The Lighthouse at the End of Hillsboro Mile Turns 120, and the Way In Starts From Pompano

How many people on Hillsboro Mile see the Hillsboro Inlet Lighthouse every night and have never been up it? The tower stands at the south tip of the island they live on. The visit, though, belongs to the other side of the water. The Hillsboro Lighthouse Preservation Society describes its tours as "a boat ride across the inlet, the station grounds, and the climb to the top." Boats leave from Riverside Drive in Pompano Beach. The museum sits in a Pompano Beach park facing the light. For the 120th season, which runs this winter and spring, getting to that light means planning around the far shore.

A season counted from March 8, 1907

HLPS records that Russell Wheel and Foundry Co. of Detroit built the tower in 1906. It was taken apart and shipped from Detroit through the Great Lakes and down the Mississippi River to Miami. From there it went north by barge to Hillsboro Inlet. The light was first lit on March 8, 1907. The federal Treasury had bought about three acres for the station in 1904.

So the light turns 120 on March 8, 2027. HLPS has put its 120th Hillsboro Lighthouse Birthday Tour on Saturday, March 13, five days after the anniversary.

The station holds a second piece of local history. A Barefoot Mailman statue was moved to the light station in 2003. HLPS says it commemorates the Barefoot Mailmen and honors the legend of Ed Hamilton, who disappeared at Hillsboro Inlet. The tour takes you onto the station grounds, so the statue is part of the visit along with the climb.

The calendar, with one date carrying the town's name

HLPS runs one tour day a month. Several of them are named for the communities around the inlet. Here is the published calendar from the week this post appears through spring:

Boats leave every hour from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. on each date. February 13 is the date named for the Town of Hillsboro Beach. The next named tour after the season is the Lighthouse Point Appreciation Tour on Sunday, June 13, 2027. The first tour on the calendar is Sunday, November 15.

How a tour day runs from Riverside Drive

Boats leave from South FL Diving HQ at 101 North Riverside Drive in Pompano Beach. To get there, drive east on Atlantic Boulevard and turn north on Riverside Drive. The dock is a quarter block up on the west side of the road. City pay parking is a quarter block farther, across the street. From the south end of Hillsboro Mile, that means heading away from the light first and crossing back over the water to reach it.

The HLPS tours page lays out the day this way:

1. Join online ahead of time or at the dock. Without a membership, the boat ride costs $35 per person.
2. Arrive 30 minutes before your boat. Volunteers check you in, give you a wristband and help you aboard. Check-in opens 30 minutes before the first sailing and stays open until the last boat.
3. Walk the station grounds and climb the lighthouse. Boats leave the lighthouse dock about 30 minutes after each sailing time.

Seats can't be reserved. The society says so plainly:

"We don't take seat reservations. Seating is first come, first served, and boats can fill up quickly in peak season."

Six of the seven dates in the table fall on Saturdays. That includes the February tour named for the town and the March birthday tour, the one most likely to draw a crowd. Arriving when check-in opens is the surest way to get your preferred boat.

What a membership saves a household

The $35 fee is charged per person, per visit. Members ride free. HLPS sells annual memberships at three levels: $50 for one person, $75 for up to four people and $100 for up to six.

For a household of four, one tour without a membership costs $140 in boat fees. The $75 family membership covers all four for the year. With seven tour dates left from November 15 through May 8, a household planning to go up for both the February tour and the March birthday tour would pay $280 without a membership and $75 with one. Six people would pay $210 per trip without a membership, against $100 for the year.

This winter, the museum's side of the inlet is scheduled for construction

The HLPS Museum is the other half of a lighthouse day. It sits in Roy L. Rogers Family Park, also called Hillsboro Inlet Park, at 2700 N. Ocean Boulevard on A1A in Pompano Beach. Admission is free. The posted hours are Tuesday through Sunday from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m., closed Mondays, and 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. on tour days. The collection holds hundreds of artifacts, vintage photographs and books on the lighthouse. The museum was remodeled in 2019 with donations from Pompano Proud, the City of Pompano Beach and the Hillsboro Shores Improvement Association. It looks straight across the inlet at the tower, by day and at night when the light is on.

The City of Pompano Beach scheduled a rebuild of that park's waterfront for this season. Its project page describes a new seawall cap, promenade improvements and replacement public docks, with work and closures scheduled in phases:

• Phase 1, staging scheduled for the week of August 10, 2026: the fishing area and north promenade close.
• Phase 2, expected to begin in September 2026: landside walking access to the finger pier, the Wahoo Bay promenade and the north fishing promenade closes, and Water Taxi service is to be suspended or relocated.
• Phase 3, expected to begin in late September or early October 2026: no pedestrian access within the work areas, the finger pier comes out, and pier access to the Water Taxi and Wahoo Bay is unavailable through early January 2027.

The City expects to finish in January 2027 and notes that dates may change because of weather, permitting or unforeseen construction conditions. In a separate notice, the City listed an expected October 2026 closure for the Wahoo Bay swim platform, with no public platform access and no ambassador or snorkel booth.

The water taxi matters here. The Water Taxi's Pompano Beach route page lists a stop at Roy L. Rogers Family Park as P11 and marks the Sands Harbor stop, P6, as temporarily closed. If you're thinking about pairing the museum with a water taxi ride before mid-January, confirm the boarding point with the operator and the work status with the City first. The November 15, December 5 and January 9 tours all fall within the City's planned construction window. The February 13 Hillsboro Beach tour and the March birthday tour come after the expected completion.

The channel the boats cross

The water between the museum and the station is a working channel that needs constant upkeep. The Hillsboro Inlet District reported 70,875 cubic yards of dredged material for 2026 through April. Its sand bypass places that material on Pompano Beach just south of the south jetty. In May, TAPinto Pompano Beach reported the District saying the outer ocean channel remained hard to dredge safely in rough weather and waves.

The District has a replacement coming. A June 2026 District document says a new dredge is under contract for delivery in fall 2027, and that the Board approved financing of up to $5.5 million on February 19, 2026. That delivery is due after the birthday tour and the rest of this season's calendar. On tour days, then, the boats from Riverside Drive will run the inlet the same way the District has been working it all year.

For homeowners at the inlet end of Hillsboro Mile, the light is part of the property's story. When you decide it's time to tell that story to buyers, Tagliamonte & Associates can help you price it and present it with discretion. Request a Confidential Home Valuation.