HomeMy WebLinkAboutRace Rock Light
RACE ROCK Light (1878)
Off Fishers Island, NY by Harlan Hamilton
This is the 34th article in a series which appeers monthly In 80sting World Sound Edition
about the fascinating lighthouses of Long Island Sound and adjacent waters.
The- October Issue will feature an article on North Dumpling Light,
one of Long Island Sound's three privately owned lighthouses.
The Challenge
Race Rock Lighthouse will stand forever as a
monument 10 the courage and skill of two
indomitable men: Francis Hopkinson Smith, its
engineer. and Captain Thomas Albenson Scou, its
construction foreman. They built a lighthouse on a
location that expertS said was impossible. Their
engineering challenge was monumentaL
The sile of the proposed lighthouse was a
moal of small diameter in the center of which is a
boulder known as "Race Rock," a rock 12' long, 4
l/2' wide and 4 112' high. Since it was under water
at all tides, lhe rock was a dangerous obstacle
to passing vesseJ.s and had been marked for
years by a succession of iron spindles which
had been carried away by swrms and ice
noes. Over this shoal swept a currenl known
as "The Race." At rimes it had a velocity of 6
mph on the ebb [ide which made submarine:
work dangerous and expensive. It also limit~
ed 'hivers to only abom two hours of work
every six hours while the tide was turning.
Nonh and southeasters in the spring
and fall caused unusual heavy seas when they
CUt againsr iliis ride current, and during early
spring, large fields of ice floating out of the
Connecticut River were caught in its rip and
hurled against any construction unfinished
and unsupponed at the eod of each working
season. Just establishing basic working con-
ditions at the site proved difficult, requiring
thousands of tons of riprap to secure the
work-in-progress from the violent water con-
dinoDs. At all times the builders were subject
to the whims of nature with her winds, waves
and sudden SWalls: Constructing the new
lighthouse was not an easy task.
The> Builders
Francis Hopkinson Smith (1838-1915)
was a highly-regarded civil engineer, a good
paimer and writer, and much soughl after lec-
mrer. In addition to Race: Rock Ugh[, which
he considered his greale5t achievement, Smith'built
the Block Island breakwater; the foundations for the
Statue of llherry in New York Harbor and Penfield
Reef Light, Bridgeporr, CT; the sea walls at
Tornkinsville, Staten Island, NY and for Governor's
Island, also in New York Harbor. For 30 years he
was a parmer in me New York: CilY firm of Smith &
Symington which engaged in construction work..
chietly for the federal government.
In his spare moments, Smith pursued his
hobby of painting and was essentially self-Iaught.
He was known for his charming watercolors (par-
ticularly of Venice) and his charcoal studies. When
he r~tired from dIe strenuous life of a mwine engi-
neer, SmiTh also mrned (Q writing tiction., One of
his mosr popular novels was "Caleb West, Master
Diver," published in 1898 by Houghton Mifflin.
The novel is a" fictional acCOUnt of the building of
Race Rock Lighthouse and is a personal tribute to
his mend, Captain Tom Scon, who is the hero of
the book. Smith is buried inconspicuously in
Woodlawn Cemetery, Bronx, NY.
Sept 2000, S.E.B.W.
Captain Thomas Albertson Scott (1830.
1907) was the head of a successful mwine con-
tracting and salvage company in New London
which survived until his death, Scott was a master
diver and did much of the dangerous and difficult
submarine work. on many of Smith's marine pro-
jects. During his career he performed many acts of
heroism and received numerous citations for his
bravery during the building of Race Rock: Light.
Smith once described him as being. . , "three pans
fish and one pari man - - strong as a bull,. clear-
eyed, honesl, competent and fearless."
Construction of the Light
Worle. on the new lighthouse began on
Monday, May 6, 1872, by unloading cargoes of
riprap from a fleet of "stone" Sloops and placing
them on me site. By the end of August, some 10,000
tons of stone had been placed, and an artificial island
made in the shape of a turtle's back was completed.
But il was nOI until 1874 that Smith and Scott solved
me problem of building the foundation of the light-
house. No other problem confronted them in me
succeeding years of work at the light after they com-
pleted this phase ot'their construction.
Throughout the building of the Light, work
proceeded slowly due to bad wea[her, disputes over
the building contract and, at different periods,
because of the lack of cemenl of the proper quali~
ty and s[Ones for the pier. In the fall of 1876, the
workmen's quaners were damaged Iwice by the
Sound during storms, derricks were toppled and,
on November 21st; the crib which served as 3.tem-
parary lanr;ling wharf, was carried away by high
and violent waves. Despite these setback<;, Smith
and Scott completed conSlTucrion of the pier on the
foundation in 1877. It is 30' high.
The Lighl.House Board in Washington
approved plans for a two-Story keeper's dwelling in
March 1878, but work was delayed until May
when the lighthouse tender Mistletoe could deliver
the cut stone for the face of the dwelling and lower.
Operations resumed on June 11th. The [Ower was
completed in December 1878 and firSt showed its
beam on New Year's Day 1879. It is wonh Dorin"
that it took Smith and Scon only six month:
[0 build the keeper's dwelling and [Ower, but
six years 10 build the pier and foundation
upon which it rested, a funher Indicacion of
the difficulties they had to face and surmounr
wheo building on water instead of on land,
The completed lighthouse cosr the: federal
government $365,000, a considerable sum in
its day, Its twin, Strarford Shoal,
Middleground Light, completc(\ in 1877, but
not by Smith and Scan, cost about one-third of
what it cost to build Race Rock Light The
high cost of the new lighthouse pro~pred the
, members of the Light-House Board to look for
a more economical way to build lighiliouses
on wave-swept sites. 1l1.eir solution was the
pre.fabricated, circular cast iron structure
which could be produced in quantiry, taken to
the site and literally dropped into place for a
fraction of the COSI of the old masonry lighr-
houses. Orient Point Light, for example, COSt
$33,000 to build in 1899. Modem beacons
atop sleel skeleton [Owers cost even far less.
In 1898, Smith and Scan returned ro rh~
scene of their triumph and were pleased to
nOte that the fine joints in the masonry of the
pier and keeper's dwelling and tower were as
true as the day they had placed them 20 years
earlier. Since that time, the lighthouse has
survived the Portland gale of 1898 and the
New England hurricane of 1938 with only
minor structural damage. In the laner storm,
tbe lighthouse stood up [Q 175 mph winds,
although there were some broken windows. The
boat landing was badly damaged, and the station's
small boar was swept away, but mere \vas no StrUC-
lural damage to the lighthouse.
Description of the Light
Race Rock Lighthouse was builr in a Gothic
Revival sryle, reflecting popular archirectural
tllStes of the day. Thus, it is identified clearly as a
product of a unique period. ItS hand~ome ~tone
work is another tribute 10 its builders, Smirh and
Scott. The keeper's dwelling, built on the pier, is,
like the (Ower, construcled of granite. The lOwer is
45' high and stands 67' above high water.
The pier, upon which the dweJJing and tower
rest, is conical in shape, 57' in diameter ar its base,
and 30' high above me foundation. Large gran,ire
blocks form a thick outer wall; the center is filled
with concrete. In the center of the concrere portion
Continued on page 6
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RACE ROCK Light
Continued from page 3
of the pier are a cistern and a cellar.
On the north side is a boat slip to
provide a landing place. The entire
pier is sun'ounded by riprap.
To this day, to the credit of its
two liule.known builders, Race
Rock Light has a high degree of his-
toric integrity of which they would
be proud. The strUcture is virtually
unaltered, and its foundation, walls
and roof retain their original form
and with the ex.ception of the roof,
original materials as well.
The original 4th-order Fresnel
lens was removed in 1979 and
replaced with a DCB.24 rotating
nero beacon which, in turn, was
replaced by the current solar.pow-
ered VEGA Rotating Beacon. The
VEGA displays a Flashing Red
Light every 10 seconds and is lighted
24 hours; its range is 16 miles. the
light's modern fog signnl emits two
blAsts every 30 seconds. The beacon
was automated in 1978.
Keepers
Second Keeper (c. 1880-1886)
Thomas S. Carroll usually rowed
across Long Island Sound from the
lighthouse to his home in Noank,
Connecticut and returned in me same
manner. During a severe storm in
early January 1886, after being
marooned ashore for several days, he
believed it was his dut)' to return to
his station even though the storm
continued unabated and waves on the
Sound were high and dangerous.
Keeper Carroll started out bravely,
but was soon lost to sight. On
TtIucsday, January 14, 1886, his
body washed ashore at Groton Long
Point, Connecticut. He was 53 years
old. When he was a young man, he
stowed away on a ship embarking
from Dublin~ Ireland and was raised
by !he Yankee sea captain of the ves-
sei whose home port was Noank.
When he was older, Carroll worked
as a seaman for several years before
joining the Light-House Service.
Significance of the Light
Race Rock Light ranks among
the" most significant of American
lighthouses, not only because of the
formidable odds against which it was
buill and me great expense in its
building, but also because it repre-
sents the last period of masonry con-
struction for wave-swept ~tes. The
enormous difficulty of the construc-
tion project and its ex.pense moved the
Light-House Board to develop the
iron caisson foundation, a technique
which. by the end of the 1870's, had
superceded masonry in marking sllch
sites. Th~ lighthouse also represents
one of the last aids to navigation pro-
jects to follow closely a popular con-
temporary architectur<il style, in mis
case Gothic Revival. Race Rock Ligh(
marked the climax of 19th century
masonry lighthouse construction.
In addition. Race Rock Light
has significance in the history of the
eastem Long Island Sound region.
Prox..imity [Q the abundant fisheries of
the New England coast, as well as the
location between the early cemer of
population in New England and the
middle Atlantic states, had resulted in
a rich maritime heritage for this
region. Ruce Rock Light figures large-
ly in that tradition. because the danger-
ous winds, tides and currents around the
submerged rock fanned a major naviga~
tiona! problem. Dozens, and perhap.s
hundreds of ships were lost at Race Rock
before the erection of the light with
wrecks averaging one per year in the
1830's, the peak ofwind-powererl trclnS--
ponation.1k prOOigious etfon thm went
into building it testilY to me Ught's nav-
igational im~la11Ce and to the exrraor-
dinary demands of this difficult sUe. ~
ught is one of my castles on ~ Sound.
Race Rock Light has ye[ lUlOth.
er claim to fame. 11 is significant lIS un
example of the stylized lighthouses
built in the 18605 and 1870s.
However, new lighthouses often 1'01+
lowed a popular contempor'o:U"Y archi-
tectural style, ret1ecting the int1uence
of the newly.eswblished Light-House
Board in 1850. Most of me lighthous-
es of that period followed me Second
Empire style, such as Stepping Stones
Light in western Long Island Sound.
The Gothic Revival style of Race
Rock Light and Stratford Shoal,
Middleground, Light were exceptions.
Thus, Race Rock Light was one of the
last lighmouses to portray the intlu-
ence of a popular contemporary style.
Race Rock Lighthouse remains
as mute testimony to the heroic efforts
of two men, who accomplished the
impos!Oible task of building a light+
house on a location where most peo-
ple said it could nOl be done. Although
the lighthouse is included in (he
Inventory of Historic Light Stations,
published by me National Park
Service, it is still not listed in the
National Register of Historic Places.
It should be. .
Harlan Hamilton.has leclured widely
on the lighthouses of Long Island
Sound ulld is the author of
Lights & LegelUh, 11 guide 10 (hese
lights. Autographed copies of his
book and information about his
emcnaining und informative slide i
lecmres may be had b) i
calling hin1 at; (212) 535-56~O. I
j
Sept 2000, S.E.B.W.