New London Lighthouses Opened For "Sentinels" Weekend

The lighthouses included in this weekend’s tour were among some 1,200 he estimated his wife had talked him into visiting, Bob Mills said on Saturday.

“Her first love is lighthouses,” he said. “Her second love is climbing lighthouses.”

Making the trip from Kittery, Maine, Bob and his wife, Sharon, were among the first people on the tour to the New London Harbor Light. Sharon, who serves on the Portsmouth Harbor Lighthouse Foundation, said the couple is checking out a couple of sites in the region and visiting the two lighthouses on Block Island on the Fourth of July.

“Basically I found out that a couple of the lighthouses that weren’t usually open would be open today,” said Sharon.

One of those lighthouses was the New London Harbor Light. Built in 1761 and rebuilt within 40 years due to a crack that was compromising the structure, the lighthouse is the oldest signal on Long Island Sound and the fourth oldest one in the country. The Harbor Light was formally acquired in October by the .

In the first of three tours arranged on Saturday, visitors were trying something new: a marine landing at the site. Katie Bradford of New London Community Boating took the small boat in to a small beach, while helpers on shore assisted people over the gunwale onto a stepladder set in the surf.

Alexander MacDonald of the Custom House led the tours up the 120 steps of the spiral staircase, telling the history of the light as he went. He said Harbor Light was an early testing site for foghorns (until nearby residents complained) and used oil lamps until it was changed over to electricity and automated. The light is still maintained by the Coast Guard, and several beacons are visible from the top of the light.

“On a good night, I think you can see up to eight or possibly nine,” said MacDonald.

Ledge Light

Another tour in the afternoon visited one of the more prominent lighthouses visible from the Harbor Light: the manmade island of Ledge Light at the mouth of the Thames River.

Project Oceanology, a Groton-based marine education group, took a larger vessel out to the lighthouse. The 11-room structure had been revamped to provide exhibits on its history, dating back to 1909. Brae Rafferty of Project Oceanology greeted visitors as they arrived. He started the tour outside, identifying the visible lighthouses in the region of Harbor Light, Avery Point Light, Race Rock Light, and Little Gull Light. Rafferty said that although Saturday’s weather was pleasant, Ledge Light is often subject to fierce conditions. He said in one incident, a rogue wave hit with enough power to knock in the southwest door.

“That’s the kind of energy and force that this lighthouse can see,” he said.

Ledge Light took on the Hurricane of 1938 in a more blasé fashion. Although pummeled by wind and waves, the log’s entry was a single sentence: “We had some exceptional winds, but nothing special last night.”

The structure was built due to the lack of a beacon at the end of the Thames River which could be seen from all directions, and it operated until it was automated in 1987. The light is maintained by the Coast Guard, but the Ledge Lighthouse Foundation is dedicated to restoring and preserving the site.

The tour visited all three floors of the lighthouse, including the beacon area and outer deck. It included a mention of the structure-spanning tube containing a counterweight, which provides the power to spin the light by slowly descending and operating a gear mechanism, as well as an exhibit on Ernie, the lighthouse keeper who allegedly haunts the building to this day after jumping from the roof following the discovery of his wife's infidelity.

Several Sentinels on the Sound events are continuing today, including a free bicycle tour of local historical sites leaving Fort Trumbull State Park at 10 a.m.; a “Three Sisters” boat tour stopping by Harbor Light, Ledge Light, and Avery Point Light leaving the Custom House Pier at 2:30 p.m.; and boat tours of Ledge Light leaving the Custom House Pier at 11 a.m. and 3 p.m. Check the Custom House website for a full list of events.