- Old Orchard Shoal Light
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Old Orchard Shoal Light Year first constructed 1893 Year first lit 1893 Automated 1955 Foundation Concrete/Cast Iron Caisson Construction Cast Iron Tower shape Conical "Spark Plug" Markings / pattern lower half brown, upper half white , on black pier Height 35 ft (11 m) Focal height 51ft (16m) Original lens Fourth Order Fresnel lens Current lens 250mm Range W 7nm
R 5nmCharacteristic Fl W 6s (Red from 087 deg to 203 deg Fog signal Removed/ Original air siren and horn ARLHS number USA-565 USCG number 1-35395 Orchard Shoal Light Station, OldNearest city: Staten Island, New York Coordinates: 40°30′44.272″N 74°5′55.369″W / 40.51229778°N 74.09871361°WCoordinates: 40°30′44.272″N 74°5′55.369″W / 40.51229778°N 74.09871361°W Area: less than one acre Built: 1893 Architect: US Lighthouse Board Governing body: U.S. Coast Guard NRHP Reference#: 06000864[4] Added to NRHP: September 20, 2006 Old Orchard Shoal Light is a sparkplug lighthouse in lower New York Bay marking a large shoal area. The Fresnel lens was removed in 1950.
History
Old Orchard Shoal Light was completed and lit on April 25, 1893.[5]
Before moving on to Governor's Island and then finally Coney Island Light, Frank Schubert, said to be the last civilian lighthouse keeper in the United States, was stationed at Old Orchard Shoal Light.
Old Orchard Shoal Light is listed on the National Park Service's Maritime Heritage Program as Lighthouse to visit [6] and as one of New York's Historic Light Stations.[7]
On May 29, 2007, the Secretary of the Interior identified Old Orchard Shoal Light Station as surplus under the National Historic Lighthouse Preservation Act of 2000. The property was described as
Gedney Channel/Lower New York Bay, 3.5 miles south of New Dorp Beach. Remote 35 ft. conical, 3-story “spark plug” style light (1893) with keeper’s quarters (approx. 1000 SF). Interior lined in brick up to 3rd floor. On 0.72 acre submerged land. Constructed of cast iron on concrete/cast iron caisson. Markings: white upper/black. Protective riprap and breakwater sheltering light’s boat basin. Accessible by boat only."[8]
No group was identified under the National Historic Lighthouse Preservation Act as willing and able to preserve the Old Orchard Shoal Light, and on June 5, 2008, the General Services Administration placed the light up for sale via an auction. The initial bid was $10,000 and the light finally closed on August 27, 2008 at a final bid of $235,000.[9]
References
- ^ (PDF) Light List, Volume I, Atlantic Coast, St. Croix River, Maine to Shrewsbury River, New Jersey. Light List. United States Coast Guard. 2009. p. 297. http://www.navcen.uscg.gov/pdf/lightLists/LightList%20V1.pdf.
- ^ "Historic Light Station Information and Photography: New York". United States Coast Guard Historian's Office. http://www.uscg.mil/history/weblighthouses/LHNY.asp.
- ^ ARLHS World List of Lights
- ^ "National Register Information System". National Register of Historic Places. National Park Service. 2009-03-13. http://nrhp.focus.nps.gov/natreg/docs/All_Data.html.
- ^ Annual report of the Light-House Board to the Secretary of the Treasury for the Fiscal Year ended June 30, 1893, Treasury Department, Document No 1647
- ^ National Park Service's Maritime Heritage Program's Inventory of Historic Light Stations
- ^ National Park Service's Maritime Heritage Program's Inventory of NY Historic Light Stations
- ^ Available properties through the National Historic Lighthouse Preservation Program for 2007
- ^ GSA listing (1-PR-08-005) for Old Orchard Shoal[dead link]
Lighthouses of New York Ambrose Tower Light · Aunt Phebe Rock Light · Barber's Point Light · Barcelona (Portland Harbor) Light · Blackwell Island Light · Bluff Point Light · Braddock Point Light · Buffalo Light · Buffalo Harbor North and South entrance Lights · Buffalo Harbor South Entrance Light · Buffalo North breakwater East end Light · Buffalo North Breakwater South End Light · Cape Vincent Light · Carleton Island Light · Cedar Island Light · Cold Spring Harbor Light · Coney Island Light · Coxsackie Light · Crossover Island Light · Crown Point Light · Cumberland Head Light · Dunkirk Light · East Charity Shoal Light · Eatons Neck · Elm Tree Beacon Light · Esopus Meadows Light · Execution Rocks Light · Fair Haven Light · Fire Island Light · Fort Niagara Light · Fort Lafayette Light · Fort Tompkins Light · Fort Wadsworth Light · Galloo Island Light · Gardiners Point Island · Horse Island Light · Horton Point Light · Hudson-Athens Light · Huntington Harbor (Lloyd Harbor) Light · Kings Point Light · Latimer Reef Light · Little Gull Island Light · Little Red Lighthouse (Jeffrey's Hook) · Montauk Point Light · Moriches Light · New Dorp Light · North Brother Island Light · North Dumpling Light · Oak Orchard Light · Old Field Point Light · Old Orchard Shoal Light · Ogdensburg Harbor Light · Orient Long Beach Bar Light · Orient Point Light · Oswego Harbor West Pierhead Light · Plattsburgh Beacon Light · Plum Island Light · Point Aux Roches Light · Princes Bay Light · Race Rock Light · Rock Island Light · Romer Shoal Light · Rondout Light · Sands Point Light · Saugerties Light · Selkirk Light · Shinnecock Light · Sodus Outer Light · Sodus Point Light · South Brother Island Channel Range Light · South Buffalo North Side Light · Split Rock Point Light · Staten Island Light · Statue of Liberty · Stepping Stones Light · Stony Point (Henderson) Light · Stony Point Light · Strawberry Island Upper Cut Range Light · Stuyvesant Light · Sunken Meadows Light · Sunken Rock Light · Tarrytown (Sleepy Hollow) Light · Thirty Mile Point Light · (Three) Sisters Island Light · Throgs Neck Light · Tibbetts Point Light · Turkey Point (NY) Light · Watervliet Light · West Point Light · West Bank Light · Whitehall Narrows Light · Whitestone Point LightCategories:- Buildings and structures completed in 1893
- Lighthouses on the National Register of Historic Places in New York City
- Buildings and structures in Staten Island
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