Lighthouses of Long Island, New York
| Long Island Chapter of the United States Lighthouse Society Website |
Lighthousing with Bob & Mary Ann
In Search of the Lost Lighthouse of Shinnecock On Saturday, March 31, 2001 MaryAnn, Kristin and I headed out to find the location of Shinnecock Lighthouse. Armed with limited research, USGS 1951 maps that Kristin found, the USLHS's Lighthouse Keeper from 1992 that had text and photos and a trusty Hagstrom, we headed out to Ponquogue Point. |
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| Take Sunrise Highway to Exit 65 and go south to Montauk Highway. Then go east through town of Hampton Bays to Ponquogue Road. There is a long right turn only lane as this is a beach traffic road in season. Go south on Ponquogue to make a left on Shinnecock Ave and a right on Foster that merges with Lighthouse Rd and toward the Ponquogue Bridge. The Coast Guard Station and former location is before the bridge on the left hand side. | |
| We drove to the Bay side area before going into the Coast Guard Station to compare the location to the pictures so I would have some idea of what I was looking for and talking about. We saw a building that looked like the alleged rumored Oil House so I drove back and entered the Coast Guard Station. There was no one at the gate so I drove in and parked. | |
| I got a feel for where I thought the
area of the lighthouse was, IDed the Oil House, and went into the Main Building to find
someone. On the way I encountered a barking Black Dog who escorted me to the front door,
barking all the way. I greeted him, which stopped his barking momentarily, but when he
realizes he didn't know me he continued his yap. I met an old-time reservist named Bob who introduced me to the Officer in charge Steve. I told Steve where I was from and that I was researching the Lighthouse. He said he had been there about two years and really didn't know much. I asked him if the building I saw was the old oil house, he said he though it was just a paint storage shed. He said I probably knew more than he did but got the keys to the shed and we were off. As we got closer he said that I might be right as he was told the lighthouse was originally in the area where the skeleton light tower now stood. There was a softball field next to the tower and Oil House, and he said they were always finding red bricks coming to the surface there. Yes, he thought they were from the Lighthouse! We went inside the Oil House and it was in good shape and well maintained. It had a sheet rock ceiling but in the front and back you could see the old wooden roof and beams, and it was definitely the Oil House, as it was the same construction and type as others I had seen locally at Cedar Island and Plum Island. |
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| I took pictures from the same angles as the b/w in the Lighthouse
Keeper to be able to compare and locate the original LH. Written By Bob Scroope |
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