UPDATE: SCHS — Photo of the Week / 9.30.24 — Montauk Point Lighthouse, 1796 / Photo, c. 1900

PHOTO OF THE WEEK

— September 30, 2024 —

From the SCHS Library & Archive

“How shall we know it is us without our past?”
– John Steinbeck

Montauk Point Lighthouse, c. 1900. (From the Collection of the Suffolk County Historical Society Library & Archive.Image © Suffolk County Historical Society. All rights reserved.)

The Montauk Point Lighthouse, commissioned by President George Washington in 1792, is one of the best-known landmarks on Long Island. Named a National Historic Landmark in 2012, it was the first lighthouse to be built in New York state and is the fourth oldest working lighthouse in the United States. Construction of the lighthouse was authorized by the 2nd U.S. Congress, under President Washington, on April 12, 1792, and was completed on November 5, 1796. Ezra L’Hommedieu of Southold Town, who had been a member of the Continental Congress, consulted with President Washington on the lighthouse construction.

Due to prevailing winds in winter, shippers approaching from sea needed a lighthouse at the tip of Long Island to guide them along the south shore into New York Harbor. Today the Montauk Point Lighthouse stands over 110 feet tall and has 137 iron steps to the top. Its light flashes every five seconds and can be seen from a distance of 19 nautical miles. Visit the Montauk Historical Society’s website for a virtual tour of the lighthouse.  

by Wendy Polhemus-Annibell, Head Librarian

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