HomeMy WebLinkAboutNorth Dumpling
Lighthouse History by Amy Folk- Southold Town Historian
North Dumpling
Built 1849
A half mile off the northern tip of Fishers Island, sits a 2.3 acre island known as North Dumpling Island. The area, “Prior to the
establishment of a lighthouse, a private lightboat had been stationed nearby to mark the entrance to West Harbor on the north side of
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Fisher’s Island. This boat, maintained by the Stonington Railroad and Steamboat Company, had been there since 1837”
It was recommended that a lighthouse be built to replace the private lightboat. The experts of the area all agreed that the light should
go up on South Dumpling Island. Despite the recommendation the government purchased North Dumpling Island from the Winthrop
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family who had owned both islands for 208 years.
After acquiring the land in 1847, the government surveyed North Dumpling Island a year later. Construction began on a light tower
with a keepers cottage. By 1849 the light was operational; deciding to enhance the government’s work, the Stonington Railroad and
Steamboat Company installed a fog bell on the island and paid the keeper to ring the bell in foggy weather when its ships were in the
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area.
By 1850 the buildings which were constructed out of poor materials were in miserable shape. A report made to the government noted
that when it rained water seeped into the building through the mortar, the gutters had fallen off the building and the red shades that
were created to make the light blink red were so dark that the keeper had to burn an excessive amount of oil to make the light visible
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to passing ships.
The government replaced the private fog bell with a new bell, in 1854, whose striking mechanism was designed by George G. Meade,
who later served in the Civil War as a Union General. It took seventeen years after the initial report to the government about the poor
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state of the buildings before a plan to rebuild was put forward.
In 1871, the station was renovated, a 39 foot tower with a sixth order lens and a second empire style keepers cottage were completed.
North Dumpling station was largely self-sufficient the island had not only the tower and keepers cottage but also a barn, chicken coop,
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a pond and a large garden. But the island was slowly eroding away.
Between 1891 and 1892 the station was updated with new clockwork mechanism, an updated fog bell tower and a fifth order Fresnel
lens, the strongest of the lights in Southold’s lighthouses were installed. In 1902, a telephone was installed by Southern New England
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Telephone Company.
The 1938 hurricane devastated both the station and the island. The bell
tower, storehouse, boathouse and part of the island including the pond all
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washed away.
In 1959 the Coast Guard automated the lighthouse and built a 60 foot
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skeleton tower on the southwest section of the island. The keepers were
transferred to other stations. Later that same year the island was offered for
sale and was purchased by a New York City investor, who visited the island
infrequently. The structures on the island soon were in disrepair and
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vandals were a frequent problem.
The island was again put up for sale and purchased in 1980 by another New
York businessman, who was an enthusiastic yachtsman. The new owner did
extensive remodeling of the keepers house, adding to the original structure.
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A new caretakers cottage was erected on the island, and a new wooden pier constructed next to the boat house. In 1982, the
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boathouse was refurbished and Dowling College used the location as a marine laboratory. Extensive landscaping was installed
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which changed the barren island into a lush garden. The skeleton tower was removed and the light was reinstalled in the tower.
The island again was sold in 1986 and today remains privately owned.
1
Robert G. Muller, Long Island’s Lighthouses Past and Present, (Patchogue, New York: Long Island Chapter of the US Lighthouse Society, 2004) 200.
2
Ibid. 201-202.
3
Ibid 202.
4
Ibid, 203-203.
5
Ibid, 203.
6
Ibid, 206.
7
Ibid.
8
Ibid, 211.
9
Harlan Hamilton, Lights & Legends: A Historical Guide to Lighthouses, (Stamford, Connecticut: Wescott Cove Publishing Company, 1987) 208.
10
Ibid.
11
Ibid.
12
“Dowling College Adds B.A. in Marine Studies,” The Long Island News and Owl, 20 January 1983.
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Hamilton, 210.
__________________________________________________________________________
Hamilton, Harlan. Lights & Legends. Stamford, Connecticut: Wescott Cove Publishing Company, 1987.
Muller, Robert G. Long Island's Lighthouses Past and Present. Patchogue, New York: Long Island Chapter of the US Lighthouse
Society, 2004.
The Long Island News and Owl. "Dowling College Adds B.A. in Marine Studies." January 20, 1983: 4.