Saybrook Breakwater Light

Saybrook Breakwater Light
Saybrook Outer

Saybrook Breakwater Light
Connecticut
Location Old Saybrook
Connecticut
United States
Coordinates 41°15′47.68″N 72°20′34″W / 41.2632444°N 72.34278°W / 41.2632444; -72.34278
Year first constructed 1886
Automated 1959
Foundation cast iron and concrete caisson
Construction sparkplug lighthouse
Tower shape 2-stages cylindrical tower with double balcony and lantern incorporating keeper's quarter
Height 48 feet (15 m)
Focal height 58 feet (18 m)
Original lens Fifth order Fresnel lens
Current lens 300 mm lens
Light source solar power
Characteristic Fl G 6s.
Admiralty number J0744
ARLHS number USA-740
USCG number 1-21115
Managing agent

United States Coast Guard[1] [2]

Saybrook Breakwater Lighthouse
Location S terminus of Saybrook Jetty at mouth of Connecticut River, Old Saybrook, Connecticut
Area less than one acre
Built 1886
MPS Operating Lighthouses in Connecticut MPS
NRHP Reference # 89001474[3]
Added to NRHP May 29, 1990

Saybrook Breakwater Lighthouse is a sparkplug lighthouse in Connecticut, United States, at Fenwick Point at the mouth of the Connecticut River near Old Saybrook, Connecticut. It is featured[4] on the state's "Preserve the Sound" license plates.

"That outer lighthouse is the symbol of Old Saybrook," town First Selectman Michael Pace said in 2007, when the town was making plans to buy the lighthouse from the federal government.[4]

The lighthouse is also known simply as "Breakwater Light" or "Outer Light". It is one of two built off Lynde Point in the nineteenth century. The other lighthouse, known as Lynde Point Light or more commonly as "Inner Light", is 75 years older than this lighthouse. The two lighthouses mark the harbor channel at the mouth of the Connecticut River.[4]

History

The lighthouse has been in service since 1886.[4]

In 2007, the federal government announced it would sell the lighthouse as part of the National Historic Lighthouse Preservation Program, which was created to transfer responsibility for maintenance of lighthouses to municipal governments or private entities. The Old Saybrook town government expressed an interest in the lighthouse, which is not expected to be transferred from the federal government until sometime in 2008 or 2009. The National Park Service will screen potential owners. The Coast Guard would continue to maintain the light while the new owners maintain the historic structure. The Coast Guard also owns the land on which the lighthouse sits, and transferring the land is not part of the preservation program. As of January 14, 2014, the Minio family are the new private owners of the Old Saybrook Point Lighthouse. Joseph C. Minio, Sr. and Dr. Christopher M. Minio are co-Lighthouse owners and keepers.[4]

Keepers

Head
  • Frank W. Paumlee (1886 – 1890)
  • John G. Shipworth (1890 – 1896)
  • George W. Fife (1896 – 1897)
  • Robert A. Bishop (1897 – 1898)
  • Nathaniel Dodge (1898)
  • Thomas Burke (1898 – 1899)
  • John Dahlman (1899 – 1907)
  • Herbert S. Knowles (1907 – 1911)
  • Simon Sfvorinich (1911 – 1912)
  • seph F. Woods (1912 – at least 1917)
  • John A. Davis (at least 1919 – 1920)
  • Paul G. Peterson (1920 – at least 1921)
  • Elwood L. Butler (at least 1923)
  • Andrew A. McLintock (1932 – 1935)
  • Sidney Z. Gross (at least 1938 – 1940)
  • Roger H. Green (1940 – 1943)
  • Thomas A. Buckridge (1943 – 1944)
  • George E. Sheffield (1948 – 1953)

See also

References

  1. Saybrook Breakwater (Saybrook Outer) The Lighthouse Directory. University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. Retrieved 22 June 2016
  2. Connecticut Historic Light Station Information & Photography United States Coast Guard. Retrieved 22 June 2016
  3. National Park Service (2010-07-09). "National Register Information System". National Register of Historic Places. National Park Service.
  4. 1 2 3 4 5 Associated Press news article, titled "Old Saybrook lighthouse for sale for $1" in The Advocate of Stamford, Connecticut, August 7, 2007, page A4
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