New Dorp Light
Encyclopedia
The New Dorp Lighthouse is a decommissioned lighthouse located in the New Dorp
section of, Staten Island
, New York. Funds for the lighthouse were approved by Congress August 31, 1852 and the structure was completed in 1856. The lighhouse, built to serve as a rear range light to mark Swash Channel, a shipping channel in Lower New York Bay
was built by Richard Carlow, who also built the similar Chapel Hill and Point Comfort Range Lights in New Jersey around the same time. Ships sailing through Swash Channel, were instructed to bring the New Dorp range light “in one” and steer towards the lights until the Chapel Hill Light came into view which would then mark the channel past West Bank.
The original beacon was a second-order range lens showing a fixed red light that shined 192 ft. above sea level. In 1891, the light was changed to fixed white. In 1907 the light source was changed from oil to incandescent oil vapor, which magnified the intensity of the light. In 1939, a sixth-order range lens was installed, showing a fixed white light. John B. Fountain was the first lightkeeper, who resided in the lightkeepers house upon which the lighthouse tower was built.
The New Dorp Lighthouse was decommissioned and boarded up in 1964. The lighthouse and land were neglected and vandalized for ten years until being sold at auction to a Staten Island resident named John Vokral for $32,000 auction in 1974. Vokral did extensive restoration work on the lighthouse, which now serves as a private residence.
New Dorp Light is on the National Register of Historic Places, with Reference #73001260 as New Dorp Light. It was designated a New York City Landmark in 1967. It is not open to the public.
New Dorp, Staten Island
New Dorp – an anglicization of Nieuwe Dorp, Dutch for New Village – is a neighborhood in Staten Island, one of the five boroughs of New York City, United States. The community lies near the foot of Todt Hill, with Grant City immediately to its north, Oakwood bordering to the south, and...
section of, Staten Island
Staten Island
Staten Island is a borough of New York City, New York, United States, located in the southwest part of the city. Staten Island is separated from New Jersey by the Arthur Kill and the Kill Van Kull, and from the rest of New York by New York Bay...
, New York. Funds for the lighthouse were approved by Congress August 31, 1852 and the structure was completed in 1856. The lighhouse, built to serve as a rear range light to mark Swash Channel, a shipping channel in Lower New York Bay
Lower New York Bay
Lower New York Bay is that section of New York Bay south of the Narrows, the relatively narrow strait between the shores of Staten Island and Brooklyn. The southern end of the bay opens directly to the Atlantic Ocean between two spits of land, Sandy Hook, New Jersey, and Rockaway, Queens, on Long...
was built by Richard Carlow, who also built the similar Chapel Hill and Point Comfort Range Lights in New Jersey around the same time. Ships sailing through Swash Channel, were instructed to bring the New Dorp range light “in one” and steer towards the lights until the Chapel Hill Light came into view which would then mark the channel past West Bank.
The original beacon was a second-order range lens showing a fixed red light that shined 192 ft. above sea level. In 1891, the light was changed to fixed white. In 1907 the light source was changed from oil to incandescent oil vapor, which magnified the intensity of the light. In 1939, a sixth-order range lens was installed, showing a fixed white light. John B. Fountain was the first lightkeeper, who resided in the lightkeepers house upon which the lighthouse tower was built.
The New Dorp Lighthouse was decommissioned and boarded up in 1964. The lighthouse and land were neglected and vandalized for ten years until being sold at auction to a Staten Island resident named John Vokral for $32,000 auction in 1974. Vokral did extensive restoration work on the lighthouse, which now serves as a private residence.
New Dorp Light is on the National Register of Historic Places, with Reference #73001260 as New Dorp Light. It was designated a New York City Landmark in 1967. It is not open to the public.