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| | Ponce de Leon Inlet Light Station - History - Francis Hopkinson Smith |
 | | Francis Hopkinson Smith, a noted engineer, artist, and writer, was born in Baltimore, Maryland, on October 23, 1838, the great-grandson of Francis Hopkinson, a signer of the Declaration of Independence. |
 | | Smith's engineering firm was in business for thirty years, contracting many projects with the Federal Government, including the building of the Race Rock Lighthouse, the Block Island Break-water, the sea wall on Staten Island, the foundations for the Statue of Liberty, and the architectural plans for the Mosquito Inlet Lighthouse. |
 | | In his free time, Smith painted and wrote many notable books, a best seller of which was his novel Caleb West: Master Diver (1898), recounting his construction of the Race Rock Lighthouse. |
| www.ponceinlet.org /history-francis.html (197 words) |
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