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Recently representatives from New York’s seven remaining Hudson River Lighthouses signed the Official Charter of the Hudson River Lighthouse Coalition (HRLC). Also in attendance were members of the Hudson Mohawk Resource, Conservation & Development Council, the Lower Hudson-Long Island RC&D Council, the Hudson River Valley Greenway Council and American Heritage Rivers Initiative, who have been instrumental in forming and supporting this historic project.

When Henry Hudson sailed up the North River in search of the Northwest Passage, little did he know that someday the river bearing his name would eventually connect the east coast to America’s heartland via the Erie Canal. In the years that followed his discovery, river towns used the river to transport their goods to New York City and upstate New York. To help guide these ships, they established a series of post lights to mark dangerous spots along the river, but this unorganized system proved unreliable. When the Erie Canal opened in 1825 and commercial river traffic increased, the U.S. Lighthouse Establishment felt the need for a more sophisticated system of lights. In 1826 the Stony Point Lighthouse was the first to shine its light on the Hudson, starting a system of lights that eventually grew to a total of 14 lighthouses and numerous post lamps to guide mariners safely the length of the river.

The newly formed Coalition will not only unite the multiple organizations that oversee the remaining seven lights, but will promote architectural preservation, explore opportunities to utilize available resources, and allow them to work together as a united front to educate, interpret, protect, and restore all the Hudson River Lighthouses.

For more information you can contact Dee Jensen, USDA, Natural Resource Conservation Service, Project Manager, at 518-828-4385, ext 105.

Jim Crowley is the author of “Lighthouses of New York,” which is available from Lighthouse Depot at 1-800-758-1444 or www.LighthouseDepot.com

This story appeared in the March 2002 edition of Lighthouse Digest Magazine. For subscription information about the print edition, click here.

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