The Little Red Lighthouse and the Great Gray Bridge
>>Click to enlarge (Size: 90,711 bytes)<< Written by Hildegrade H. Swift, this is one of the most famous children’s books of all times. With color artwork by Lynd Ward it is sure to captivate the imagination of young and old alike. Built in 1880 of cast iron and steel, the real little red lighthouse orginally served the United States Coast Guard as the North Hook Beacon at Sandy Hook, New Jersey. In 1921 it was relocated to Fort Washington Park, on the New York bank of the Hudson River, becoming the Jeffrey's Hook Lighthouse - the only lighthouse on the island of Manhattan. It was decommissioned when the George Washington Bridge opened in 1932. In 1951 public outcry and editorials in the New York Times helped prevent the auction of the lighthouse: it was given instead to the city of New York. Without regular use, however, it fell into disrepair-its concrete base cracked, its light left dark. Its doors were welded shut. Nearly 30 years later, the lighthouse was added to the National Register of Historic Places. It was restored in the 1980s and was designated a city landmark in 1991. And in 2002, which marks the sixtieth anniversary of the publication of The Little Red Lighthouse and the Great Gray Bridge, the lighthouse, dark since 1947, was outfitted with a new lens, so that its beacon could shine across the waters of the Hudson River once more.
Keepers Picks
Build your own lighthouse watch!
