STONINGTON HARBOR

Type:
Year Established:
1823
Existing:
Yes
Source:
LL-1879
Stonington Harbor CT TAT 5-96.jpg
Download:
File Type:
jpg (image/jpeg)
Photo Date:
1996
Photo Credit:
Thomas Tag
Photo Courtesy of:
US Lighthouse Society
Collection / Donor:

LOCATION

Location:
EAST SIDE OF HARBOR
Latitude:
41° 19.41'
Longitude:
71° 54.21'
City / Town:
STONINGTON
U.S. State:
Connecticut
Location County:
NEW LONDON
Country:
United States

OWNER & ACCESS

Open to Public:
Yes
Light List Data:
  1. STONINGTON HARBOR
Light list data courtesy Gary Riemenschneider

STRUCTURE

Year Discontinued:
1889
Year Tower Established:
1840
Tower Construction Material:
GRANITE
Tower Foundation:
GRANITE
Height of light above mean high water, in feet:
60 feet above water
Height, in feet, from base of structure to center of lantern:
34 feet
Tower Shape:
OCTAGONAL
Tower Daymark:
Gray
Fog Signal Building?:
No
Keeper's Quarters?:
Yes
Year Keeper's Quarters:
1840
Keeper's Quarters Style:
ATTACHED
Keeper's Quarters Construction:
GRANITE

OPTICS

Active Aid to Navigation?:
No
Current Optic:
REMOVED
Original Optic Type:
SIXTH ORDER, FRESNEL
Year Original Lens Installed:
1856
Private Aid:
No
USCG Access to Optics:
No
Comments:

Historical Information:

  • In 1823 a lighthouse was built at the Southeastern entrance of the Stonington Harbor.
  • An inspection in 1838 found the lighthouse in poor condition. Too much polishing had rubbed the silver coating off of the reflectors and the stairway was bordering on collapse. The sea was eating away at the bluff below the light
  • The government first considered building a wall around the station but decided on building a new light. The new light was finished in 1840 and most of the lighthouse was built from the disassembled light.
  • The original lantern room had a system of eight lamps and reflectors. A sixth order Fresnel lens replaced the lamps in 1856.
  • Stonington Harbor Light was rendered obsolete when a 25-foot cast iron light was erected on a breakwater in the harbor in 1889. A skeleton tower replaced that light in 1926.
  • The 1840 lighthouse is now a museum and is open to the public. In 1976 it was added to the National Register of Historic Places.
Entered by:
t.wheeler
Entered Date:
Jul 20, 2017