Located on an isolated point with white lime cliffs surrounded by lagoons and marshes, Cabo Rojo, built in 1882, marks the southeast entrance from the Caribbean Sea through Mona Passage into the Atlantic Ocean. Cabo Rojo's lighthouse has simple decorative elements including an unelaborated cornice that is repeated in the tower. Although originally housing two keepers and an engineer, the lighthouse was left unmanned following a 1967 renovation and automation. The old cast-iron, copper and glass lantern still houses the original illuminating apparatus, a lenticular lens manufactured by the French firm Sautter, Lemonnier and Company.

Faro de Los Morillos de Cabo Rojo is located on the southeastern point of Cabo Rojo, on the Morrillos Peninsula, southwest of Puerto Rico. The Cabo Rojo National Wildlife Refuge is open 7:00am to 4:00pm, Monday-Friday. For more information, call the lighthouse at 787-851-1025, the refuge at 787-851-7258 or visit the refuge's website. Faro de Los Morillos de Cabo Rojo has also been documented by the Historic American Engineering Record.

Information and photos courtesy of the National Register for Historic Places Puerto Rico Travel Itinerary, a subsidiary of the National Park Service.

Credits and Sources:

Nancy Cox, Undergraduate Student, University of West Florida