The Robbins Reef Light Station is a sparkplug lighthouse located off

Constable Hook Constable Hook is a cape located on the north side of the outlet of Kill van Kull into Upper New York Bay in Bayonne, New Jersey. The cape has long been an important site of marine transfer operations in the Port of New York and New Jersey. Just o ...

Bayonne Bayonne (; eu, Baiona ; oc, label= Gascon, Baiona ; es, Bayona) is a city in Southwestern France near the Spanish border. It is a commune and one of two subprefectures in the Pyrénées-Atlantiques department, in the Nouvelle-Aquitain ...

Hudson County Hudson County is the most densely populated county in the U.S. state of New Jersey. It lies west of the lower Hudson River, which was named for Henry Hudson, the sea captain who explored the area in 1609. Part of New Jersey's Gateway Region in t ...

New Jersey New Jersey is a U.S. state, state in the Mid-Atlantic States, Mid-Atlantic and Northeastern United States, Northeastern regions of the United States. It is bordered on the north and east by the state of New York (state), New York; on the ea ...

, United States, along the west side of Main Channel,

Upper New York Bay New York Harbor is at the mouth of the Hudson River where it empties into New York Bay near the East River tidal estuary, and then into the Atlantic Ocean on the east coast of the United States. It is one of the largest natural harbors in t ...

. Note that although the light is clearly shown on the USGS topo in Hudson County, New Jersey, it is listed on this site as being in New York State. The tower and integral keepers quarters were built in 1883. It replaced an octagonal granite tower built in 1839. The U.S. Coast Guard owned and operated the light station until the 2000s.

Position

The light is located on a small ridge of sand named ''Robyn's Rift'' by the Dutch settlers of the area. The reef is now called Robbins Reef. It is situated near the entrance to the

Kill van Kull __NOTOC__ The Kill Van Kull is a tidal strait between Staten Island, New York and Bayonne, New Jersey in the United States. It is approximately long and wide and connects Newark Bay with Upper New York Bay. The Robbins Reef Light marks the e ...

, a

strait A strait is an oceanic landform connecting two seas or two other large areas of water. The surface water generally flows at the same elevation on both sides and through the strait in either direction. Most commonly, it is a narrow ocean chann ...

connecting

New York Bay New York Bay is the large tidal body of water in the New York–New Jersey Harbor Estuary where the Hudson River, Raritan River, and Arthur Kill empty into the Atlantic Ocean between Sandy Hook and Rockaway Point. Geography New York Bay is us ...

Newark Bay Newark Bay is a tidal bay at the confluence of the Passaic and Hackensack Rivers in northeastern New Jersey. It is home to the Port Newark-Elizabeth Marine Terminal, the largest container shipping facility in Port of New York and New Jersey, ...

. The channel is one of the most heavily used in the

Port of New York and New Jersey The Port of New York and New Jersey is the port district of the New York-Newark metropolitan area, encompassing the region within approximately a radius of the Statue of Liberty National Monument. It includes the system of navigable wate ...

, accessing

Port Newark-Elizabeth Marine Terminal A port is a maritime facility comprising one or more wharves or loading areas, where ships load and discharge cargo and passengers. Although usually situated on a sea coast or estuary, ports can also be found far inland, such as H ...

History

The name derives from the

New Netherland New Netherland ( nl, Nieuw Nederland; la, Novum Belgium or ) was a 17th-century colonial province of the Dutch Republic that was located on the east coast of what is now the United States. The claimed territories extended from the Delmarva ...

era of the 17th century. In Dutch ''rob'' or ''robyn'' means ''seal'', groups of which would sometimes lie on the reef at low tide. The structure is also called ''Kate's Light'' for Kate Walker who "manned" the station alone after the death of her husband Captain John Walker in 1886, until 1919. She rowed her children to school in

. Herman Westgate was the last keeper of the lighthouse before it was finally automated. In 2009 Robbins Reef was put up for sale under the National Historic Lighthouse Preservation Act. In 2011, the

Noble Maritime Collection Sailors' Snug Harbor, also known as Sailors Snug Harbor and informally as Snug Harbor, is a collection of architecturally significant 19th-century buildings on Staten Island, New York City. The buildings are set in an park along the Kill Van K ...

, a maritime museum on Staten Island, was granted stewardship of the light station by the U.S. General Services Administration. The octagonal structure near Robbins Reef Lighthouse is not the base of the original 1839 tower but rather a sewer outfall that was constructed around 1915.

Recent developments

In 2011, ownership was transferred to the Noble Maritime Collection based at

Sailors' Snug Harbor Sailors' Snug Harbor, also known as Sailors Snug Harbor and informally as Snug Harbor, is a collection of architecturally significant 19th-century buildings on Staten Island, New York City. The buildings are set in an park along the Kill Van ...

in Staten Island, through the terms of the National Historic Lighthouse Preservation Act. Recently museum volunteers have been restoring the lighthouse, with the interior restoration nearly complete. Miller’s Launch, a local launch tug, and spill response team provides periodic transportation for the volunteers. Total renovations are expected to be complete in the early 2020s, at which time the lighthouse will offer tours and even serve as a bed and breakfast.Massarella, Linda. Volunteers to restore historic lighthouse off Staten Island. ''NYPost.com'' October 8, 2017

Accessed October 14, 2017

References

External links

Noble Maritime Collection virtual tour of Robbins Reef Light Station Robbins Reef
Data for station ID 8530973, Physical Oceanographic Real-Time System

NOAA The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (abbreviated as NOAA ) is an United States scientific and regulatory agency within the United States Department of Commerce that forecasts weather, monitors oceanic and atmospheric conditio ...

.
Robbins Reef Light
in NPS.

Keeper of Robbins Reef Light, 1894–1919, National Lighthouse Museum, 2001.

Lighthouses of the New Jersey Shore. *''Mind the Light, Katie: The History of Thirty-three Female lighthouse Keepers'', Mary Louise Clifford and J. Candace Clifford, 2006. ()

Joel Lewis, ''Jacket Magazine'' 23, August, 2003.

{{Authority control Lighthouses completed in 1883 Bayonne, New Jersey Lighthouses on the National Register of Historic Places in New Jersey Transportation buildings and structures in Hudson County, New Jersey National Register of Historic Places in Hudson County, New Jersey 1883 establishments in New Jersey

Position

History

Recent developments

See also

References

External links