Coxsackie Light
Encyclopedia
Coxsackie Light was a lighthouse
Lighthouse
A lighthouse is a tower, building, or other type of structure designed to emit light from a system of lamps and lenses or, in older times, from a fire, and used as an aid to navigation for maritime pilots at sea or on inland waterways....
near the town of Coxsackie, New York
Coxsackie, New York
Coxsackie is the name of more than one place in New York, USA.*Coxsackie , New York*Coxsackie , New York*Coxsackie Correctional Facility...
on the northerly end of the Low island northerly of Coxsackie island and on the westerly side of the main channel of the Hudson River
Hudson River
The Hudson is a river that flows from north to south through eastern New York. The highest official source is at Lake Tear of the Clouds, on the slopes of Mount Marcy in the Adirondack Mountains. The river itself officially begins in Henderson Lake in Newcomb, New York...
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The lighthouse was first established in 1830 and the last tower was first lit in 1868. The lighthouse was deactivated in 1940. The lighthouse was a red square tower with granite trimmings and a red dwelling on stone pier. The lantern housing was black. The light was 32 feet high fixed white light. The original lens was a sixth order Fresnel lens
Fresnel lens
A Fresnel lens is a type of lens originally developed by French physicist Augustin-Jean Fresnel for lighthouses.The design allows the construction of lenses of large aperture and short focal length without the mass and volume of material that would be required by a lens of conventional design...
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The Archives Center at the Smithsonian National Museum of American History has a collection (#1055) of souvenir postcard
Postcard
A postcard or post card is a rectangular piece of thick paper or thin cardboard intended for writing and mailing without an envelope....
s of lighthouses and has digitized 272 of these and made them available online. These include postcards of Coxsackie Light with links to customized nautical charts provided by National Oceanographic and Atmospheric Administration.