Saybrook Breakwater Light

Saybrook Breakwater Light
Saybrook Outer

Saybrook Breakwater Light
Location	Old Saybrook Connecticut United States
Coordinates	41°15′47.68″N 72°20′34″W
Tower
Constructed	1886
Foundation	cast iron and concrete caisson
Construction	sparkplug lighthouse
Automated	1959
Height	48 feet (15 m)
Shape	2-stages cylindrical tower with double balcony and lantern incorporating keeper's quarter
Power source	solar power
Operator	United States Coast Guard
Heritage	National Register of Historic Places listed place
Light
Focal height	58 feet (18 m)
Lens	Fifth order Fresnel lens
Light source	solar power
Characteristic	Fl G 6s.
Saybrook Breakwater Lighthouse
U.S. National Register of Historic Places
Location	S terminus of Saybrook Jetty at mouth of Connecticut River, Old Saybrook, Connecticut
Area	less than one acre
Built	1886
Architect	Smith, G.W. & F. Iron Co.
MPS	Operating Lighthouses in Connecticut MPS
NRHP reference No.	89001474
Added to NRHP	May 29, 1990

Saybrook Breakwater Lighthouse is a sparkplug lighthouse in Connecticut, United States, at Fenwick Point at the mouth of the Connecticut River near Old Saybrook, Connecticut. It is featured on the state's "Preserve the Sound" license plates.

"That outer lighthouse is the symbol of Old Saybrook," town First Selectman Michael Pace said in 2007, when the town was making plans to buy the lighthouse from the federal government.

The lighthouse is also known simply as "Breakwater Light" or "Outer Light". It is one of two built off Lynde Point in the nineteenth century. The other lighthouse, known as Lynde Point Light or more commonly as "Inner Light", is 75 years older than this lighthouse. The two lighthouses mark the harbor channel at the mouth of the Connecticut River.

History

The lighthouse has been in service since 1886.

In 2007, the federal government announced it would sell the lighthouse as part of the National Historic Lighthouse Preservation Program, which was created to transfer responsibility for maintenance of lighthouses to municipal governments or private entities. The Old Saybrook town government expressed an interest in the lighthouse, which is not expected to be transferred from the federal government until sometime in 2008 or 2009. The National Park Service will screen potential owners. The Coast Guard would continue to maintain the light while the new owners maintain the historic structure. The Coast Guard also owns the land on which the lighthouse sits, and transferring the land is not part of the preservation program. As of January 14, 2014, the Minio family are the new private owners of the Old Saybrook Point Lighthouse. Joseph C. Minio, Sr. and Dr. Christopher M. Minio are co-Lighthouse owners and keepers.

Head keepers

• Frank W. Paumlee (1886 – 1890)
• John G. Shipworth (1890 – 1896)
• George W. Fife (1896 – 1897)
• Robert A. Bishop (1897 – 1898)
• Nathaniel Dodge (1898)
• Thomas Burke (1898 – 1899)
• John Dahlman (1899 – 1907)
• Herbert S. Knowles (1907 – 1911)
• Simon Sfvorinich (1911 – 1912)
• Joseph F. Woods (1912 – at least 1917)
• John A. Davis (at least 1919 – 1920)
• Paul G. Peterson (1920 – at least 1921)
• Elwood L. Butler (at least 1923)
• Andrew A. McLintock (1932 – 1935)
• Sidney Z. Gross (at least 1938 – 1940)
• Roger H. Green (1940 – 1943)
• Thomas A. Buckridge (1943 – 1944)
• George E. Sheffield (1948 – 1953)

See also

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

References

• Historic American Engineering Record (HAER) No. CT-178, "Saybrook Breakwater Light, South tip of west end of Saybrook Breakwater, Old Saybrook, Middlesex County, CT", 15 photos, 10 data pages, 3 photo caption pages