Stratford Point Light
Stratford was an active port in coastal trade, shipbuilding and oystering in the 18th and 19th centuries. For years before there was a lighthouse, a bonfire and then a fire in an iron basket on a pole were used as aids to navigation at Stratford Point.
To mark the entrance to the harbor, the first Stratford Point Light was built on the west side of the dangerous mouth of the Housatonic River in 1822 at a cost of $4,000. It was the third lighthouse built by the federal government on Long Island Sound.
The revolving light consisted of ten lamps and reflectors on two tables of five lamps each. In 1855 the 28-foot octagonal wooden tower was fitted with a fifth order Fresnel lens. A fog bell in a bell tower was added in 1864. It took 20 minutes to wind the clockwork mechanism in the tower sufficiently for it to run for 30 minutes.
Stratford Point Light had a female keeper, Amy Buddington, for several years. An 1850 inspection mentioned that her son had taken over the care of the lighthouse.
By 1867 the original tower was in disrepair and the keeper's house was considered too small for a keeper and assistant. The Light House Establishment delayed rebuilding by appointing a married couple, Jerome and Mary Tuttle, as keeper and assistant. They were succeeded by another husband and wife, Theodore and Kate Judson.
Stratford Point Light has often felt the brunt of storms, and the location is frequently foggy. One keeper had to ring the fog bell for 32 consecutive hours, another rang it in a February storm for 104 hours, then another 103 hours after a brief rest.
In 1881 a new 35-foot cast iron tower and a new eight-room Gothic Revival house were built. The tower, one of the earliest prefabricated cylindrical cast-iron lighthouses in the nation, was equipped with a third order Fresnel lens exhibiting a flashing white light. A new fog bell was added the same year. In 1906 the lens was replaced by a fourth order lens that rotated in a bed of mercury. In 1910 a fog siren replaced the old fog bell and a brick powerhouse was built to house the equipment.
Stratford Point Light had a civilian keeper long after the Coast Guard took over at most lighthouses, a process which began in 1939. Daniel F. McCoart, a Providence native, Navy veteran and former light heavyweight boxer, was the civilian keeper from 1945 to 1963. He lived at the lighthouse with his family. William Shackley was the assistant keeper for many years, and he also lived in the keeper's house with his family. Keeper McCoart retired in 1963 after 44 years in the Lighthouse Service.
In 1969, Stratford Point Light took on the appearance of a "headless" lighthouse as the lantern was removed to make room for new automated DCB-224 aerobeacons. These powerful beacons for a time made the light the most powerful on Long Island Sound. The old lantern was donated to the Stratford Historical Society, and it was displayed at Booth Memorial Park in Stratford for 21 years.
In 1990, a smaller optic was installed and the lantern was refurbished and reinstalled at a cost of about $80,000, with a dedication ceremony on July 14, 1990. The tower was repainted in 1996, keeping its distinctive markings of white with a brown band in the middle.
All text copyright ©2000 Jeremy D'Entremont/Coastlore Productions. All rights reserved. No part may be reproduced, stored in retrieval system or transmitted, in any form without prior written permission from the publisher.
All images copyright ã 2000 by Richard Asarisi/Photoworkings.com. All rights reserved. No part may be reproduced, stored in retrieval system or transmitted, in any form without prior written permission from the publisher.