Stonington Harbor Light

The Stonington Harbor Light is located at the southern end of Stonington Point, marking the eastern side of Stonington Harbor. The light station consists of the tower and keeper's house; both are built out of large granite blocks, and the keeper's house has a wood-framed ell attached. The tower is an octagonal stone structure {{convert|35|ft|m}} in height and {{convert|10|ft|m}} in diameter, with a circular glass lantern house on top. The house is 1½ stories and about {{convert|30|ft|m}} square.{{cite web|url={{NRHP url|76002000}}|title=NRHP nomination for Stonington Harbor Light|publisher=National Park Service|accessdate=2018-04-10}}

The federal government built a lighthouse on Windmill Point in Stonington Harbor in 1823; it was housed in a small granite lighthouse and was known by the same name. However, erosion led to its being torn down and its materials reused in the construction of this lighthouse. The light was originally lit by an oil lamp and broadcast by eight parabolic reflectors. This technology was already obsolete at the time of the lighthouse's construction, and it was replaced by a sixth-order Fresnel lens in 1856.

In the 1880s, the Stonington Breakwater Light was constructed farther out in the harbor, and the Stonington Harbor Light was decommissioned in 1889. The site is now the home of the Stonington Historical Society which uses the building as The Old Lighthouse Museum. Holdings in the museum document the area's long and distinguished cultural and nautical history, and exhibits include the 1856 Fresnel lens.

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|File:StoningtonHarborLight1.JPG|View from the lantern room

|File:StoningtonHarborLight2.JPG|Another view from the lantern room

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• Neil Martin 1882
• Nahor Jones 1882 – 1886
• Samuel C. Gardiner 1886
• John Ryle 1886 – 1887
• Samuel A. Keeney 1887 – 1903
• Maurice Russell 1903 – 1904
• Adolph Obman 1904 – 1907
• John J. Cook 1907 – 1909
• William Janse 1909
• Adolph Obman 1909 – 1911
• Robert R. Laurier 1911 – 1912
• John H. Paul 1912
• Joseph Meyer 1913
• Charles R. Riley 1915 – 1916
• Edward Grime 1917 – 1919
• George Washington Denton, Jr. 1919
• Edward Murphy 1919 - 1920
• Edward Iten 1921 – 1927
• Edward M. Whitford 1929
• Robert M. Fitton 1930
• Raymond F. Bliven 1930 – 1931
• Martin Luther Sowle 1938 – 1953[http://www.lighthousefriends.com/light.asp?ID=784 Lighthouse Friends]

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• List of lighthouses in Connecticut
• List of lighthouses in the United States
• National Register of Historic Places listings in New London County, Connecticut

{{Reflist}}

• Crompton, Samuel Willard. "The Lighthouse Book." Barnes and Noble Books, New York, 1999. {{ISBN|0-7607-1135-6}}.

{{commons category|Stonington Harbor Light}}

• {{usurped|1=[https://web.archive.org/web/19991012163640/http://lighthouse.cc/stonington/index.html lighthouse.cc: Stonington Harbor Light Light]}}
• [http://www.lighthousefriends.com/light.asp?ID=804 lighthousefriends.com: Inventory of Historic Light Stations]
• [http://www.stoningtonhistory.org/index.php?id=7 Old Lighthouse Museum] - Stonington Historical Society

{{Lighthouses of Connecticut}}

{{National Register of Historic Places}}

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Category:Stonington, Connecticut

Category:Lighthouses on the National Register of Historic Places in Connecticut

Category:Long Island Sound

Category:Lighthouses in New London County, Connecticut

Category:Museums in New London County, Connecticut

Category:History museums in Connecticut

Category:Lighthouse museums in the United States

Category:Lighthouses completed in 1824

Category:Lighthouses completed in 1840

Category:Maritime museums in Connecticut

Category:National Register of Historic Places in New London County, Connecticut