Stone lighthouse with an octagonal tower and attached keeper’s dwelling that has served as a maritime beacon and museum reflecting centuries of local seafaring history.
General Information
May–June & September–October: Thursday–Monday, 10am to 4pm
July–August: Daily, 10am to 4pm
Closed during winter months
Seniors (65+): $10
Children (5–17): $8
Children under 5: Free
How to Get There
From Mystic (5 mi): Take I-95 East to Exit 91, follow Route 234 toward Stonington Borough, then continue onto Water Street to reach the lighthouse at the harbor’s edge.
Overview
The Stonington Harbor Light is a historic lighthouse built in 1840 and located on the east side of Stonington Harbor in Stonington, Connecticut. It is a well-preserved example of a mid-19th century stone lighthouse. The light was taken out of service in 1889 and now serves as a local history museum. It was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1976.
Description and history
The Stonington Harbor Light is located at the southern end of Stonington Point, marking the eastern side of Stonington Harbor. The light station consists of the tower and keeper's house; both are built out of large granite blocks, and the keeper's house has a wood-framed ell attached. The tower is an octagonal stone structure 35 feet (11 m) in height and 10 feet (3.0 m) in diameter, with a circular glass lantern house on top. The house is 1½ stories and about 30 feet (9.1 m) square.
The federal government built a lighthouse on Windmill Point in Stonington Harbor in 1824; it was housed in a small granite lighthouse and was known by the same name. However, erosion led to its being torn down and its materials reused in the construction of this lighthouse. The light was originally lit by an oil lamp and broadcast by eight parabolic reflectors. This technology was already obsolete at the time of the lighthouse's construction, and it was replaced by a sixth-order Fresnel lens in 1856.
In the 1880s, the Stonington Breakwater Light was constructed farther out in the harbor, and the Stonington Harbor Light was decommissioned in 1889. The site is now the home of the Stonington Historical Society which uses the building as The Old Lighthouse Museum. Holdings in the museum document the area's long and distinguished cultural and nautical history, and exhibits include the 1856 Fresnel lens.
This article uses material from the Wikipedia article "Stonington Harbor Light", which is released under the Creative Commons Attribution-Share-Alike License 3.0
