Stamford Harbor Ledge Light

Stamford Harbor Ledge Lighthouse is a lighthouse in Connecticut, United States, on Chatham Rock off of Stamford, Connecticut. It was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1991.[3]

Stamford Harbor Ledge Light
Chatham Rocks

Postcard dated 1912
Connecticut
Location	Stamford Connecticut United States
Coordinates	41°00′49.2″N 73°32′33.32″W
Year first constructed	1882
Automated	1953
Deactivated	1953-1985
Foundation	cast iron and concrete caisson
Construction	sparkplug lighthouse
Tower shape	cylindrical tower with double balcony and lantern incorporating keeper's quarter
Tower height	60 ft (18 m)
Focal height	80 ft (24 m)
Original lens	Fourth order Fresnel lens
Current lens	7.9 inches (200 mm)
Light source	solar power
Characteristic	Fl W 4s.
Admiralty number	J0890
ARLHS number	USA-807
USCG number	1-25195
Managing agent	private[1][2]
Heritage	place listed on the National Register of Historic Places
Stamford Harbor Lighthouse
U.S. National Register of Historic Places
Area	0.5 acres (0.20 ha)
Built	1882 (1882)
Architect	United States Lighthouse Board
Architectural style	Conical tower on caisson
NRHP reference No.	91000348[3]
Added to NRHP	April 3, 1991

The interior of the structure has seven levels.[4] The upper balcony boasts sweeping views of the Stamford and Manhattan skylines, as well as Long Island Sound and Stamford Harbor. The lighthouse is accessed by a floating dock.

History

Winter scene, from a postcard mailed in 1906

The Stamford Harbor Ledge lighthouse was built in 1882 and was a sparkplug lighthouse cast iron tower, manufactured in Boston.[4] The light, 3,600 feet (1,100 m) from shore, was sold to a private party in 1955.

Several lighthouse keepers and their families lived in the lighthouse at various times.[4]

In 2008, the property was put up for sale, with an asking price of $1.75 million as of September 25, 2008. By June 2009, the asking price had fallen to $1.595 million,[5] according to the real estate agent's website.[4] According to an advertisement for the real estate offering, the property includes the lighthouse, Chatham Rock and, in words that were in quotes in the advertisement, "surrounding underwater land embraced within a circle, seven hundred fifty (750) feet in diameter, the center of which is Chatham Rock".[5]

Head keepers

• Neil Martin (1882)
• Nahor Jones (1882 – 1886)
• Samuel C. Gardiner (1886)
• John Ryle (1886 – 1887)
• Samuel A. Keeney (1887 – 1903)
• Maurice Russell (1903 – 1904)
• Adolph Obman (1904 – 1907)
• John J. Cook (1907 – 1909)
• William Janse (1909)
• Adolph Obman (1909 – 1911)
• Robert R. Laurier (1911 – 1912)
• John H. Paul (1912)
• Joseph Meyer (at least 1913)
• Charles R. Riley (at least 1915 – at least 1916)
• Edward Grime (1917 – 1919)
• George Washington Denton, Jr. (1919)
• Edward Murphy (1919 – 1920)
• Edward Iten (at least 1921 – at least 1927)
• Edward M. Whitford (at least 1929)
• Robert M. Fitton (at least 1930)
• Raymond F. Bliven (1930 – 1931)
• Martin Luther Sowle (1938 – 1953)[6]

See also

• List of lighthouses in Connecticut
• List of lighthouses in the United States
• National Register of Historic Places listings in Stamford, Connecticut

References

1. Stamford Harbor The Lighthouse Directory. University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. Retrieved 23 June 2016
2. Connecticut Historic Light Station Information & Photography United States Coast Guard. Retrieved 23 June 2016
3. "National Register Information System". National Register of Historic Places. National Park Service. November 2, 2013.
4. Web page titled "Chatham Rock", to which a September 25, 2009 William Pitt real estate advertisement directed readers, retrieved June 23, 2009
5. Advertisement by William Pitt/Sotheby's International Realty, page 1D, The Darien Times, September 25, 2008
6. Stamford Harbor, CT Lighthouse Friends. Retrieved 23 June 2016

External links

• United States Coast Guard