09/19/2026
ALLIGATOR REEF WAS NOT NAMED AFTER AN ALLIGATOR.
It was named after a warship.
The U.S. Navy schooner Alligator was built to fight piracy and suppress the transatlantic slave trade. During its brief service, the vessel captured several slave ships and fought pirates near Cuba.
In November 1822, after losing its captain during a deadly confrontation, the Alligator was escorting seven recovered merchant vessels north through the Florida Keys.
Then it struck an uncharted coral reef.
The crew escaped and removed what they could before destroying the stranded vessel so pirates could not seize it. The dangerous reef inherited the ship’s name.
More than 50 years later, the 136-foot Alligator Reef Lighthouse rose above the same waters. First illuminated in 1873, its powerful lens warned generations of mariners away from the coral hidden below.
The historic light eventually went dark for approximately a decade, but an Islamorada community organization brought it back to life with solar-powered lights in 2023. Major restoration efforts continue.
A lost ship gave the reef its name. A lighthouse transformed that disaster into a warning for everyone who followed.
Follow The Florida Files as we uncover the stories still shining above and hiding beneath, Florida’s waters.
