Saybrook Breakwater Light Privacy Problems
Saybrook Breakwater Light, has been scheduled to be available in 2007 for new ownership if property rights and access issues at the end of a private road can be resolved. Interested organizations must comply with the guidelines of the National Historic Lighthouse Preservation Act of 2000.
The Lighthouse is the icon of Connecticut’s Long Island Sound License Plate program that you may have seen on the roads of New England.
Saybrook Breakwater Light, also known as the Outer Light, was built at the end of the half-mile long west jetty to mark the Approach to the Connecticut River Mouth after two parallel stone breakwaters were constructed and a deep shipping channel was dredged to remove a shifting sand bar at the entrance to Old Saybrook Harbor. The 49-feet high “Spark-plug” style cast iron Tower was First Lit on June 15, 1886 exhibiting a Fixed White Light with a Red Sector illuminated by a Fifth-order Fresnel Lens 58-feet above sea level. Currently, the Outer Light exhibits a Flashing green Light every six seconds illuminated by a modern 300 mm lens 58-feet above sea level to range of 14 nautical miles.
The Inner Light at Lynde Point is located 1.5-miles from the Outer Light and Lynde Point Lighthouse was first built in 1802 to mark the entrance to the Connecticut River and Old Saybrook Harbor. Buoys were positioned to mark a large sand bar yet, the shifting sand made entering the harbor difficult during the age of Sail. In 1875, construction of the west jetty was completed and a deep shipping channel was dredged and the east jetty was completed in 1880 to improve entering the harbor and the Connecticut River. The Outer (Saybrook Breakwater) Light was built on the west jetty in 1886.
Travel and parking to both Inner and Outer Lights is prohibited and reserved for private property owners and the government with legal access rights. The transfer of the Outer Light could be a complicated long process due to access, property rights and safety issues.
Since 2000, 43 New England Light Stations have transferred to local groups who are able to preserve and maintain the function of their Lighthouse according to Alisa McCann, architectural historian, with the National Park Service.
The contrasting Saybrook Inner and Outer Lights are best viewed by Boat:
Lighthouse Cruises by Sunbeam Fleet
For Map Directions, please visit the Google Map of Saybrook Breakwater Light
Google Map of Lynde Point Light
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