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Managing Organization:
Fire Island Lighthouse Preservation Society
Telephone: 631-321-7028
Website: http://www.fireislandlighthouse.com
Email:
Contact Address Information:
Box 4640
Captree Island
New York, 11702-4601, United States
Notes:
In 1982 Fire Island Light was scheduled for demolition by the government. A local group of preservationists was successful in having the site transferred from the Coast Guard to the Fire Island National Seashore. The lighthouse was also designated a National Historic Landmark. The Fire Island Lighthouse Preservation Society successfully raised funds to restore the lighthouse and relighted it on May 25, 1986. Since 1982 the Fire Island Lighthouse Preservation Society has worked to preserve the heritage of Fire Island and Long Island, with the Fire Island Lighthouse being an integral part of the heritage.
Tower Height: 168
Height of Focal Plane: 167
Characteristic and Range: Flashing white every 7.5 seconds, range 24 nautical miles.
Description of Tower: Conical brick, cement-coated tower with alternating black and white horizontal bands (two white, two black), black cast iron lantern.
This light is operational
Other Buildings?
1859 two-story keeper's house, boathouse.
Earlier Towers?
1827: 74-foot octagonal stone tower.
Date Established: 1827
Date Present Tower Built: 1858
Date Deactivated: 1974-1986
Date Automated: 1986
Optics: 1856: First order Fresnel lens, now DCB-224. The Fresnel lens is on display in the Visitor Center at Fire Island Light.
Current Use: Active aid to navigation, museum.
Open To Public? Yes
Museum?
A guided tour lasts approximately one and half hours and includes a visit to the Lighthouse museum, and a walk up the 192 steps to the top of the lighthouse tower. Park rangers and volunteers lead the tours. Reservations are necessary for tower tours; call 516-321-7028. The lighthouse is closed Mondays and Tuesdays all year. Hours: July 1st to Labor Day: Wednesday through Sunday, 9:30 a.m. - 5:00 p.m. April 1st to June 30th and September to December 24th: Tours on weekends only. Closed January, February and March.
Directions:
From the north, take the Long Island Expressway or Northern State Parkway to Sagktikos Parkway South. From the south use Southern State Parkway. Then take the Robert Moses Causeway South over the bridge to the end. Go left at the beach tower to parking field #5. Follow the signs to the lighthouse.
Listed on the National Register of Historic Places
Keepers: Eliphalet Smith (c. 1830); Felix Dominy (c. 1835-1840); Selah Strong (c. 6/12/1850); Benjamin Smith (4/29/1853 - 4/12/1861); C. W. Fordham (4/12/1861 - 1/19/1864); David L. Baldwin (1/29/1864 - 3/29/1865); Samuel L. Hulse (5/26/1865 - 5/4/1869); Jeremy S. Wicks (5/4/1869 - 8/19/1870); Henry French (8/28/1870-?); Warren F. Clock (c. 1871-1873); Seth R. Hubbard (c. 1875 - 1877); George Elbert Abrams (2nd assistant, then 1st assistant 1883-?); Walter Abrams (c. 1880s); George W. Ruland (c. 1885); Ezra S. Mott (7/23/1888 - c.1895); William F. Aichele (1909-1916); George J. Thomas (c. 1918); Isaac Karlin (c. 1923-1928); Adrien Joseph Boisvert (1934 - 1941); Roy Wood (Coast Guard, 1940-1942); Shelbert Payne (Coast Guard, c. 1945-1946); Robert Hodges (Coast Guard, 3/17/1947 - 10/8/1958); Gottfried Mahler (Coast Guard, 1948-1954); Arnie Leiter (Coast Guard, 3/14/57 - 12/14/59); Duane Butler (Coast Guard, 1965-1969); Rockwell Norris (Coast Guard, c. late 1960s or early 1970s)
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