Cold Spring Harbor Light

Cold Spring Harbor Light

Cold Spring Harbor Light
Location	Entrance ot Cold Spring Harbor on Long Island
Coordinates	Preserved light 40°54′26.0″N 73°30′35.5″W / 40.90722°N 73.509861°W / 40.90722; -73.509861 Active aid 40°54′51.0″N 73°29′35.2″W / 40.91417°N 73.493111°W / 40.91417; -73.493111Coordinates: 40°54′51.0″N 73°29′35.2″W / 40.91417°N 73.493111°W / 40.91417; -73.493111
Year first lit	1890
Deactivated	1965
Foundation	Cast iron/concrete caisson
Construction	Orig Wood
Tower shape	Skeletal/Orig square pyramidal
Height	Original: 35 foot tower on caisson, 44 feet above sea level Current: 37 feet (11 m)
Original lens	Fourth order, Fresnel
Range	Current: 7 miles (11 km)
Characteristic	Original:Fixed red light, Orig White w/black lantern Current: Fl. White w/fixed red sector

Cold Spring Harbor Light was a lighthouse located in Cold Spring Harbor on the North shore of Long Island. It was built in 1890 to mark a shoal at the entrance to Cold Spring Harbor. After the lighthouse was deactivated in 1965, the original light and tower were purchased by a private individual and moved to its current location on land, 1 mile (1.6 km) to the southwest. An automated light tower and day beacon were erected on the original caisson, and continue to serve as a navigation aid.

Chronology

1875, March 3: $20,000 was appropriated for the construction of the light.

1889 Construction of the light was started.

1890 The finished lighthouse was built on a caisson in Cold Spring Harbor.

1890, January 31: The light was first lit.

1919 An inspection of the light revealed $12,800 in damage was done to the light by ice.

1929 The light was refitted with an oil vapor lamp.

1965 The light was severely damaged after a collision with what local experts believed to be a disoriented humpback whale. As a result of the exorbitant costs to repair the structure, the light was deactivated. A local resident saved the light from destruction by purchasing the light for $1 and moving it to her property where the light still resides.

External links

• Scroope's description
• Cold Spring Harbor Lighthouse - from Lighthousefriends.com
• "Historic Light Station Information and Photography: New York". United States Coast Guard Historian's Office. http://www.uscg.mil/history/weblighthouses/LHNY.asp. 

Postcard, about 1905  Modern Light, 1999

Further reading