NL Maritime Society: Model of Avery Point Lighthouse on View at Custom House | Tour Pequot Light

Photo, above: We’re bringing Avery Point Light to the Custom House! See, below. Thanks to Ben Roccapriore, Ed Smith, Harry Smith, Bob Tellier, and UCONN’s Janene Vandi for their help.

———————–

What’s Up at the

Custom House

March 22, 2026

#StandUpForScience #Museums4Science

The Custom House Maritime Museum is open Thursday and Friday 1-5 PM,

Saturday from 10AM -5 PM, and Sunday from 1-5 PM.

This Week at the Custom House

Some time ago, lighthouse expert and special summer lighthouse tour guide, Bob Tellier, mentioned that a model of the Avery Point Light was stored inside the actual Avery Point Lighthouse—a Groton landmark that has been closed to the public for several years. ‘Wouldn’t it be great to have that model at the Custom House?’

We agreed—and got to work.

Back in the 1990s Bob was involved in the Avery Point Lighthouse restoration. Built in 1940s when the Avery Point property served as a U.S. Coast Guard Training Center, the lighthouse was designed as a memorial to lighthouse keepers. It is the last lighthouse constructed on Long Island Sound.

Back at the Custom House, our main lighthouse gallery already features four splendid lighthouse models: three created by the late Bob Landry, depicting the Harbor, Ledge, and Race Rock lights—structures we steward—and a fourth of the Latimer Reef ‘spark plug’ lighthouse in Fishers Island Sound. That model was built decades ago by a keeper stationed there. It was beautifully restored for us last year by Alex Girgenti.

Thanks to help up the line at UCONN—especially Janine Vandi—we were able to move the Avery Point model to the opposite shore and into our gallery last Thursday. We thank Ben Roccapriore, Ed Smith, and Harry Smith for their help with the transit.

We are still awaiting installation of the new light-filtering shades throughout the museum. This should happen within the next few weeks.

Saturdays, Sundays, & by appointment year-round

a popular destination for more than a century.

Visit Inside NL Harbor 

Pequot Light

Visit Long Island Sound’s oldest and tallest lighthouse. At right, recent transplants from Texas visited the lighthouse on Saturday.

Take a tour of Harbor Light to see the 4th order Fresnel lens in use at the light since 1857,. Climb 116 steps into the lantern room and enjoy stunning views across Long Island Sound. Tours accommodate up to five people and last about 40 minutes. Sign up today. 

To book a custom tour, just send us an email.

Now on view at the Custom House

Seals and Society – a traveling exhibition from the New Bedford Whaling Museum has been extended through next Sunday, March 29.

Have you been in the Shop lately?

This Tuesday we’re heading to Avery Point.

Tuesday, March 24, 2026; 7:30 p.m. (offered in-person only, no online option)

Tern Conservation and Research on Great Gull Island, A Jewel of Long Island Sound

Margaret Rubega, Ph.D., Department of Ecology & Evolutionary Biology, UConn, and Research Associate, American Museum of Natural History

Over 50 years, Helen Hays of the American Museum of Natural History and countless volunteers built one of the most important tern colonies in the world on Great Gull Island, a former US Army Fort in Long Island Sound. The next 50 years will change conditions for the terns dramatically, threatening them through sea level rise and water warming effects. In this presentation, Dr. Rubega , who is collaborating with colleagues at other universities and non-profits, will describe current conservation planning and management on behalf of the terns, and research addressing future challenges.