entrance Range Rear Lighthouse.  It is about a mile north of the lighthouse and museum that is located at the southern tip of the Island.

This hexagonal steel tower with a cylindrical steel center section has an enclosed spiral staircase and is 105 feet above sea level, over twice as high as the other Boca Grande Lighthouse.  A rear range lighthouse is used the same way that you line up the sights on a gun. When one lighthouse is directly behind the other, your vessel is in the middle of the channel.

The best information I have says that this lighthouse was built in 1927.  It sits about halfway up the island on the Gulf of Mexico side. 

Soon after construction shifting sands put the lighthouse in the Gulf of Mexico 50 feet from the beach. In 1932 the tower was disassembled and moved to a spot 175 feet inland.  

Visitors cannot climb the tower.  But you can come right up to the base and get some great shots up the side of the tower.  There is a lot of overgrowth in the area and the bushes are rustling with the sounds of large lizards.  I don’t know if the lizards are vicious or not, but be careful !!  They look like they could easily take off a finger.

There is parking nearby and a great beach right next to the lighthouse.  The Rear Range Lighthouse continues in operation today as an automatic beacon flashing white with a red interruption.  The visibility of the light is 16 miles. This light now works in conjunction with lighted channel buoys to guide vessels along the very busy channel into Charlotte Harbor.

 

The old metal skeleton lighthouse looks to be in pretty good shape up close.

Here's another one of those Lizards crossing the road about 15 feet in front of us.