HomeMy WebLinkAboutWE-15A r
FOR OFFICE USE ONLY WE 15A
BUILDING-STRUCTURE INVENTORY FORM
UNIQUE SITE NO.j(7 lO.aiISL
DIVISION FOR HISTORIC PRESERVATION QUAD
NEW YORK STATE PARKS AND RECREATION SERIES
ALBANY, NEW YORK 151 HI 474-0479 NEG. N0.
YOUR NAME:: Town of Southold/SPLIA DATE: May 1988
YOUR ADDRESS: Town Hall, Main Rd. _ TELEPHONE:516 765 1892
Southold LI NY 11971
ORGANIZATION (if any): Southold Town Community Development Office
IDENTIFICATION
1. BUILDING NAME(S): North Dumpling Light House
2. COIINTY: Suffolk TOWN/CITY: Southold VILLAGE: Fishers Island
.3. STREET LOCATION: Fishers Island Sound, bet. North Hill (F.I.) & Groton
4. OWNERSHIP: a. public ❑ h private EA Long Point (CT. ).
5. PRESENT OWNER: ADDRESS:
6. USE: Original:light house Present: residence
7, ACCESSIBILITY TO PUBLICExterior visible from public road: Yes ❑ No ❑
Interior accessible: Explain Private island
DESCRIPTION
9, BUILDING a. clapboard ❑ b. stone ® c. brick 0 d. board and batten ❑
MATERIAL: e. cobblestone ❑ f_ shingles ❑ g. stucco ❑ other:
t� STRUCTURAL a. wood frame with interlocking joints ❑
SYSTEM: b. wand frame with light members El
(if kn(wvn) c. masonry load bearing walls
d. metal (explain)
e. other
IU. CONDITION: a. excellent b. good ❑ c. fair ❑ d. deteriorated ❑
11. INTEGRITY: a. original site b. moved ❑ if so,when"
c. lis[ major alterations and dates (if known):
Remodelled 1980.
12. PHOTO: Newsday, 5/25/86 13. MAP: 1983 Hagstrom Map Co.
see attachment
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14. THREATS TO BUILDING: a. none known M b. zoning❑ c. roads ❑
d. developers ❑ e. deterioration ❑
f. other:
15. RELATED OUTBUILDINGS AND PROPERTY:
a. barn❑ b. carriage house ❑ c. garage ❑
d.privy ❑ e. shed ❑ f. greenhouse ❑
g. shop ❑ h. gardens
i. landscape features: specimen trees/shrubs added 1980.
). other: cottage,flier, boat house
16. SURROUNDINGS OF THE BUILDING (check more than one if necessary):
a.open land ❑ b. woodland ❑
c. scattered buildings ❑
d.densely built-up ❑ e. commercial ❑
f. industrial ❑ g. residential ❑
h.other: 2 small islands to S. in Fishers Island
Sound.
17. INTI-RRELATIONSHIP OF BUILDING AND SURROL NDINGS:
(indicate if building or structure is in an historic district)
Located just south of the New London County(Connecticut) border
in the middle of Fishers Island Sound. The approximatly 3 acre
island is one of 3 in the vicinity. The former light house is
the main building on this small island.
18. OTHER NOTABLE FEATURES OF BUILDING AND SITE (including interior features if known):
111/2 story, 3 bay, mansard roof building. Smaller 1 1/2
story, mansard roof wing. Main section with 3 story light—
tower that rises from projecting central element . Lantern
room with gallery deck.
SIGNIFICANCE
19. DATE OF INITIAL CONSTRUCTION: Estahl i Rhpd 1$49, rebuilt 1A71 19RC)
ARCHITECT:
BUILDER:
0. HISTORICAL AND ARCHITECTURAL IMPORTANCE:
Although remodelled and enlarged for residential use, the
structure retains a degree of architectural interest . The
Coast Guard had removed the automated light to a skeleton
tower and sold the island to a private owner . Howeverp a
subsequent owner persuaded the Coast Guard to return the
automated light to the stone tower , and the skeleton tower
was demolished .
This lighthouse and Race Rock were always considered to be
"castles in the sound."
'I. SOURCES: Lights and Legends. Harlan Hamilton, 1987, pp. 208-210.
Historical and Descriptive Sketches of Suffolk County. R.M.
Bayles, 1874, p. 391.
Newsday, 5/25/86, p. 17.
11.i �3T: Preservation Notes, SPLIA, June 1974, p. 8.
Form prepared by Kurt Kahofer , research assistant .
WE 15A
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III NORTH
DUMPLING
SOUND
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ns fel
SOUTH
ff DUMPLING
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+tw'0�o+ le.nx. roe•.4. N..il.re.. e. SUFFOLK COUNTY � `-' � FIVE EASTERN TOWNS
+.[ s.rrroL� [aun. .[c�se.xal4 DEPARTMENT OF PUBLIC WORKS SUFFOLK COUNTY, N.V.
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IOHN V N Ii(YN, LevNr•le.[v,rr[ R M SAMMSe4■ COMMISIIONII fIVINHIAD. SOUTHAMPTON. SOUTHOLD
4rC N!(i J pNlNT, PP[f 0e4 ar[rL4e IA—ANN NIW POI[ SHSIIIS ISLAND. (AIT HAMPTON
1974
WE 15A
North Dumpling Light House
Fishers Island Sound
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Hagstrom Neap Company, 1983. �
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3W TOWN OF BouTHsOLIX TOWN OF SOUTHOLD. $�J1
light, visible thirteen n>ilea distant. This light is about seven has remained in tha possession of descendants of the original
miles beyond Orient Point Qo
purchaser, down to the present day.
About four miles farther in the game direction, which bears North Durupling Light-house stands upon a small island in N
somewhat north of east, lies Fisher's Island, also belonging to Fisher's Islgnd Sound, two or three miles north of the island.
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the town of Southold. This island is about eight miles in The light-house lvas built in 1848, and re-fitted in 1856. It `T
length, with an average width of nearly one mile, and con- gives a fixed light, which is visible twelve miles distant. The 0
tains about four thousand acres. The surface is hilly and
I tower is twenty-flue feet above its. baso, and the light shines C:
uneven, and the shores irregnlar, two small harbors being from an elevation of seventy feet above the level of the sur- •-
formed on the north side. Wickaposset is the name given to rounding water.
�•
the eastern point, and Rase Point the name of the western,
extremity of the island. Some of the hind rises in peaks and
M
n
bluffs of considerable elevation,,prominent among which are U)
Sit Prospect, near the west end, and another near the middle
Cn
`s
said to be considerable higher. Mach of the Surface is rocky. �
The soil ie
good,and is mostly otxupied for grazing and farm- �
ins pIIrposea Considerable quantities of brick have been
a
manufactured from a mine of aIay found at the base of one of 0 o
the hills.
a
This island was first discovered by Adrian Block, in 1614.
It was then named Yisaher's Island, as is supposed, in honor
of some of his companions It ,vas purchased of the Indians
by John Winthrop, (afterwards Governor of Conn.) in 1644,
and a patent of oonflrmation was given by Gov. Nicoll, March
28, 1668, in which it was constituted an independent town-
ship. with "equal privileges and immunities with any other
town, enfranchised place or manor, within the government of
New York; and to be in no wise subordinate, or belonging -
unto or dependent upon, any riding, township, place, or
jurisdiction whatever." In 1680 the government of C3onnbo-
tiamt laid claim to the ialand, but without Sustaining it. It
Historic and Descriptive SkPtrhP.-q of S„ffolk
County. R.M. Bavles. 1674.
u,
A
North Dumpling Light House
Fishers .71sland Sp ,
WE 15A
CHAPTER 34
NORTH DUMPLING LIGHT,
Fishers Island Sound, N Y (1849)
Light List No.: 18990
Location: Latitude 410 17.3' N
Longitude: 72" 1.2' W
Height: 31' (HAW 91')
Range: 9 miles, White Fixed White Red Sector
Lens: 300 mm plastic, 2.03 amps
Rebuilt: 1871, 1980
Besides having the most powerful light in Fishers Island Sound,North
Dumpling Island,located about one-half mile off the north shore of Fish-
ers Island, has the distinction of having only Five owners_since 1639. In
that year Governor John Winthrop Pur-
chased it from the Indians,and it remained in his family for 208 years un-
til they sold it to the United States Government in 1847. In 1848,the Gov-
ernment surveyed the island,and one year later crected a lighthouse on it.
The new beacon proved to be a welcome guide to mariners who sailed
Fishers Island Sound during the Civil War.Engineer's drawings for 1867
show that the island had a dwelling with the lighthouse attached to the
roof, a bell tower a short distance away to the north and connected by a
covered walk, a hen house, and two gardens. The 1906 Light List shows
that in that year the lighthouse had a fifth-order classical(or Fresnel)lens
with a fixed white light and a fixed red sector between WY4S through
southward to NNE7/8E. Various keepers maintained the light until the
Coast Guard automated it in May 1959 by erecting a 60-ft.skeleton tower
on the southwest part of the island.
With an automated light,the Coast Guard transferred its maintenance
personnel elsewhere and offered the 2.3 acre island for sale. In August
1959, the third owner of North Dumpling Island, George Washburn, a
New York City investment manager bought the island at a government
auction for $18,000 and soon began to regret his purchase when he took
possession of his property in December.The new owner,not a yachtman
who admittedly bought the treeless island as an investment venture, re-
ceived countless telephone calls from the news media and numerous let-
ters from happy island owners far and near who "welcomed him to the
club." However, since Mr. Washburn spent more time at his home in
Manhattan than at his island retreat, he had serious difficulty with with
vandalism,always a problem with absentee island owners.Consequently,
the old lighthouse and its buildings fell into disrepair.
In 1980, the island got its fourth owner,David Levitt,who,for better or
for worse,gave the light and island a face lift.The new owner,also a New -
Lights and Legends. Harlan Hamilton, 1987, pp. 208-210.
208
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WE 15A
York City businessman, bought the island for $95,000. Unlike the third
owner, Mr. Levitt was an avid yachtsman who sailed a forty-ft. Hinckley
ketch and used the island as a retirement hideaway. With the help of ar-
chitect Howard Leonard, he remodeled the red brick, two-story keeper's
house,built additions to the kitchen and living room,constructed a care-
taker's cottage, and had a new wooden pier built beside a refurbished
boat house which orignally was designed as a marine laboratory for
/ Dowling College,Oakdale,New York.Planted landscaping included Jap-
anese black pines,azaleas, beach plums, Russian olive,weeping willows,
forsythia,red and white Rosa Rogura,blueberries,roses, rhododendrons,
mountain laurel,daffodils,tulips,dwarf peach,pear and apple trees,bay-
berry and cotoneaster. In addition, the new owner had the Coast Guard
remove, "for aesthetic reasons," the steel skeleton tower it had erected in
1959 near the house. The light was moved back into the tower atop the
mansard roof of the house where it had been originally. Although the
"renovation"of the lighthouse was impressive, one cannot help wishing
that its owner had not modernized it quite so much, for in doing so he
practically destroyed every original detail of this old,historic Second Em-
pire-inspired structure. The new modern design construction seems in-
congruous with the beautiful original construction.
North Dumpling Island and its lighthouse was sold to its fifth owner,
Dean A. Kamen, in November 1986 for over one million dollars. Mr.
Kamen, a thirty-five-year-old bachelor from Long Island, New York, is t
president of DEKA Research and Development Corporation based in
Manchester,New Hampshire.Highly successful,his company designs ar-
tificial organs and other high-tech medical devices.
North Dumpling Light,-along with Race Rock and Penfield Reef
M Lights, have always been for me "castles in the Sound." l�
s�
�
Lighthouse Dogs as
The keeper's life was, for the most part, monotonous and lonely. s
Occasional jaunts to town or the mainland, in the case of offshore sta-
tions, highlighted his schedule. Otherwise, save for the occasional wreck
of a ship,the occasional visitor,or the crash of stormy seas over his light-
house, the keeper's days were made up of repetitious log entires,trudging
up and down the spiral staircase,and daily housekeeping chores like poI-
ishing brass or cleaning the glass panes of the lantern gallery.
For obvious reasons, companionship became a desperate need for
many keepers.Even keepers whose wives and children lived with them at
the light often kept pets as additional companions. Most interesting are
the stories of famous dogs and their masters who lived at the lights.The
careers of these faithful dogs, although often as colorful as the keepers',
were rarely documented in log books or lighthouse records.Yet, without
them,more lives might have been lost,and the keepers and their families
would certainly have Ied a drearier existence. ,
Lights and Legends , Harlan Harn;J.ton , 1987 . .
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c': . •. .' _ .: .. �. .r'3- ...:. . .. .: a .'�"�''� tom. ,t.'' ., - �` -.>..� ;v c- ::$
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WE 15A
a
the third Probably the best known dog of lighthouse lore was a huge, friendly
Hinckley Newfoundland-St. Bernard mix named Milo.His fame came more from
TIP of ar- a painting than from his feats of life saving. Entitled Saved, its artist
Y keeper's skillfully captured the security and protection Milo was known for at Egg ,
ed a care- Rock Light,one mile southeast of Nalta4-Mass achusetts.The light was
furbished discontinued on April 17, 1922.
.story for Milo came to the rock in September 1855, with the first keeper of the
udeded Jalap- Egg Rock Light, George B.Taylor and his family.Workers were still fin-
vs ishing the tower when the Taylors arrived, and they liked Milo so well
g
9 will ons, that they left a small hole in the stone entry way to the lighthouse to give
Tees,bay- the dog his own private entrance.Milo's strength and determination was
ist Guard first exhibited shortly after arriving at Egg Rock.Keeper Taylor had tried
:reeted in to shoot a large loon but succeeded only in wounding it. Milo jumped
atop the into the ocean on the east side of the island and began swimming after
.ough the the bird.The loon took off when Milo neared it and flew a quarter of a
i wishing mile before landing on the water again.Milo continued to swim after it.
ing so he As he reached the loon a second time, it again took flight.The chase
:ond Em- continued this way until both Milo and the loon disappeared from the Y
seems in- keeper's sight. Milo was gone all that night, and the Taylor family was
certain he had drowned, since he had paddled east—away from the
I owner, mainland. Late the next day, however, Milo was sighted swimming to-
Jars. Mr. ward Egg Rock—from the west.Apparently,he had attempted to return to
York, is the rock after dark the night before and had missed the island. He then
based in swam all the way to Nahant and rested on shore during the night. The
:signs ar- next day, he swam back to Egg Rock.
Milo's fame as a rescuer came later and prompted a local artist to paint
eld Reef Saved. Details pertaining to his rescues are sketchy, but he is known to
have saved several children from drowning at the rock. Keeper Taylor's
son.Fred,is pictured in the famous painting resting safely between the gi-
ant dog's paws. Sadly, Fred Taylor later drowned on a trip through
Shirley Gut.Had Milo been with him at the time,he too,might have been
d lonely. saved.
hore sta-
taI wreck
his light-
trudging Lights and Le ends , Harlan Hamilton, 1987 .
like pol-
need for
i them at
sting are
;its.The
keepers',
without
families
V 211
WE 15A
SPLIA, Setauket, L.I., 11733 BULK RATE
U.S.POSTAGE
Preservation. Notes PAID
June 1974 . SETAUKET,N.Y.
PERMIT NO.50
.PORT WASHINGTON ASA LEARNING RESOURCE
A community studies seminar "This is Port Washington" in its
concluding session discussed Port Washington as a learning resource.
Panelists for the session included Daniel Lerner, North Shore Science
Museum; F. Tyler Rice, Educational Director of the Nassau County
Museum; Virginia Parker, Assistant Director of Port Washington Public
Library;and representatives of the Community Service Volunteers. As part
of the seminar the thirty-five teachers and administrators who participated
in the informal sessions visited the Baxter house,now the residence of Mr.
and Mrs. Samuel Kaplan; the original Cornwall House, now the home of
Dr. and Mrs. Waldemar Hermann; and the Tristam Dodge house which is
now the home of Mr.and Mrs. Hedley Donovan.
Skeleton Steel Tower
HOUSES FOR SALE J
Stony Brook — Capt. ,Jonas
Smith house on Christian Ave-
nue. Fireplace, original wide
floor boards, has good picket
` fence.Call 516-862-6571.
Setauket - Lake Street, over-
looking pond across from Neigh-
borhood House, old fireplaces,
North Dumpling From On the Sound one with crane. Call
Island Vol. 4,No. 4,May 1974
516-751-0858.
Roslyn — Daniel Hegeman House, 198 Main Street, fully' restored by
Roslyn Preservation Corp.Call 516-671-3961.
Acquebogue — Youngs-Catz house, 129 Sound Avenue, with 140 acre
farm,or possibly with one acre.Call 516-727-6565.
Miller Place -- Timothy Miller house, ca 1760 or 1780,on North Country
Road, in an area approved for National Register listing.Cal!516-265-0555.
Fishers Island — North Dumpling Island, 3Y2 acre island with ca. 1850
lighthouse. Call 516-26700.
MODEL ORDINANCES AVAILABLE
Since 1956 the Society for the Preservation of Long Island Antiquities has been
supplying information about historic district legislation to Long Island's environmen-
tally oriented municipalities. Model ordinances are available at SPLIA headquarters.
Writc-.—Jjlatoric District Ordinances, SPLIA, 93 North Country Rd.,Setauket, L.I.,
11733
8
WE 15A
Ie Island
Id Sound
kor John 'Winthrop of
purchased North
KL a three-acre piece of
mile off the coast of
For 207 years it re-
amily,when it was sold
tater Govemrnent. Soon
government built a light-
Jand and until 1959,
rouse was automated, it
i by various keepers.
'finer of North Dumpling -Y`� � �•`,
its possession to 1977.
e lighthouse was re-
a residence of great
rfortable living,with Y
�-dows offering
of the Sound from
3 Le
4,000 square feet of -
pined in the wonderfully
g. Added to the original
pause structure is a wing
-s the living room and
ards room.
am, on the main level, is
hand-painted wall
'rg scenes of the harbors North Dumpling Island is a most picturesque property in Fishers Island Sound,offering an inventively
dc, Newport, and New remodelled 1849 light house as the fabulous primary residence,a new caretaker's cottage and boathouse.
" 19th century. The $2,500,000 partially furnished.
Med library has a tile-
-e, and completes the
Portfolio of Distinctive Properties For Sale_
Sotheby's International Realty vol . 2, N o . 3 . Stalk[tate
floor there is a master 1334 York Avenue US. Postage
arxposure on three sides, New York, New York 10021 PAID
adjoining yoga and Long Island City,NY
�wo additional bedrooms Fall 1985 Permit*147
h with whirlpool and
gowning the house is a
ng area in the former
tri with a poetry corner
k it.
)n this wonderful prop-
;.er's cottage with three MRS. HELEN L . FR OH L i CH
cderkc anri a_112nctcmP nn v f f I
-
AL - year, An earlier move to replace [lie WE 15A
lighthouse with buoys was scrapped
in 1967 after a wave of protest from
boaters. The preservation group is
trying to raise $500,000, which
z would be turned over to the Coast
t I� Guard for restoration of the building.
r
The Coast Guard would still like to
have the local preservation group,or
another organization, lease the light-
house. The 42-foot-high structure
was built in 1912 of reinforced con-
crete, a material first used to build a
lighthouse in 1908 at Point Arena,
Calif., after the earthquake of 1906
had destroyed an earlier lighthouse
° on the site, 120 miles north of San
Francisco. The Lloyd Harbor Light is
believed to be the oldest concrete
lighthouse on the East Coast. It re-
placed a wooden two-story structure
that had been erected in 1857 on a
spit of land jutting from Lloyd Neck.
In 1925, it was discontinued; in 1947
it was destroyed by a fire. The exist-
ing light sits on a concrete founda-
tion that was built on shore, towed to
the site, sunk and then filled with
more concrete. The original lens has
been replaced by a plastic one.
shifted to a nearby
ws State Park.The
ded to be turned onDumpling
a hiatus of a dozenlit Nofth
be over by the end �r' t-tall u�
s Hyland. `"There's - ` �' `r '� The 60-fooSecond Empire-
d romance connect- R ' style structure, left, was erected on a
ch history of heroic small island in Fishers Island Sound
ighthouses are the r` in 1849. It was automated in 1959,
urope's castles and and the island was sold to a New York
k of appeal." City businessman for $18,000. In
dent of the U.S. %A:' 1980,it was sold for$95,000 to David
"Part of their(asci- �� Levitt of New York City, a yachtsman
,t that they reflect '*� who used the lighthouse as a retire-
:h they were built." �� ,� ._ �, w ment hideaway. Levitt refurbished
i hthouses because the facilities and had the Coast Guard
err instincts. -�-r:"' Y Y move the light back into the stone
raw said" Wheeler -�, �.x- tower after it had been shifted to a ry
1 out a structure skeletal steel tower. The island is
:house.*' p again for sale.The price:$2.5 million.
Y
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More on Page 30
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Newsday, 5 /25/$6