HomeMy WebLinkAboutOrient Point Light - The Coffeepot
Lighthouse History by Amy Folk, Southold Town Historian
Orient Point Light – The Coffeepot
Built 1899
In 1886, the residents of Orient Point started a grassroots movement to improve the navigational aids
along the Plum Island coast. A petition to build a second lighthouse on the Orient Point side of
Plum Gut was started. But, when presented with the petition, the government, busy with labor and
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racial unrest as well as booming economy, ignored the request.
The Lighthouse Commission finally listened to the local residents when calls to build a second
lighthouse along the Orient Point side of the Gut strengthened in the 1890s. Describing the area as,
“A Poorly Lighted and Dangerous but Much Frequented Coast,” articles appeared in papers such as
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the Sag Harbor Express, again giving voice to the local concerns. The Government decided that in
the interests of safety, building a second light at Orient Point was mandatory.
It was two years after the funding for a new lighthouse was pushed through Congress before work on
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building a base for the new Orient Point Lighthouse was started. Once begun the new lighthouse
went up fairly quickly.
The local newspapers reported that the head contractor, S. A. Guerber, felt that the new light would
be operational in four months. The government inspector of the project, H.F. Brandenburg, wanting
to supervise the construction on a daily basis and not delay the progress of the building, moved his
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family to Orient Point.
The tower was originally planned to be, “…a circular stone tower about 25 feet in diameter at the
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base and about 80 feet above the level of the sea.” Just off of Orient Point, the structure that was
completed in November of 1899 ended up being quite different from the plans that were first
reported by the newspapers. The structure
was, constructed on a man-made pile of
rocks and “…built entirely of iron and steel,
\[it\] is fifty-six feet from high water to the
light and is twenty feet from water to the
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landing.” The tower had only a narrow
balcony encircling its middle.
Locals looking at the new structure decided
that it looked like a coffeepot which had lost
its spout, and thus renamed the lighthouse
the “Coffeepot.” Today the Coffeepot is
painted black with a thick white center
stripe.
1
Bramson, Fleming, and Folk, A World Unto Itself: The Remarkable History of Plum Island, New York, (Southold, New York: Southold Historical Society, 2014)
93.
2
“Poorly Lighted and Dangerous, but Much Frequented Coast,” Sag Harbor Express, 21 November 1895. 1.
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Work started October 15, 1898
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“Plum Island Light,” Sag Harbor Express, 20 October 1898. 2.
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“Orient,” Long Island Traveler, 21 October 1898. 3.
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“All Over Long island,” South Side Signal, 11 August 1900. 4.
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Bramson, Ruthann, Fleming, Geoffrey K. & Folk, Amy Kasuga. A World Unto Itself: The Remarkable History of Plum Island, New
York. Southold, New York: Southold Historical Society, 2014.
Hamilton, Harlan. Lights & Legends. Stamford, Connecticut: Wescott Cove Publishing Company, 1987.
Keatts, Henry and Farr, George. The Bell Tolls: Shipwrecks & Lighthouses vol. 2 Eastern Long Island. Laurel, New York: Main Road
books, Inc. , 2002.
Long Island Traveler. "Orient." October 21, 1898: 3.
Sag Harbor Express. "Plum Island Light." October 20, 1898: 2.
Sag Harbor Express. "Poorly Lighted and Dangerous, but Much Frequented Coast." November 21, 1895: 1.
South Side Signal. "All Over Long Island." August 11, 1900: 4.