Greens Ledge Light

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Greens Ledge Light

1907 postcard showing Green's Ledge (Green's Reef) Lighthouse
Location: Norwalk, Connecticut
Coordinates
WGS-84 (GPS)
41°02′30″N, 73°26′38″W
Year first constructed: 1902
Year first lit: 1902
Automated: 1972
Foundation: Cast Iron with Concrete caisson
Construction: Cast Iron
Tower shape: Conical "Spark Plug"
Markings/Pattern: Upper white, lower brown on black cylinrical pier
Height: 52 ft (62 feet above sea level)
Original lens: Fifth order Fresnel lens (replaced with a fourth order)
Current lens: VRB-25 lens
Range: White 18 nm, Red 15 nm
Characteristic: alternating red and white flash every 12 s. Emergency light of reduced intensity Fl W 12s when main light is extinguished. HORN: 2 blasts ev 20s (2s bl-2s si-2s bl-14s si).

Greens Ledge Lighthouse is a lighthouse in Connecticut, United States, off the southwest end of the Norwalk Islands, Long Island Sound, near Norwalk, Connecticut. It is on north side of the west end of Greens Ledge, west of Norwalk Harbor a mile south of the entrance to Five Mile River at Rowayton, and just over a mile southwest of Sheffield Lighthouse.

Since 1935, swimmers have been competing annually in the Arthur J. Ladrigan Swim Race, a one-mile race from the lighthouse to Bayley Beach in the Rowayton section of Norwalk.[1]

[edit] History

When it was built in 1902, the "sparkplug" style lighthouse replaced the Sheffield Island Light.[2] At first it had a fifth order Fresnel lens. Three months after it was first lit, it was upgraded to a fourth order Fresnel lens. The 62-foot tower developed a tilt over time and the keepers also complained the station’s generators would cause the furniture to move to one side of the tower. They solved the problem by keeping all the furniture on one side. The light was automated by the United States Coast Guard in 1972 and in 1990 it was added to the National Register of Historic Places. The light is an active aid to navigation is not open to the public.

Undated U.S. Coast Guard Photo of Green's Ledge Light in Norwalk, Connecticut
Undated U.S. Coast Guard Photo of Green's Ledge Light in Norwalk, Connecticut

[edit] Notes

  1. ^ Fenwick, Alexandra, "A long crawl: Swimmers compete in annual Sound race," article in The Advocate of Stamford, September 10, 2006(Stamford edition) pages A3, A9
  2. ^ [1]"Greens Ledge Lighthouse, CT" Web page at Web site of LighthouseFriends.com, accessed September 12, 2006

[edit] External links

  • [2] Library of Congress photographs of Greens Ledge Lighthouse, page 1 of 2