The Lynde Point Light or Lynde Point Lighthouse, also known as Saybrook Inner Lighthouse, is a

lighthouse A lighthouse is a tower, building, or other type of physical structure designed to emit light from a system of lamps and lenses and to serve as a beacon for navigational aid, for maritime pilots at sea or on inland waterways. Lighthouses mar ...

Connecticut Connecticut () is the southernmost state in the New England region of the Northeastern United States. It is bordered by Rhode Island to the east, Massachusetts to the north, New York to the west, and Long Island Sound to the south. Its cap ...

, United States, on the west side of the mouth of the

Connecticut River The Connecticut River is the longest river in the New England region of the United States, flowing roughly southward for through four states. It rises 300 yards (270 m) south of the U.S. border with Quebec, Canada, and discharges at Long Island ...

on the

Long Island Sound Long Island Sound is a marine sound and tidal estuary of the Atlantic Ocean. It lies predominantly between the U.S. state of Connecticut to the north and Long Island in New York to the south. From west to east, the sound stretches from the Eas ...

Old Saybrook, Connecticut Old Saybrook is a town in Middlesex County, Connecticut, United States. The population was 10,481 at the 2020 census. It contains the incorporated borough of Fenwick, as well as the census-designated places of Old Saybrook Center and Saybro ...

. The first light was a wooden tower constructed by Abisha Woodward for $2,200 and it was completed in 1803. A new lighthouse was eventually needed and a total of $7,500 was appropriated on July 7, 1838. Jonathan Scranton, Volney Pierce, and John Wilcox were contracted to build the new

octagonal In geometry, an octagon (from the Greek ὀκτάγωνον ''oktágōnon'', "eight angles") is an eight-sided polygon or 8-gon. A '' regular octagon'' has Schläfli symbol and can also be constructed as a quasiregular truncated square, t, whi ...

brownstone tower. It was constructed in 1838 and lit in 1839. The lighthouse was renovated in 1867 and had its keeper's house from 1833 replaced in 1858 with a

Gothic Revival Gothic Revival (also referred to as Victorian Gothic, neo-Gothic, or Gothick) is an architectural movement that began in the late 1740s in England. The movement gained momentum and expanded in the first half of the 19th century, as increasingly ...

gambrel A gambrel or gambrel roof is a usually symmetrical two-sided roof with two slopes on each side. (The usual architectural term in eighteenth-century England and North America was "Dutch roof".) The upper slope is positioned at a shallow angle, w ...

-roofed wood-frame house. In 1966, the house was torn down and replaced by a

duplex house #redirect duplex (building) A duplex house plan has two living units attached to each other, either next to each other as townhouses, condominiums or above each other like apartments. By contrast, a building comprising two attached units on ...

. The original ten lamps were replaced in 1852 with a fourth-order

Fresnel lens A Fresnel lens ( ; ; or ) is a type of composite compact lens developed by the French physicist Augustin-Jean Fresnel (1788–1827) for use in lighthouses. It has been called "the invention that saved a million ships." The design allows the c ...

, and with a fifth-order Fresnel lens in 1890. Lynde Point Lighthouse used whale oil until 1879 when it switched to kerosene. It was electrified in 1955 and fully automated by the

United States Coast Guard The United States Coast Guard (USCG) is the maritime security, search and rescue, and law enforcement service branch of the United States Armed Forces and one of the country's eight uniformed services. The service is a maritime, military, mult ...

in 1978. In 1990, it was added to the

National Register of Historic Places The National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) is the United States federal government's official list of districts, sites, buildings, structures and objects deemed worthy of preservation for their historical significance or "great artistic v ...

and is significant for its "superior stone work in the tapering brownstone walls".Connecticut Historic Light Station Information & Photography
United States Coast Guard. Retrieved 20 June 2016

First light

Out of a need for a lighthouse to mark the Old Saybrook harbor, the government paid $225 for William Lynde's land at its entrance to erect a light. Abisha Woodward was contracted to build a wooden tower for $2,200 and it was completed in 1803. Due to erosion threatening the foundation of the lighthouse, a seawall was constructed in 1829, and it was reinforced and widened in 1831. Also constructed was a six-room frame structure to serve as the keeper's quarters. The keeper's building was replaced in 1933. The light was criticized by many sailors for being too short to be seen at an effective distance, a problem exacerbated by a local fog from the marshland that obscured the light. A petition was made to have the tower raised , but it was deemed a replacement would be better.

Current light

The

United States Congress The United States Congress is the legislature of the federal government of the United States. It is bicameral, composed of a lower body, the House of Representatives, and an upper body, the Senate. It meets in the U.S. Capitol in Washing ...

appropriated funds for the tower's replacement by 1832. On July 7, 1838, Congress appropriated an additional $2,500.00 to add to the other $5,000.00 appropriated for the new lighthouse. The contract for the lighthouse was awarded to Jonathan Scranton, Volney Pierce, and John Wilcox of

Madison, Connecticut Madison is a town in the southeastern corner of New Haven County, Connecticut, United States, occupying a central location on Connecticut's Long Island Sound shoreline. The population was 17,691 at the 2020 census. Madison was first settled in 16 ...

, on August 18, 1838. A new octagonal brownstone tower was constructed in 1838 and lit in 1839. The walls of the base of the light are thick, tapering to at the top. The lighthouse is painted white and has six windows, all facing the water. The lighthouse has been described as being "similar to the masonry towers built earlier, (

New London Harbor Light New London Harbor Light is a lighthouse in Connecticut on the west side of the New London, Connecticut, New London harbor entrance. It is the nation's fifth oldest light station and the seventh oldest U.S. lighthouse. It is both the oldest and the ...

, New Haven Harbor (

Five Mile Point Otsego Lake is a lake located in Otsego County in the U.S. state of New York. It is the source of the Susquehanna River and largest lake in Otsego County. The Village of Cooperstown is located at the lake's southern end. Glimmerglass State Pa ...

) Light, and Faulkner's Island Light), but Lynde Point is considered to represent the finest work of the three". The wooden staircase was likely replaced in an 1868 renovation of the light. In 1886, the

Saybrook Breakwater Light 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 featuredAssociated Press news article, titled "Old Saybrook light ...

was built. Lynde Point then became commonly known as the "Saybrook Inner Light" and Saybrook Breakwater became known as the "Saybrook Outer Light". The keeper's house from 1833 had a frame kitchen addition that connected to the lighthouse, but it was replaced in 1858 with a Gothic Revival gambrel-roofed wood-frame house. In 1966, the house was torn down and replaced by a

. In 1852, a fourth-order

from Barbler and Fenestre replaced the original ten lamps and reflectors. In 1890, a fifth-order Fresnel lens, which is still in the tower today, was installed. An appropriation of $800 was made for a fog bell in 1850, and it was installed in 1854 at a cost of $1000. Two years later the machinery to automatically strike the fog bell was completed. The 1867 renovation saw the addition of a fog siren, but it was removed and replaced with the fog bell in 1874 and a new fog bell was later installed in 1883. Lynde Point Lighthouse used whale oil until 1879 when it switched to kerosene, it was electrified in 1955 and fully automated by the

in 1978.

Importance

In 1990, it was added to the

. Templeton writes, "Lynde Point exhibits superior stone work in the tapering brownstone walls. Of the three early masonry Lighttowers in the nominated group, Lynde Point is the latest and its construction is the best documented: two advertisements for construction proposals survive, containing the government's specifications, and the construction contract as well. Lynde Point also is significant as part of the federal government's early efforts to improve aids to navigation in Long Island Sound, when the mouths of important harbors and rivers were among the first sites chosen for lighthouse appropriations." Lynde Point is an active aid to navigation and is not open to the public. The Lynde Point Light was used in the 2005 horror movie '' Predator Island''.

List of keepers

This list includes known keepers, but excludes assistants and non-officers of the Coast Guard.

References

External links