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Geographic coordinates: 41° 19' 00" N 72° 05' 24" W
Nearest city: New London. Located at the west side of the entrance to the Thames River.
Established: 1761. Present lighthouse built: 1801. Automated: 1912.
Height of tower: 89 feet. Height of focal plane: 90 feet.
Optic: Fourth-order Fresnel lens, (1857), still in use.
Characteristic: 3 seconds white, alternating with 3 seconds darkness.
This elegant tower stands as a reminder of the days when New London trailed only New Bedford and Nantucket as a whaling port. The first lighthouse at this location was a 64-foot stone tower with a wooden lantern, erected in 1761. The lighthouse was financed by a local lottery. In 1790, ownership was ceded to the federal government.
The extant octagonal brownstone lighthouse was built in 1801 after its predecessor developed a major crack. The builder was New London resident Abisha Woodward, a veteran of the American Revolution.
Writer Arthur Hewitt interviewed Keeper Charles Field in 1904. Field told Hewitt about a particular night when “the fog was so thick yer could have cut it with a knife and it fairly stuck in yer throat.” Field heard a strange sound in the fog and realized it was a vessel’s sails in the wind. He shouted to the vessel, and they managed to divert course just before running up on the rocks.
In 1912, the light was converted to automatic operation, and the keeper’s house was sold into private ownership. Under the National Historic Lighthouse Preservation Act, ownership of the lighthouse tower was transferred in 2009 to the New London Maritime Society, which operates the city’s Custom House Maritime Museum. See www.nlmaritimesociety.org or call 860-447-2501 for more information.
SIDE TRIP: U.S. Coast Guard Museum
This museum is located in Waesche Hall on the grounds of the Coast Guard Academy in New London, Connecticut. The museum contains a first-order Fresnel lens from Thacher Island, Cape Ann, Massachusetts. There are also ship models, figureheads and other carvings, uniforms, medals, and more. The museum is open Monday–Friday, 9:00 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. and occasional weekend days; it’s closed on all federal holidays. Admission is free, but you will need a government-issued photo ID to enter the campus. At this writing, the museum will be closed for a construction project at least until May 2012.
Coast Guard Museum, U.S. Coast Guard Academy
15 Mohegan Avenue
New London, CT 06320-4195
Phone: (860) 444-8511
For now, it’s nearly impossible to photograph the lighthouse in its Pequot Avenue location. Visitors are warned by no trespassing signs to stay off the property, and the presence of trees make photos from the sidewalk difficult. The best views for photography are from the water. The lighthouse is included in the periodic lighthouse cruises offered by Captain John’s Sport Fishing Fleet (860-443-7259, www.sunbeamfleet.com) in Waterford. DownEast Lighthouse Cruises (860-460-1802, www.downeastlighthousecruises.com) in Groton can also provide a good view.
Public ferries leaving New London provide views, although they may not pass as close as the lighthouse cruises. For the ferry from New London to Orient Point, NY, call Cross Sound Ferry Services at 860-443-5281 or visit www.longislandferry.com. For the ferry from New London to Fishers Island, NY, call 860-442-0165 or see www.fiferry.com. A seasonal ferry goes from New London to Montauk (Long Island), NY; call 631-668-5700.
SIDE TRIP: Custom House Maritime Museum
This museum is the home of the New London Maritime Society, founded in 1983 to save New London’s Custom House from commercial use after the government declared it surplus property. New London’s only downtown museum is housed in a handsome federal-style granite building designed by Robert Mills in 1833. The exhibits preserve and promote the city’s maritime history, while the building continues to house an active office for the U.S. Customs Service. Of primary interest to lighthouse buffs is the beautifully preserved fourth-order Fresnel lens from New London Ledge Light.
Custom House Maritime Museum
150 Bank Street
New London, CT 06320
Phone: 860-447-2501
Web site: www.nlmaritimesociety.org
