Tuesday, September 1, 2020 -SOME WONDERFUL LIGHTHOUSES NEARBY
TUESDAY, SEPTEMBER 1, 2020
The
145th Edition
From Our Archives
LIGHTHOUSES
NEARBY
BLACKWELL’S ISLAND
LIGHTHOUSE
The Blackwell Island Lighthouse is a mysterious remnant of Roosevelt Island’s distant past. Before the slender East River island came to be owned by the city in the 1820s, it was owned by the Blackwell family and hence bore the family name. The lighthouse was commissioned by the city, not the Coast Guard, in 1872. The tower was meant to help illuminate the New York City Insane Asylum for incoming boats. James Renwick, Jr., the architect of the island’s nearby Smallpox Hospital (which still stands in ruins) and St. Patrick’s Cathedral, designed the tower and it is likely that patients were used for labor.
The mystery which surrounds the lighthouse is that of two possible asylum inmates whose names are associated with it. Legend says that before the lighthouse was constructed, asylum patient John McCarthy was building a clay fort to defend against British invasion on the site. When the lighthouse was to be built, his fort was destroyed. Supposedly what happened next was that another patient, Thomas Maxey, a self-styled architect, mason, carpenter, civil engineer, philosopher, and philanthropist built the lighthouse tower. Despite this version of events, a plaque at the lighthouse’s base, which disappeared in the 1960s, credited the lighthouse construction to McCarthy, leading historians to conjecture that either Maxey and McCarthy were the same person or that neither ever even existed.
The lighthouse was decommissioned in the 1940s and became a landmark in the 1970s. Today the site is run by the Roosevelt Island Operating Corp. The grounds surrounding the tower are open to the public but the lighthouse tower remains closed.
LITTLE RED LIGHTHOUSE
The Little Red Lighthouse is perhaps one of New York City’s most famous. The vibrantly colored beacon sits underneath the George Washington Bridge in Fort Washington Park on the shore of the Hudson River. Officially named the Jeffery’s Hook Lighthouse, it was originally erected across the river in New Jersey in 1880 then moved its current location in 1921.
The 40-foot tall structure has 48 cast-iron steps inside which will take you all the way to the top for stunning views of the New York skyline and the Hudson River. Though its color is its most famous feature, the lighthouse wasn’t always red, and no one knows exactly when or why it was painted! The Little Red Lighthouse found its way into the heart’s of New Yorkers
In 1942 when writers Hildegarde Swift and Lynd Ward published The Little Red Lighthouse and the Great Gray Bridge. In 1931, the completion of the bridge made the lighthouse obsolete and the Coast Guard planned to demolish it. The book helped to endear the little lighthouse to the public who ultimately saved the lighthouse.
UNTAPPED CITIES
EXECUTION ROCK
The ominously named Execution Rocks Lighthouse sits on a rocky stretch of reef in the Long Island Sound, not far from City Island and Hart Island in the Bronx. Legend has it that the moniker comes from executions carried out on the island by the British before the American Revolution. The British allegedly would chained prisoners to the rocks at low tide and let them drown when high tide came in, but there is no evidence to support this. The official origin story of the name comes from the treacherous, rocky terrain of the area which has led to many boats being “executed” as they tried to pass.
UNTAPPED CITIES
ROMER SHOAL LIGHTHOUSE
The Romer Shoal Lighthouse, a landmarked structure placed at its current location in 1898. Before becoming a beacon in the water the steel structure was used at the Staten Island Lighthouse Depot to test fuel, wicks, bulbs and other equipment. Before the lighthouse was moved to its current spot, two other structures marked the location of the dangerous shoal, or hidden ridge, beneath the water. The Romer part of the name has been contested, though the most likely story is that it was named after Wolfgang William Romer, a Dutch military engineer and cartographer who mapped New York’s waterways in the 18th-century.
The lighthouse was manned by a crew of three men while in operation. It was automated in 1966. After a severe storm caused damage to the lighthouse in 1992, the Coast Guard wanted to replace it but Joe Esposito, keeper of the Staten Island Lighthouse at the time, wouldn’t allow it.
In 2011 the lighthouse was put up for auction and purchased by John Scalia. The lighthouse has sentimental value to Scalia who grew up looking at it from his home on Staten Island. It was also the first structure his immigrant parents saw as they journeyed to Ellis Island. Today, Scalia leads an organization of “Romer Keepers” who are working to restore the lighthouse which has sustained significant damage from the passage of time and storms like Superstorm Sandy.
UNTAPPED CITIES
PRINCES BAY LIGHTHOUSE
The Princes Bay Lighthouse was erected in 1828 in response to increased shipping traffic in New York City. The original structure consisted of a rubblestone tower which reached a height of just over thirty feet tall. It was replace in 1864 by a new brownstone tower and a two-story keeper’s house was completed next to it in 1868. The two structures are connected by a fifteen-foot-long passageway, which doubled as an oil room. Material from the original house was used to build a new barn and stable.
In 1926, the lighthouse was sold to the Mission of the Immaculate Virgin in a public auction. The mission was a residence and school for orphans which already occupied the land surrounding the lighthouse. One way the mission customized the lighthouse to their needs and taste was by adding a statue of the Virgin Mary to the top of the tower. New York State and the Trust for Public Land bought the structure and surrounding land from the Archdiocese of New York in 1999 and it is now part of Mount Loretto Unique Area. The lighthouse has been renamed the John Cardinal O’Connor Lighthouse in honor of the Archbishop of New York who and it currently serves as the residence of the local forest ranger.
UNTAPPED CITIES
KINGSBOROUGH LIGHTHOUSE
Located near the eastern tip of the peninsula below Sheepshead Bay in Manhattan Beach, the Kingsborough Lighthouse is the newest lighthouse in New York City. Built by the Coast Guard in 1990 and originally named the Marine and Academic Center, or MAC, the structure is part of the Kingsborough Community College campus. The flashing white light beams outward from 114 feet above sea level and shines out eleven miles.
The light is housed in a metal point at the top of a building which serves as space for classes and conferences, as well as cultural events and performances as part of On Stage at Kingsborough programming. One of the most popular series hosted at the site is the annual series of intimate jazz concerts, Jazz at the Lighthouse. With floor to ceiling windows which look out to the water, the lighthouse is a great place to enjoy a show.
UNTAPPED CITIES
NEW DORP LIGHTHOUSE
This Staten Island lighthouse takes its name from the surrounding town which was a Dutch settlement. New Dorp is the anglicized version of the Dutch phrase for “New Town.” The lighthouse tower sticks out from the center of the keeper’s house to cast its light across Lower New York Bay and Sandy Hook, New Jersey.
When the lighthouse was built, the only other nearby establishment was the Moravian Cemetery to the east. The path through the woods to get to the lighthouse wasn’t even wide enough for a horse and wagon, so keepers would use the roads of the cemetery. The town became more populous through the decades and in 1964 the lighthouse was abandoned and boarded up. It sold at auction in 1974 to a local Staten Island resident, John Vokral, who restored the structure, though no light shines out from the tower anymore. It remains a private residence.
UNTAPPED CITIES
SANDY HOOK LIGHTHOUSE
The Sandy Hook Lighthouse in New Jersey is the oldest continuously operating lighthouse in the United States. Serving as the entryway into New York Harbor, the lighthouse was built in 1764 on Sandy Hook, a stretch of land which juts out dangerously (for ships) into the Atlantic Ocean. In order to help pay for the purchase of land and construction of the lighthouse a lottery was held. 10,000 tickets were but the profit didn’t raise enough money to fun entire project. It did however allow for the purchase of four acres on Sandy Hook from its current owners at the time, Esik and Richard Hartshorne. A second lottery raise the remaining funds.
Since New Yorkers were the ones to raise the money, it was originally called the New York Lighthouse. The Sandy Hook Lighthouse was designated as a National Historic Landmark on its bicentennial in 1964 and transferred to the National Park Service in 1996. In 2014 it underwent a restoration and is open to the public for tours. Because of shifting sands, the lighthouse now sits more than a half mile inland from its original spot, and interesting reversal of shore erosion.
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Yesterday was a perfect day to head of to the Metropolitan Museum. The museum has admissions procedures very well organized. Quick temp check, no food or drinks allowed, not package check. Once you are in the museum there are one way signs in certain areas which means that you end up in area you usually do not visit. To get to the American Wing I travelled thru Egypt and had a brief rest at the Temple of Dendur. Some of the smaller rooms are shut off, but there is lots to see. My old favorites in the Impressionist galleries still are wonderful. Other areas have new exhibits and the 150th anniversary tells the stories of the donors and benefactors that filled the Met with treasures. In today’s world the stories are interesting and enlightening.
(There is no food in the museum so be prepared)
Judith Berdy
jbird134@aol.com
Text by Judith Berdy
Thanks to Bobbie Slonevsky for her dedication to Blackwell’s Almanac and the RIHS
Thanks to Deborah Dorff for maintaining our website
Edited by Melanie Colter and Deborah Dorff
All image are copyrighted (c)
Roosevelt Island Historical Society
unless otherwise indicated
THANKS TO UNTAPPED CITIES FOR THE WONDERFUL
LIGHTHOUSE DESCRIPTIONS.
FUNDING PROVIDED BY ROOSEVELT ISLAND OPERATING CORPORATION PUBLIC PURPOSE GRANTS
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