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 ...
. Part of the city of
Bridgeport, Connecticut
Bridgeport is the List of municipalities in Connecticut, most populous city and a major port in the U.S. state of Connecticut. With a population of 148,654 in 2020, it is also the List of cities by population in New England, fifth-most populous ...
, it is located south of the city's Seaside Park. The island contains a resurgent coastal forest composed primarily of white oak (''Quercus alba'') and Eastern red cedar (''Juniperus virginiana'') growth. It is home to the
Black Rock Harbor Light
Black Rock Harbor Light, also known as Fayerweather Island Light, is a lighthouse in Bridgeport, Connecticut, United States which stands on the south end of Fayerweather Island and marks the entrance to Black Rock Harbor. The first lighthouse ...
, built in 1823, at the mouth of
Black Rock Harbor
Black Rock Harbor is located in Bridgeport, Connecticut on Long Island Sound. The Black Rock Harbor Light on Fayerweather Island
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 ...
maintains weather station FWIC3 on the island.
History
*1807: Island purchased from David Fayerweather by the US Government.
*1823: The present lighthouse was built, with four-foot-thick rubble walls faced with brownstone ashlar, to replace an earlier wooden structure that had been washed away in a hurricane. A keeper's house was constructed at the same time.
*1837–38: A granite
seawall
A seawall (or sea wall) is a form of coastal defense constructed where the sea, and associated coastal processes, impact directly upon the landforms of the coast. The purpose of a seawall is to protect areas of human habitation, conservation ...
—called "the fortification"—was constructed to help maintain the integrity of the island and lighthouse station. It was extended across what had become little more than a sandbar to connect with a larger portion of Fayerweather Island in 1849.
*1844: Lantern of lighthouse reconstructed
*1873: Keeper's house rebuilt, with self-sufficient cistern water supply.
*1894: Dredging project completed, providing channel around the island into the harbor at low tide. Seawall repaired & improved.
*1911: Island acquired by the city of Bridgeport. Reconstruction of the seawall is begun that would connect the island to the western end of Seaside Park.
*1919: New seawall and roadway completed that connected the upper portion of Fayerweather Island (now the western end of the park mainland) to the older portions of Seaside Park.
*1933: Lighthouse decommissioned.
*1977: Keeper's house destroyed by fire.
*1986: A state-record 17 lb 14 oz
weakfish
The weakfish, ''Cynoscion regalis'', is a marine fish of the drum family Sciaenidae.
A medium-large, slender, marine fish, it is found along the east coast of North America. The head and back of this fish are dark brown in color with a greenish t ...
was caught on the island.
See also
*
History of Bridgeport, Connecticut
The history of Bridgeport, Connecticut was, in the late 17th and most of the 18th century, one of land acquisitions from the native inhabitants, farming and fishing. From the mid-18th century to the mid-19th century, Bridgeport's history was one ...