In celebrating their 160th Anniversary, Horton Point Lighthouse, located in Southold, NY, has a new commemorative stamp for the U.S. Lighthouse Society’s Passport Program. The Horton Point lighthouse keepers are ready to stamp passports starting on Memorial Day weekend.
The Horton Point Lighthouse was constructed by the U.S. Light-House Board in 1857. It is one of seven historic lighthouses located in Southold Township. The tower and adjoining keeper’s residence are built on the “Cliff Lot” of Barnabas Horton’s original 1640 land grant. The tower is 58 feet tall and once held a 3rd order Fresnel lens. The lighthouse was automated in 1933.
In a 1990 restoration project the tower was repaired internally and externally, reopened, and relit. At that time the lower level of the keeper’s house was converted into the a nautical museum. Listed on both the State & National Registers of Historic Places, the lighthouse is open to the public Saturdays and Sundays from Memorial Day weekend to Columbus Day weekend.
Submitted by Ben Gonzalez, Horton Point Lighthouse Volunteer Committee, April 19, 2017
* * * *
U.S. Lighthouse Society News is produced by the U.S. Lighthouse Society to support lighthouse preservation, history, education and research. Please consider joining the U.S. Lighthouse Society if you are not already a member. If you have items of interest to the lighthouse community and its supporters, please email them to candace@uslhs.org.
Candace was the US Lighthouse Society historian from 2016 until she passed away in August 2018. For 30 years, her work involved lighthouse history. She worked with the National Park Service and the Council of American Maritime Museums. She was a noted author and was considered the most knowledgable person on lighthouse information at the National Archives. Books by Candace Clifford include: Women who Kept the Lights: a History of Thirty-eight Female Lighthouse Keepers , Mind the Light Katie, and Maine Lighthouses, Documentation of their Past.