Staten Island Lighthouse - Range Rear Light, Richmond New York

Date added: September 22, 2024

Categories:
New York
Lighthouse

Looking southwest, Edinboro Road in foreground (2004)

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Staten Island Light was built from 1909 to 1912 and has a distinctive architectural design not replicated in any other United States lighthouse. This particular structure is unusual for its time because most American lighthouses dating from the late nineteenth to early twentieth century were built of prefabricated cast iron or steel components following standardized plans or designs. This property was built to provide for safe maritime transport to and from the Port of New York. This lighthouse is one of two that form a range line marking the center fairway of the entrance to Ambrose Channel, the main shipping lane between the Atlantic Ocean and New York Harbor.

Despite the subdivision of the original light station property, in which the keepers' dwelling was sold to a private owner, the lighthouse's character and appearance are essentially unchanged from the time of construction.

The port of New York has been important to maritime commerce since colonial times. It originated with the seventeenth-century Dutch colony of New Netherlands and its principal settlement, New Amsterdam on Manhattan Island. In 1664 during the Second Anglo-Dutch War, the English dispatched a squadron of warships to take possession of the Dutch settlements in the Delaware Bay and Hudson River regions. The Dutch colonial governor, Peter Stuyvesant, was forced to surrender New Amsterdam and the rest of the New Netherlands Colony. The town and colony were renamed "New York" by the English.

Following the American Revolution, the economy of the newly independent United States developed various areas of strength. A very important one of these was maritime commerce. Along with Boston and Philadelphia, the Port of New York's Upper New York Bay became a major center for shipping traffic in the northeastern U.S. This characteristic was firmly established by the beginning of the nineteenth century, and New York's importance as a commercial port continued to grow through the years.

The Port of New York is characterized by an unusually favorable environmental setting. Its protected waters and openings to navigable waters provide both a safe natural harbor for Atlantic Ocean shipping, as well as access to New York State's interior along the Hudson River.

New York City's geographical setting provides it with the vast natural harbor of Upper New York Bay but also includes several hazardous shoals and limited natural passages in the waters of Lower New York Bay. Throughout its history, most of the port's overseas shipping traffic has traversed the Lower Bay which opens to the Atlantic Ocean. There are just two main natural channels for vessels seeking to cross the network of sand bars and shoals that mark the boundary between the Lower Bay and ocean. In historic times, smaller vessels could navigate the Swash Channel which provided a fairly direct route to and from the narrows between Long Island and Staten Island. However, larger ocean-going ships had to make a lengthy detour south to the natural channel off Sandy Hook, New Jersey. While both routes were generally safe routes of passage, the necessity for large ships to navigate by way of Sandy Hook added time to their voyages. The additional time at sea meant that costs would accrue for fuel, labor, and other expenses.

The size and speed of steam-powered vessels in maritime commerce increased through the nineteenth century. In parallel with this, efforts were undertaken to improve navigational access to the Port of New York by the dredging of shipping channels. The Sandy Hook Channel was dredged in 1891, and the Bay Ridge-Red Hook Channel was dredged from 1881 to 1896. The need for a more direct channel connecting the Atlantic Ocean with the Narrows at the entrance to New York Harbor led to efforts to dredge an entirely new channel in the vicinity of Romer Shoal, several miles north of Sandy Hook near the Swash Channel.

The movement to secure Federal funding for the proposed new channel was spearheaded by John Wolfe Ambrose, president of the Brooklyn Wharf and Drydock Company. He controlled several business interests in the construction and transportation sectors of New York City's economy and was prominent in the city's commercial community. Ambrose emerged as the most active proponent for the proposed dredging project near Romer Shoal and lobbied the U.S. Congress for funding. His efforts were rewarded in 1899 when Congress appropriated four million dollars for dredging the new channel. This money funded a massive harbor improvement project lasting from 1900 to 1910.

The work accomplished included a new shipping channel six miles long and 2000 feet wide. It was deep enough to accommodate the largest ocean-going vessels in the world and served to alleviate the congestion and delays associated with use of the old Sandy Hook Channel. In honor of his efforts in support of this important project, the new shipping lane was given the name Ambrose Channel.

The construction of the Ambrose Channel included establishing new aids to navigation to assist vessels in passing safely along it. The new channel included two dogleg tums that required ships to change course twice in order to stay within its fairway. In those times the best way for mariners to maintain course along the middle of a channel was to be guided by the type of navigational aids called range lights. A range light system defines the proper course for a vessel by means of two separate lights arranged one behind the other, with the rear light being higher than the front. Aligning the two beacons with the rear signal directly above the front light enables mariners to steer along the range extending along a channel's centerline.

The range line along the middle of the Ambrose Channel's offshore reach is marked by two light signals. The front range light was established in the early 1900s at the West Bank Light Station, a pre-existing lighthouse offshore of Staten Island that lines up with the channel's offshore segment. Establishing the rear range light required that a new lighthouse be constructed. This light's optimal position was identified as the uplands of Staten Island at a location lining up with the Ambrose Channel centerline and the lighthouse on West Bank. The U.S. Congress appropriated funds in 1906 and 1909 for establishing a light station there. A land parcel amounting to 0.939 acres was purchased in 1908 by the U.S. Government at a cost of $5,000. This parcel included enough land for erecting both the proposed lighthouse and a keepers' dwelling.

The lighthouse's construction began in 1909 and was completed in 1912. Concurrently with this work, a duplex dwelling to accommodate two keepers and their families was erected a short distance east of the light tower. It was constructed of the same yellow brick used in building the tower. The new lighthouse was formally established as an aid to navigation on 15^th April 1912, the same day the SS Titanic sank. Additional work for constructing walkways and fences, installing a lightning rod, and other small tasks was not completed until 30^th June 1916. The project's final total cost was $73,972.64.

The light's optic was originally lighted using a kerosene vapor lamp. By 1924 this had been upgraded to an electric lamp. Electrification allowed it to be serviced by personnel stationed elsewhere. Resident keepers were no longer necessary to operate and maintain the optic. In 1924, the decision was made to subdivide the light station property into a 0.757 parcel containing the dwelling and a 0.182 parcel containing the light tower. The parcel with the dwelling was sold in 1926 to a private owner for $8,755. That property went through a series of subsequent transfers from one owner to another and remains a private residence today.

The lighthouse on the remaining 0.182-acre parcel has operated continuously to the present. While its original optic remains in use, the lamp used to light it has been upgraded as technology improved. It is currently a 1,000-watt electric lamp mounted in an automatic bulb changer. If the bulb being used burns out, a new lamp rotates automatically into place.

A 1924 plan of the property shows a driveway entrance to the 0.182-acre parcel from Edinboro Road. This does not appear to have been built. Instead, personnel from the Lighthouse Service and its successor, the U.S. Coast Guard, have accessed the property using driveways that cross the adjoining privately owned property containing the former keepers' dwelling.

Site Description

Established as an active aid to navigation in 1912, the Staten Island Light is an octagonal tower made of yellow brick rising from a gray cut limestone masonry base. It is 106 feet tall and includes an octagonal cast iron lantern painted black except for its glass windows facing southward. This lighthouse was built from 1909 to 1911 on Staten Island's Lighthouse Hill. The combined elevation of its tower and upland location give the light's optic a focal plane 231 feet above sea level. The lighthouse property is 0.182 acre in area. Its boundaries are fenced and the tower is encircled by a driveway. This lighthouse is the rear light of the range that marks the entrance to the Ambrose Channel, the principle shipping lane to and from the Port of New York.

It aligns with the West Bank Range Front Light, an offshore lighthouse about five miles to the southeast. The Staten Island Light is owned by the U.S. Coast Guard and is an operating automated aid to navigation.

This property is located in a suburban residential neighborhood on the southern crest of Staten Island's interior uplands. It is about 2.4 miles inland from Staten Island's southern shoreline along Lower New York Bay. The land parcel containing the lighthouse slopes gradually towards the south. Nearby, the terrain's southward slope becomes much steeper. Toward the north, the terrain rises gradually in elevation. The lighthouse sits in a wooded suburban residential neighborhood. There is a clear view southward to Lower New York Bay and the Atlantic Ocean from the lighthouse lantern.

The lighthouse is centrally located on a small parcel of land amounting to 0.182 acres and is irregular in shape. This parcel measures approximately 120 feet by 82 feet. It is the remainder of a 0.939-acre parcel purchased by the Federal government in 1908. The original parcel was the light station property when it was established in 1912. A subdivided part of this original parcel amounting to 0.757 acres was sold to a private owner in 1926. It included the light station keepers' dwelling.

The existing lighthouse property includes the tower, roadway, and fences. A gravel and asphalt roadway with concrete curbs traverses the property and surrounds the tower. There are fences on the north, east and south sides, and a 3-foot tall concrete retaining wall on the west side. The fence along the eastern side of the property includes concrete posts supporting upper and lower railings made of metal pipe. The fence along the property's north side is taller, made entirely of metal, and appears to be of recent construction. This fence cuts off access to the property from Edinboro Road. The U.S. Coast Guard Property may be entered from the east by way of a gate in the fence at 402 Edinboro Road, with permission of that property's private owner.

Inside the lighthouse property, the tower is enclosed by a wrought iron fence that wraps tightly around it. This fence is painted black and includes a gate on the south side. Inside this gate, there is a set of seven concrete steps leading up to the lighthouse's entrance.

The lighthouse is octagonal and 102 feet tall overall. It includes a limestone masonry base, brick tower, and cast iron lantern. The base is one story in height, 25 feet in diameter, and sits on a concrete foundation. Its eight-sided wall is 7.5 feet thick and is constructed with smooth-face cut limestone blocks on the exterior and a brick lining on the interior. The exterior includes a water table and projecting cornice. Its limestone exterior masonry is in good condition, though there are several places where weathering has degraded the surface.

The structure has one entrance, located on its south side. Above the doorway is the date "1909" inscribed over "USLHE." The year 1909 was when the structure's construction began. The initials below the date are arranged in segmental-arch fashion and stand for "United States Light-House Establishment."

The single entrance to the lighthouse is beneath the inscription. This doorway is five feet wide. It holds an outer two-leaf wooden door and an inner two-leaf wooden door. Both sets of doors have four panels arranged vertically in each leaf. There is a six-light, fixed, rectangular transom window above the outer door and another above the inner door. The vestibule between the outer and inner doors is five feet wide by four feet deep. It has a decorative tile floor made with half-inch square marble tiles colored cream, red, and yellow.

Above the limestone base, the octagonal tower's exterior fabric is yellow brick. The exterior of each window opening has a limestone sill and a decorative surround and crown of cut limestone that includes a stylized keystone. An octagonal cornice with classical molding surrounds the tower just below the windows of the tower's upper landing. This cornice supports large, ornate metal brackets that in turn support the metal gallery surrounding the watch room. Each of the cornice's eight sides supports two brackets.

The lighthouse's octagonal watch room is above the tower's upper landing. Its exterior fabric is yellow brick, also. The watch room is surrounded by an octagonal gallery with a metal floor and handrail. An emergency light for the Ambrose Channel rear range light signal, as well as an emergency rear range light for the Swash Channel, are mounted on this gallery. They are available for use if either of the normal rear lights for those ranges fails. The watch room supports the lighthouse's sixteen-sided lantern, which is made of metal and glass. The lantern is surrounded by a narrow gallery with metal floor and handrail. Its roof is metal. A ventilator ball topped with a lightning rod is affixed to the roof's center peak.

The tower's first story is entered by way of the structure's single doorway. The interior is a single circular room eleven feet-four inches in diameter. Even though the light tower's exterior is octagonal, the interior is circular and lined with red brick from bottom to top. Metalwork in the tower is fastened with nuts and bolts. A hollow metal column one foot four inches in diameter rises vertically inside the tower from the center. This column is pierced with a regular series of rectangular openings. Its hollow interior contains electrical wiring for the lighthouse's optic and other equipment. This column extends from the tower's first story to the base of the watch room atop the tower. The column supports the cast iron spiral stairway inside the tower. The inner end of each stair tread is bolted to the column.

The tower's fenestration has the same window design from the first story to the upper landing. These windows are all wood-framed with double-hung sashes and six-over-six lights. Each six-light sash is arranged two-over-two-over-two. The windows are set into segmental arch openings that are two feet nine inches wide by six feet tall. Modern aluminum frame storm windows are affixed on the outer side of the original windows. There are three windows on the tower's first story, two at each intermediary stairway landing, and four in the tower's upper landing.

The floor of the first story is made of metal plates. There is a built-in, wooden storage cabinet to the left of the doorway. It appears to be original. This cabinet is painted gray and distinguished by a concave wooden door with five panels on the front. The cabinet's two visible sides have five rectangular panels arranged vertically. There are three shelves inside. It is presently used for storing tools.

The tower's stairway leads up seventeen steps to a second-story landing with a floor of metal plates. There are two windows on this level. Both have double-hung wooden sashes with six-over-six lights. Another flight of seventeen steps leads to the third-story landing, which has two windows. Seventeen more steps lead to the fourth-story landing, also with two windows. Still another 17-step flight of stairs leads to the fifth-story landing, also with two windows. A final flight of 17 steps leads to the tower's sixth-story upper landing. The tower interior at this level is circular and eleven feet, four inches in diameter. The upper landing has a metal floor, and its surrounding wall is painted white. The upper landing's four six-over-six windows are of the same design and configuration as the others in the tower.

A stair flight of 14 cast iron steps leads up to the watch room through a trapdoor opening in the ceiling. This opening is four feet long by two feet, four inches wide. It is mounted with a two-leaf cast metal trapdoor.

The seventh-story watch room is surrounded by a wall one foot thick that is octagonal on the exterior and circular on the interior. The wall's interior face is brick-lined and painted white. The watch room is lighted with seven round port-light windows that are 20 inches in diameter. The floor is metal. A two-leaf door seven feet tall by three feet, nine inches wide provides access to the exterior gallery.

Most of the watch room is occupied with electrical equipment. This is for operating the lighthouse's optic and other instruments, including the emergency lights to be used if a main optic fails. A nine-step metal stairway at one side provides access to the lantern room through an opening in the ceiling. This opening is four feet, ten inches long by one foot, ten inches wide. A two-leaf metal trapdoor is attached to the opening by hinges.

The lantern room is twelve feet in diameter and twelve feet tall at its center apex. The floor is metal. The trapdoor above the stairway from the watch room can be closed to provide an all-around solid floor. There is a former vent opening on the interior of the roof's apex. It is presently covered. Each of the lantern's sixteen sides is 27 inches wide by nine feet, eight inches tall, and includes three vertically arranged window openings framed by metal mullions. Twelve of the lantern's sides are covered with metal panels painted black. Only the four sides facing Ambrose Channel along the light's range line are glazed with clear glass. An exterior gallery surrounds the lantern. It is octagonal and has a metal floor and a railing 33 inches tall. Two radio antennas are attached to this gallery.

The lantern room contains the lighthouse's optic, which includes two lenses. The principal lens is a bull's-eye type second-order Fresnel range lens. It is five feet, two inches in diameter and was manufactured by Chance Brothers and Company in 1905. The lens is mounted in a stationary metal framework that rests on a pedestal. This framework also holds the optic's second lens. It is a reflecting prism lens on the opposite side of the light source along the same axis as the main lens. The light source for the optic is a 1000-watt lamp mounted in an automatic bulb changer. The changer holds two lamps. If one lamp burns out, the bulb changer rotates the other into position.

The lighthouse is automated and signals a fixed white light 24 hours a day. Its signal is visible along the range line only and can be seen 18 miles in clear weather. The focal plane of this optic is 231 feet above sea level.

The Staten Island Light is basically unchanged from when originally built. There have been no substantive alterations to the lighthouse's structural configuration or character. The principal changes have been modernizing and upgrading its electrical equipment. This includes installation of modern electrical components, wiring, and conduit.

A noteworthy change has been the building of a modern metal fence along the north side of the property. This blocks direct access to the lighthouse from Edinboro Road. It does not appear that the U.S. Coast Guard built or authorized this fence. The undertaking appears to have been accomplished by an owner or tenant associated with the privately-owned neighboring property at 402 Edinboro Road. This neighboring property includes frontage along the next parallel street downhill, where there is a gated driveway with the additional street address of 401 Lighthouse Avenue. This driveway connects with the roadway that traverses the lighthouse property. It appears to be used by cars passing between Lighthouse Avenue and the parking area at the front of 402 Edinboro Road.

When originally established in 1912, the Staten Island Range Rear Light Station included more land and buildings than the U.S. Coast Guard-owned property today. The original parcel amounted to 0.939 acre. It included the lighthouse and a duplex dwelling for two keepers and their families. The original land parcel was subdivided in 1926 and 0.757 acre was sold to a private party. The part sold included the keepers' dwelling. The remaining 0.182 acre containing the lighthouse was retained by the U.S. Coast Guard.

The original light station keepers' dwelling is still standing. Its address is 402 Edinboro Road. Changes have been made to the property during its period of private ownership. These include the addition of a large metal fence along its frontage with Edinboro Road. This fence extends across the northern side of the Staten Island Light's land parcel and separates it from the adjoining street.