Fire Island Lighthouse

The Fire Island Lighthouse is a visible landmark on the Great South Bay, in southern Suffolk County, New York on the western end of Fire Island, a barrier island off the southern coast of Long Island. The lighthouse is located within Fire Island National Seashore and just to the east of Robert Moses State Park. It is part of the Fire Island Light Station which contains the light, keepers quarters, the lens building containing the original first-order Fresnel lens, and a boat house.

Fire Island Lighthouse
Fire Island Lighthouse
LocationFire Island inlet, Long Island
Coordinates40°37′56.8″N 73°13′6.9″W
Year first constructed1826
Year first lit1858
Automated1986
DeactivatedActive, inactive 1974–1986
FoundationConnecticut River Blue Stone/timber
ConstructionBrick encased in cement
Tower shapeConical tower
Markings / patternFour black and white bands
Tower height168 feet (51 m) [1]
Focal height55 metre 
Original lensFirst order Fresnel 1856
Current lensCarlisle & Finch Company
Range24 nautical miles (44 km; 28 mi)
CharacteristicFlashing White 7.5 seconds counterclockwise.
ARLHS numberUSA-286 [2]
USCG number1–695
Heritageplace listed on the National Register of Historic Places 
Fire Island Light Station; Fire Island Light Station Historic District
Nearest cityBay Shore, New York
Area0.3 acres (0.12 ha)
Built1858
ArchitectMorton, J.T.
NRHP reference No.81000082[3] 09001288[4]
Added to NRHPSeptember 11, 1981; January 29, 2010 (boundary increase)

History
The original first order Fresnel lens

The current lighthouse is a 180-foot (55 m) stone tower that began operation in 1858 to replace the 74-foot (23 m) tower originally built in 1826. The United States Coast Guard decommissioned the light in 1974. In 1982 the Fire Island Lighthouse Preservation Society (FILPS) was formed to preserve the lighthouse. FILPS raised over $1.2 million to restore the tower and light. On May 25, 1986 the United States Coast Guard returned the Fire Island Lighthouse to an active aid to navigation. On February 22, 2006, the light became a private aid to navigation. It continues to be on the nautical charts, but is operated and maintained by the Fire Island Lighthouse Preservation Society and not the USCG. It was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1981 and a boundary increase for the national historic district occurred in 2010.[3][4][5][6]

It is listed as Fire Island Light, number 695, in the USCG light lists.[7]

When the lighthouse was built it was on the edge of Fire Island Inlet and marked the western end of Fire Island. However Fire Island has extended itself through accumulating sand so that the lighthouse is now nearly five miles (8.0 km) from the western end of the island at Democrat Point.[8]

The Archives Center at the Smithsonian National Museum of American History has a collection (#1055) of souvenir postcards of lighthouses and has digitized 272 of these and made them available online. These include postcards of Fire Island Light[9] with links to customized nautical charts provided by National Oceanographic and Atmospheric Administration.

The lighthouse celebrated its 150th anniversary in 2008, the same year as the 100th anniversary of Robert Moses State Park.

Access
Fire Island Lighthouse

The lighthouse can be accessed by a short walk from Robert Moses State Park – Field 5. It is open to the public daily. Tower tours are available for a small fee.

From 1970 to 1975, the lighthouse and its surrounding area were seen in the opening and closing credits sequences of the CBS television soap opera The Guiding Light.[10][11]

Some of the final episode of season 1 of TV show The Following was filmed at Fire Island Lighthouse and surrounding buildings.[12]

Men in Black II also included some filming on the island in the immediate vicinity of the lighthouse.[13]

A 1999 Channel 4 TV series featuring Stephen Fry and called Fire Island included filming of the lighthouse.[14]

2008 movie "What Happens in Vegas" with Cameron Diaz and Ashton Kutcher featured the Lighthouse as the Cameron's favorite place.

See also

References
  1. "Inventory of Historic Lighthouses". National Park Service. Retrieved 2007-08-14.
  2. ARLHS World List of Lights
  3. "National Register Information System". National Register of Historic Places. National Park Service. March 13, 2009.
  4. "WEEKLY LIST OF ACTIONS TAKEN ON PROPERTIES: 1/25/10 THROUGH 1/29/10". National Register of Historic Places. National Park Service. 2010-02-05.
  5. Steven Kesselman (April 1981). "National Register of Historic Places Registration: Fire Island Light Station". New York State Office of Parks, Recreation and Historic Preservation. Retrieved 2010-02-20. See also: "Accompanying three photos".
  6. Stephen Olausen and Laura Kline (January 2009). "National Register of Historic Places Registration: Fire Island Light Station Historic District (boundary increase)". New York State Office of Parks, Recreation and Historic Preservation. Retrieved 2010-02-20. See also: "Accompanying 18 photos".
  7. Light List, Volumes 1-7. United States Coast Guard.
  8. "Robert Moses State Park/Fire Island National Seashore". Geology of National Parks. United States Geological Survey. Retrieved November 22, 2015.
  9. Smithsonian lighthouse postcards
  10. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1KZ2G4KJFUM
  11. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WYrWeRDrktc
  12. "IMDB The Following Filming Locations". IMDB. Retrieved 2017-01-20.
  13. "Men In Black II film locations". movie-locations.com. Retrieved 2017-01-20.
  14. "IMDB Fire Island". IMDB. Retrieved 2017-01-20.
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