Lantern Hill

Lantern Hill, elevation 490 feet (149 meters), is located in North Stonington, Connecticut.

Name

The hill's white quartz cliffs are said to shine in sunlight when viewed from the Atlantic Ocean (Caulkins 1895; Crandall 1949). [cite book
last = Caulkins
first = Frances Manwaring
title = History of New London, Connecticut: From the First Survey of the Coast in 1612, to 1860
year = 1895
publisher = Utley
location = New London
oclc = 11240486
pages = p. 97 ] [cite book
last = Crandall
first = Katharine B.
title = The Fine Old Town of Stonington: A Historical Tribute to the Founders and Their Descendants
year = 1949
publisher = Utter
location = Westerly
oclc = 1958744
pages = pp. 107-108 ] Some consider the hill to be "Tar Barrel Hill," where barrels of tar were burned on August 11, 1814, to warn residents of the approach of the British during the War of 1812 (Philips 1992) [cite book
last = Philips
first = David E.
title = Legendary Connecticut: Traditional Tales from the Nutmeg State
edition = 2nd edition
year = 1992
publisher = Curbstone
location = Willimantic
isbn = 1-880684-05-5
oclc = 26218340
pages = p. 122 ] ; however, "Tar Barrel Hill" may be what is now known as "Jeremy Hill" to the southeast (Heermance 1935) [cite book
last = Heermance
first = Edgar L.
title = The Connecticut Guide: What to See and Where to Find It
year = 1935
publisher = Emergency Relief Commission
location = Hartford
oclc = 719786
pages = pp. 246-247 ] .

Geology

The hill is composed mostly of high-purity milky quartz and it occupies the inactive Lantern Hill Fault, which runs south into the Atlantic Ocean. Analysis of the quartz reveals that it is 238 million years old -- the mid-Triassic Period of the Mesozoic Era in geologic time. The formation of the fault and the quartz are associated with the early formation of the Atlantic Ocean (Altamura 1995; Altamura 2003). [Citation
first = Robert J.
last = Altamura
editor-last = McHone
editor-first = Nancy W.
contribution = Tectonics, Wall-Rock Alteration and Emplacement History of the Lantern Hill Giant Quartz Lode, Avalonian Terrane, Southeastern Connecticut
title = Guidebook for Field Trips in Eastern Connecticut and the Hartford Basin
year = 1995
pages = E1-E36
place = Hartford
publisher = State Geological and Natural History Survey of Connecticut
oclc = 32554363] [Citation
first = Robert J.
last = Altamura
editor-last = Letourneau
editor-first = Peter M.
editor2-last = Olsen
editor2-first = Paul E.
contribution = Tectonics of the Lantern Hill Fault, Southeastern Connecticut: Embryonic Rifting of Pangea Along the Central Atlantic Margin
title = The Great Rift Valleys of Pangea in Eastern North America
volume = 1
year = 2003
pages = 65-69
place = New York
publisher = Columbia UP
isbn = 0-231-11162-2
oclc = 50510953]

Land Use

David D. Mallory began commercial mining of the hill's silica in 1870 (Haynes and Boylan 1976) [cite book
last = Haynes
first = Williams
last2 = Boylan
first2 = James
title = Stonington Chronology
edition = 2nd edition
year = 1976
publisher = Pequot
location = Chester
oclc = 2523265
pages = p. 74 ] ; the quarry closed when the Mashantucket Pequots acquired the land in 1994. Lantern Hill is the southwestern terminus of the Narragansett Trail, a hiking path maintained in Connecticut by the Connecticut Forest and Park Association (CFPA 2005) [cite book
last = Connecticut Forest and Park Association
editor = (ed.) Ann T. Colson and Cindi D. Pietrzyk
title = Connecticut Walk Book East
edition = 19th edition
year = 2005
publisher = Connecticut Forest and Park Association
location = Rockfall
isbn = 0-9619052-5-5
oclc = 1782327
pages = pp. 205-206 ] . The hilltop offers views of the Atlantic Ocean and the surrounding countryside, including the Mashantucket Pequots' Lantern Hill Reservation, the Mashantucket Museum and Research Center, and the Foxwoods Resort and Casino.

References

External links

* [http://www.ctwoodlands.org/ Connecticut Forest and Park Association]
* [http://www.pequotmuseum.org/ Mashantucket Museum and Research Center]

The Story of the Yawgoog Trails - [http://www.mdc.net/~dbrier/yawgoog/trails/narragansett.html Narragansett Trail]