Accessibility: 
Geographic coordinates: 41° 18' 54" N 72° 03' 36" W
Nearest town: Groton. Located on the east side of the Thames River.
Established: 1944. Deactivated: 1967. Relighted: 2006.
Height of tower: 41 feet. Height of focal plane: 55 feet.
Optic: Solar powered LED.
Characteristic: Green flash every 4 seconds.
The University of Connecticut’s Avery Point campus in Groton was once the 70-acre estate of wealthy industrialist Morton F. Plant. The estate was sold to the State of Connecticut in 1942. It was eventually sold to the federal government, and a Coast Guard training facility was established on the site.
The octagonal lighthouse was constructed of brown concrete blocks, topped by a wooden lantern surrounded by a railing that incorporated Italian marble balusters salvaged from the Plant estate. The light aided mariners headed for a cove east of Avery Point and those traveling in Fisher’s Island Sound and Pine Island Bay. After the Coast Guard left the site in 1967 and the light was deactivated, the property was converted into a campus of the University of Connecticut.
After years of abandonment, the lighthouse was falling to ruin by the 1990s. Help came in the form of concerned local citizens who founded the Avery Point Lighthouse Society (P.O. Box 1552, Groton, CT 06340, www.averypointlight.com), a chapter of the American Lighthouse Foundation.
With state, federal, and private funding, restoration of the tower began. The wooden lantern was removed from the tower in 2001, and a replica lantern was created by the West Mystic Wooden Boat Building Company. The outer faces of the concrete blocks were replaced, and the old blocks were strengthened with cement and steel reinforcement. The restoration was completed in late 2005, and the tower was relighted at a gala ceremony in October 2006. With a solar-powered LED (light-emitting diode) installed, the lighthouse is now an official private aid to navigation.
To visit the lighthouse, take I-95 north or south to exit 87 onto CT Route 349 (Clarence B. Sharp Highway). Turn right at the second traffic light (still Route 349). At the next traffic light, turn left onto Benham Road (still Route 349). Continue for about 1.5 miles. The road curves sharply left at the end of Route 349, and the road becomes Shennecossett Road. The entrance to the University of Connecticut’s Avery Point campus is here. Enter the property and head straight back toward the water. Follow the circular drive and park in one of the visitor parking areas. Walk to the east and you’ll see the lighthouse near the edge of the water.
Fascinating Fact 
This was the last lighthouse built in Connecticut. It’s been said that it was intended to serve as a memorial to all lighthouse keepers.
