Five Mile Point Light
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Five Mile Point Light, also known as Five Mile Point Lighthouse or Old New Haven Harbor Lighthouse, is a U.S.
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 ...
in Long Island Sound on the coast of
New Haven, Connecticut New Haven is a city in the U.S. state of Connecticut. It is located on New Haven Harbor on the northern shore of Long Island Sound in New Haven County, Connecticut and is part of the New York City metropolitan area. With a population of 134,02 ...
. Located at the entrance to New Haven Harbor, the beacon's name derives from its proximity to
Downtown New Haven Downtown New Haven is the neighborhood located in the heart of the city of New Haven, Connecticut. It is made up of the original nine squares laid out in 1638 to form New Haven, including the New Haven Green, and the immediate surrounding central ...
, about five miles (8 km) away. The original lighthouse consisted of a octagonal wooden tower built in 1805 by
Abisha Woodward Abisha Woodward (1752–1809), also known as Abashai Woodward, was an architect and contractor from New London, Connecticut that is best known for building lighthouses in the United States. He oversaw the construction of many of Connecticut's ear ...
. In 1847, a new octagonal tower was constructed by Marcus Bassett with East Haven
brownstone Brownstone is a brown Triassic–Jurassic sandstone that was historically a popular building material. The term is also used in the United States and Canada to refer to a townhouse clad in this or any other aesthetically similar material. Type ...
. This new beacon was illuminated by 12 lamps with reflectors which were positioned above sea level. Also constructed at this time was a two-and-one-half story brick house which supplanted the previous, deteriorating keeper's dwelling. A fourth-order Fresnel lens replaced the lamps in 1855 and a fog bell was added in the 1860s. The Five Mile Point Light was deactivated in 1877 when the nearby
Southwest Ledge Light Southwest Ledge Light is an active lighthouse marking the main entrance channel to the harbor of New Haven, Connecticut. Completed in 1877, it was one of the first to be built on a cylindrical iron foundation, an innovation by Maj. George H. El ...
was completed. Currently, the lighthouse is contained within
Lighthouse Point Park Lighthouse Point Park is a park in the city of New Haven, Connecticut that is operated as a New Haven city park. The 82-acre park is located at the eastern point of New Haven Harbor in the East Shore, New Haven, East Shore neighborhood, and afford ...
and, along with the keeper's house, was listed on 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 ...
in 1990.


History

During the
American Revolutionary War The American Revolutionary War (April 19, 1775 – September 3, 1783), also known as the Revolutionary War or American War of Independence, was a major war of the American Revolution. Widely considered as the war that secured the independence of t ...
in July 1779, a battle took place on the site of the future lighthouse when British troops anchored offshore and staged an invasion of New Haven. Patriot forces launched a defense of the beachfront as the attackers landed their boats. Ensign and Adjutant Watkins of the King's American regiment was the first of the British soldiers killed in the skirmish, shot while attempting to disembark on the shoreline. He was buried close to where the lighthouse at Five Mile Point would eventually be erected a few decades later. Although the British went on to burn the nearby house of Amos Morris and several other residences in the area, they suffered heavy losses and ultimately abandoned their advance on New Haven.


Original tower

In 1804, 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 ...
passed a statute requiring the secretary of the treasury to build a lighthouse at Five Mile Point if land could be obtained for a reasonable price. That same year, Amos Morris, Jr., son of the man whose home was the first to be razed during the 1779 British invasion, sold a suitable one-acre plot of his father's coastal estate to the federal government for $100. On March 16, 1805, an appropriation for $2500 was issued for the construction of the lighthouse. Late that year, a octagonal wooden tower was built by
Abisha Woodward Abisha Woodward (1752–1809), also known as Abashai Woodward, was an architect and contractor from New London, Connecticut that is best known for building lighthouses in the United States. He oversaw the construction of many of Connecticut's ear ...
on the southwest edge of the harbor and to mark the path around the Southwest Ledge. The fixed white light was made by eight oil lamps with parabolic reflectors, but it was criticized for being too dim. The lighthouse also had a keeper's quarters constructed in 1805. The first keeper of the light was Amos Morris Jr., for a period of just three weeks. An 1832 report noted that the light was above the water and that its visibility had been improved with the removal of some trees. In 1838, Lieutenant George M. Bache reported that the wooden tower and keeper's house was in a poor state. Congress would appropriate $10,000 to construct a new stone lighthouse on March 3, 1847.


Current tower

Constructed in 1847, the new octagonal tower was constructed by Marcus Bassett with East Haven brownstone from Jabez Potter's quarry. The interior of the lighthouse was lined with New Haven brick and a 74-step granite stairway leads to the cast-iron lantern. The light was powered by 12 lamps with reflectors and was located above sea level. Also constructed was a new two-and-one-half story brick house to replace the one in a "very bad state of repair". The light would be replaced with a fourth-order Fresnel lens in 1855. In the 1860s, a fog bell was also added. The lighthouse was extinguished in 1877 when the offshore
Southwest Ledge Light Southwest Ledge Light is an active lighthouse marking the main entrance channel to the harbor of New Haven, Connecticut. Completed in 1877, it was one of the first to be built on a cylindrical iron foundation, an innovation by Maj. George H. El ...
replaced it for
navigation Navigation is a field of study that focuses on the process of monitoring and controlling the movement of a craft or vehicle from one place to another.Bowditch, 2003:799. The field of navigation includes four general categories: land navigation, ...
.Five Mile Point (Old New Haven), CT
lighthousefriends.com.
The keeper, Elizur Thompson, went to be the
Southwest Ledge Light Southwest Ledge Light is an active lighthouse marking the main entrance channel to the harbor of New Haven, Connecticut. Completed in 1877, it was one of the first to be built on a cylindrical iron foundation, an innovation by Maj. George H. El ...
's keeper for five years before returning to live in the Five Mile Point Light keeper's quarters and fly storm signal flags for the
United States Weather Bureau The National Weather Service (NWS) is an agency of the United States federal government that is tasked with providing weather forecasts, warnings of hazardous weather, and other weather-related products to organizations and the public for the p ...
. In 1896, the lighthouse was transferred to the
United States Department of War The United States Department of War, also called the War Department (and occasionally War Office in the early years), was the United States Cabinet department originally responsible for the operation and maintenance of the United States Army, a ...
and was improved by a leasee named Albert Widmann. In 1922, the property was split up, with the land given to the state of Connecticut and the buildings to the city of New Haven. Two years later, New Haven purchased the land from the state for $11,180. The tower was renovated in 1986.Five Mile Point (Old New Haven) Light
Inventory of Historic Light Stations Connecticut Lighthouses. National Park Service.
The $86,000 restoration included repairing cracked mortar, steam cleaning the interior and exterior and removing "guano
hat had A hat is a head covering which is worn for various reasons, including protection against weather conditions, ceremonial reasons such as university graduation, religious reasons, safety, or as a fashion accessory. Hats which incorporate mecha ...
accumulated over the decades".


Importance

Roth and Clouette note that the "Five Mile Point Lighthouse is significant because it embodies the distinctive characteristics of American lighthouse construction during the first half of the 19th century ... tis also significant in the maritime history of New Haven." and The keeper's dwelling currently is a private residence for New Haven Recreation Department personnel and has been modified with the addition of a porch. The lighthouse and the keeper's residence were listed on 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 ...
in 1990.


List of keepers


See also

* List of lighthouses in the United States * List of lighthouses in Connecticut *
National Register of Historic Places listings in New Haven, Connecticut __NOTOC__ This is a list of National Register of Historic Places listings in New Haven, Connecticut. This is intended to be a complete list of the properties and districts on the National Register of Historic Places in the city of New Haven, Con ...


References


External links


Five Mile Point Lighthouse

Lighthouse Point Park
{{authority control Lighthouses completed in 1805 Towers completed in 1805 Lighthouses completed in 1812 Towers completed in 1812 Lighthouses completed in 1847 Long Island Sound Buildings and structures in New Haven, Connecticut Tourist attractions in New Haven, Connecticut Lighthouses on the National Register of Historic Places in Connecticut Lighthouses in New Haven County, Connecticut National Register of Historic Places in New Haven, Connecticut 1805 establishments in Connecticut