Little Gull Island Lighthouse

Year Built

1806

Cost

$8,000

Type

Conical

Height

81 feet

Location

Off Fisher's Island, New York in Long Island Sound

Automated Year

1978

First Lit

1869

Lens Type

Second Order Fresnel lens

Fog Signal

1 blast every 15s

Year Deactivated

Active

Color

Gray granite

Last Keeper - Date

Emilio Soto, Jr. (1970 – )

Description

The lighthouse is not open to the public.

Brief History

•  In 1813, the light was extinguished by a group of Royal Marines in a raid led by Commodore Thomas Hardy during the War of 1812.
•  The original tower finally did receive a Fresnel lens of the third-order in 1858, two years after a fog bell was established at the station.
•  On May 15, 1928, a radiobeacon was established on Little Gull Island as part of network to guide mariners through Long Island Sound.
•  A fire in 1944 destroyed much of the keeper’s house and spread into the lighthouse tower.
•  In 2009 Little Gull Island Light was put up for sale under the National Historic Lighthouse Preservation Act.