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      • Ram Island Ledge Light, Maine
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      • Robinson Point Lighthouse on Isle Au Haut, Maine
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      • Saybrook Breakwater Lighthouse, Connecticut
      • Sheffield Island Lighthouse, Connecticut
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    • Delaware Lighthouses
      • Harbor of Refuge Light, Delaware
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      • Overfalls Lightship, Delaware
      • Mispillion Lighthouse, Delaware
      • Reedy Island Rear Range Light
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      • Sombrero Key Lighthouse
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      • Tybee Island Lighthouse, Georgia
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      • Moloka'i Lighthouse, Moloka'i, Hawai'i
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    • Massachusetts Lighthouses
      • Annisquam Lighthouse, Massachusetts
      • Baker's Island Lighthouse, Massachusetts
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      • Brant Point Lighthouse, Nantucket
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      • Great Point Lighthouse, Nantucket, Massachusetts
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      • Nantucket Lightship, Massachusetts
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      • Newburyport Harbor Range Lights, Massachusetts
      • Nobska Point Lighthouse, Massachusetts
      • Palmer Island Lighthouse, Massachusetts
      • Plum Island Lighthouse, Massachusetts
      • Plymouth Lighthouse, Massachusetts
      • Race Point Lighthouse, Cape Cod Massachusetts
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      • Scituate Lighthouse, Massachusetts
      • Stage Harbor Lighthouse, Massachusetts
      • Straitsmouth Island Lighthouse, Massachusetts
      • Tarpaulin Cove Lighthouse, Massachusetts
      • Ten Pound Island Lighthouse, Massachusetts
      • Thacher Island Twin Lights, Massachusetts
      • Three Sisters of Nauset Lighthouses, Massachusetts
      • West Chop Lighthouse, Massachusetts
      • Wings Neck Lighthouse, Massachusetts
      • Winter Island Lighthouse
      • Brant Point Lighthouse, Nantucket MA
    • New Hampshire Lighthouses
      • Isles of Shoals Light, New Hampshire
      • Portsmouth Harbor Light, New Hampshire
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      • Absecon Lighthouse, New Jersey
      • Barnegat Lighthouse, New Jersey
      • Brandywine Shoal Light, New Jersey
      • Cape May Lighthouse, New Jersey
      • Chapel Hill Rear Range Light, New Jersey
      • Conover Beacon Front Range Light, New Jersey
      • East Point Lighthouse, New Jersey
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      • Fourteen Foot Bank Light, New Jersey
      • Hereford Inlet Lighthouse, North Wildwood, New Jersey
      • Miah Maull Shoal Light, New Jersey
      • Sandy Hook Lighthouse, New Jersey
      • Sea Girt Lighthouse, New Jersey
      • Ship John Shoal Light, New Jersey
      • Twin Lights of Navesink, New Jersey
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      • Ambrose Lightship, New York
      • Big Sodus Light, New York
      • Blackswell Island Light, New York
      • Buffalo Main Lighthouse, New York
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      • Clayton Memorial Lighthouse, New Yrok
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      • Crossover Island Lighthouse, New York
      • Dunkirk Light, New York
      • Esopus Meadows Lighthouse, New York
      • Execution Rocks Lighthouse, New York
      • Fire Island Lighthouse, New York
      • Horton Point Light, New York
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      • Ogdensburg Harbor Lighthouse, New York
      • Old Field Point Lighthouse, New York
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      • Stony Point Lighthouse, New York
      • Sunken Rock Lighthouse, New York
      • Tarrytown Lighthouse, New York
      • Tibbetts Point Lighthouse, New York
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      • Bodie Island Light, North Carolina
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      • Cape Hatteras Light, North Carolina
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      • Fairport Harbor Light, Ohio
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Fayerweather Island Lighthouse, Connecticut

Connecticut’s Fayerweather Island is found at the entrance of Black Rock Harbor, a deep port which served as home to hundreds of sailing ships during the 18th century. The island was the perfect place to erect a lighthouse to mark the entrance into Bridgeport and help build it into a leading shipping center. The light’s importance waned during the era of steam when larger ships had difficulty navigating into the small harbor, but the Fayerweather Island Lighthouse has stubbornly remained at its post for almost 200 years.
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It appears that the effort to maintain the Fayerweather Island Lighthouse will continue to be a struggle.  During my visit, the door was once again removed, graffiti covered the tower and garbage littered the tower interior.  Hopefully citizens will continue to step forward to help save this historic landmark for future generations.
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It appears that the effort to maintain the Fayerweather Island Lighthouse will continue to be a struggle. During my visit, the door was once again removed, graffiti covered the tower and garbage littered the tower interior. Hopefully citizens will continue to step forward to help save this historic landmark for future generations.

FayerweatherLighthouse2374

  • In 1807 the Federal government appropriated $5,000 to build a lighthouse at the southeastern point of Fayerweather Island.  9½ acres for the light station were purchased for $200 from Daniel Fayerweather.
  • In 1808 the government contracted Abisha Woodward to build the Fayerweather Island Lighthouse.  Woodward had built 6 lighthouses previously including lights at New London Harbor, Faulkner’s Island and Five Mile Point in Connecticut.  The Fayerweather Island Light would be his last.
  • Woodward constructed a 40 foot octagonal wooden tower, a 1½ story keeper’s dwelling and a stone oil house.  The lantern utilized a spider lamp burning whale oil.  The first Keeper at the new light was John Maltbie of Fairfield, Connecticut.  Maltbie did not serve long however as he passed away after only five months at the station.
  • The wooden lighthouse would last until September 1821 when the Norfolk and Long Island Hurricane struck Fayerweather Island and flattened the tower.  A new lighthouse was built in 1823.
  • The second Fayerweather Island Lighthouse was a 40 foot octagonal stone tower built for $2300.  The double walled tower had the space between its walls filled with wooden planks between layers of sand and small stones.
  • A Lewis optic was installed in the new lantern room using 8 oil lamps with 14 inch reflectors.  In the American Coast Pilot, Edmund Blunt stated his opinion that: “A more contemptible Lighthouse does not disgrace Long Island Sound, most shamefully erected and badly kept”, however despite Blunt’s derision the lighthouse has stood for almost 200 years..
  • The 3rd Keeper at Fayerweather Island Lighthouse would be Stephen Moore, who accepted the position in 1817.  Moore was a former sailor who had been injured and decided to ‘swallow the anchor’.  He moved to the Keeper’s residence with his young daughter Kate, whose name would become synonymous with the Fayerweather Island Lighthouse.
  • As Moore’s health continued to deteriorate, Kate assumed the duties of the Keeper.  Although her father remained the ‘official keeper’ until his death in 1871, Kate served as the Keeper of Fayerweather Island Lighthouse until her retirement in 1878.  Kate was credited with saving 21 lives in over 60 years at her post.
  • Kate spent her years on the island caring for her sick father, while raising livestock, gardening, carving duck decoys and harvesting oysters.  She never attended school or had playmates, but she maintained a library of over 100 books and seemed quite happy with her solitary life.  Kate retired to a house overlooking Black Rock Harbor in 1878.  In her honor in 2014 the Coast Guard named a fast response cutter the ‘Kathleen Moore’.
  • **The interior of the tower***        In 1854 the lighthouse received a new iron lantern and a 5th Order Fresnel lens.
  • **Looking up into the tower**  After Kate’s retirement, in 1879 a new wood framed Keeper’s house was built to replace the old dilapidated 1823 structure.  The new Keeper, Leonard Clark, was a Civil War veteran who remained in his post for 28 years while raising three children with his wife.  Clark served until his death in 1906.
  • Clark was succeeded by a former Keeper in the Irish Lighthouse Service, John D. Davis.  Davis would be the last Keeper of the Fayerweather Island Light serving until 1932 when two automatic offshore lights went into service and the lighthouse was decommissioned.
  • The lighthouse and property were licensed to the City of Bridgeport in 1934 for use as a public park.  The area adjacent to the island was a recreation area known as Seaside Park which had been established in the late 19th century by P.T. Barnum.  Over time, however, the lighthouse became a victim of neglect and vandalism.
  • In 1977 the keeper's dwelling was destroyed in a fire.  The interior of the lighthouse was gutted and the structure became covered in graffiti.
  • In 1983 the first effort to restore the Fayerweather Island Lighthouse began with the efforts of a group known as the Friends of Seaside Park.  The group raised funds and replaced the lantern glass and secured the door and windows.  They also cleared the island of garbage and established the island as a nature preserve.  But once again vandals struck and destroyed the work which had been accomplished.
  • A second restoration effort began in 1993 when two local residents established a restoration fund and hosted an annual Preservation Ball to raise funds.  They were able to raise $25,000 in donations and services which was matched by City of Bridgeport's Board of Park Commissioners.
  • Work on the new restoration began in 1998 with the application of graffiti resistant paint, a new door, masonry repair and the installation of vandal proof steel panes in the lighthouse windows.  Solar powered lights were installed to illuminate the tower at night.
  • The lighthouse received another blow in October 2012 when it was struck by Hurricane Sandy which caused damage to the area.  Federal funds were approved in 2015 to provide for a new door to the tower as well as shore protection.
  • It appears that the effort to maintain the Fayerweather Island Lighthouse will continue to be a struggle.  During my visit, the door was once again removed, graffiti covered the tower and garbage littered the tower interior.  Hopefully citizens will continue to step forward to help save this historic landmark for future generations.
  • Old postcard view of the Fayerweather Island Lighthouse
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