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HomeMy WebLinkAboutLittle Gull Lighthouse History by Amy Folk – Southold Town Historian Little Gull Built 1868 Little Gull Island is a tiny one acre island that sits across from Fishers Island and less than a half-mile northeast of its companion, Great Gull Island. The island sits between two turbulent, fast-moving channels. The water to the north is nick-named the Race and to the south the Sluiceway. Thanks to its pivotal location and widespread concern for the safety of mariners in the Race, Little Gull Island was 1 the third lighthouse built on Long Island. The Federal government bought both Little and Great Gull Islands as potential lighthouse sites in February 1803. Surveyors noted that the land on Little Gull, above high water line had barely eroded over the years and the island was surrounded by rock reefs that helped prevent the sea from washing the island away. They noted that some rocks onsite could be used for the foundation, but most materials would have to be brought in by ship. Work at Little Gull began almost 2 immediately. From authors collection In 1805, the 53-foot high Little Gull Island Lighthouse went into operation. The tower was a made of smooth, fine grained stone. Inside the tower, a wooden spiral staircase led to the lantern room. A one-and-a-half- story keepers’ cottage was built nearby. The cottage had two rooms on the ground floor and a one-room upstairs. Although the island was well-suited for the long term stability of lighthouse, it had no fresh water nor was it large enough for a garden to support the keepers. For access to fresh water or to have a small garden, the keepers had to row the half-mile across the treacherous waters to 3 Great Gull Island, where there was a freshwater well, although not a very good one. The lighthouse became a pawn in the War of 1812, when the British decided to hinder American naval maneuvers in the area by extinguishing the light. On July 28, 1813, a small force landed at Little Gull Island intent on extinguishing the light. When the keeper, Giles Holt, intervened vowing the tower would remain lit until his government instructed him otherwise, the British soldiers ripped 4 out the lamps and reflectors and dumped them into the sea. Little Gull remained out of service until after the war. The British made two more visits to the island. In the beginning of 1814, they returned to the island and purchased some of the unused lamp oil. The following month, February, they returned and destroyed the buildings, tearing off doors, breaking the glass and stealing anything they 5 could use. Witnesses said it looked like they had gone at the buildings with sledgehammers. The hurricane of 1815 almost destroyed the station. It was said that the water rose so high that a pig swept from its pen on the island was rescued through a second floor window of the keeper’s house. By the end of the storm, the light was severely damaged, all the newly repaired windows were broken and the outbuildings were ruined. Following the storm, Congress appropriated $30,000 for the restoration of Little Gull Lighthouse and built a substantial stone seawall to protect the lighthouse and the keeper’s dwelling. The seawall which remains in place today is 100 feet in diameter, was buried 10 feet deep and was secured with copper bolts and an iron 6 railing. The federal Lighthouse Board responded to complaints, in 1868, that Little Gull Light was not visible enough by replacing the 53-foot structure with an 81-foot granite tower. A three story mansard-roofed brick house replaced the earlier keeper’s cottage. The new lighthouse was one of the last masonry lighthouses built on the East Coast. In 1937, the station was modernized when the tower and 7 the house both had electric lights installed. While the granite tower is still standing on the island the keeper’s home was destroyed by fire in the mid-1940s and was replaced by 8 the coast guard with a plain one-story structure. The station was automated in 1978. Today the island and the light station are privately owned. 1 Ruthann Bramson, Geoffrey Fleming, Amy Folk, A World Unto Itself: The Remarkable History of Plum Island, New York (Southold, New York: Southold Historical Society, 2014), 102. 2 Ibid. 102. 3 Ibid. 103. 4 Ibid. 103; and Robert Muller, Long Island’s Lighthouses Past and Present (Patchogue, New York: Long Island Chapter of the U.S. Lighthouse Society, 2004), 164. 5 Bramson, Fleming, Folk, 104; and Muller, 164. 6 Michael Harwood, The View from Great Gull (New York, New York: E.P. Dutton, Inc., 1976), 32-35. 7 Muller, 172. 8 Ibid. 175. ______________________________________________________________________ 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. Harwood, Michael. The View from Great Gull. New York, New York: E.P. Dutton, Inc. , 1976. Keatts, Henry and Farr, George. The Bell Tolls: Shipwrecks & Lighthouses vol. 2 Eastern Long Island. Laurel, New York: Main Road books, Inc. , 2002. Muller, Robert G. Long Island's Lighthouses Past and Present. Patchogue, New York: Long Island Chapter of the US Lighthouse Society, 2004.