The Fire Island Light Station:
Here you can partake in a very interesting tour of the
lighthouse and climb the top. The guides are volunteers and everyone makes
the tour slightly different. We find it enjoyable even on our fifth climb.
Reservations suggested at (631) 321-7028 bus. days. Check the
Lighthouse schedule and other events
and activities here. A plethora of programs are offered to adults and
children alike.
What a sight from top where you can observe the shifting nature of a
barrier beach. The first lighthouse was only built a few one hundred feet
from the tip of the island. Today the tip is 5 miles away. The museum and
shop are a popular destination.
For another view go to
Joe's
Lighthouse Page or Port Orford
Coastguard Station.
Fire Island Lighthouse Preservation Society 631-321-7028
Fire Island National Seashore: 631-289-4810
Exhibits, and self-guided nature trail.
Lighthouse History:
The Fire Island Light Station area at one time included the
Fire Island Life
Saving Station (one of seven on Fire Island), Navy (later, Coast
Guard) radio station, off-shore
lightship,
as well as the tower
and keepers' quarters which remain standing today. The tower and
exterior are restored to their
1939 appearance.
The current Fire Island Lighthouse tower, built in 1858, was predated
by one built in 1825. Long Island and Fire Island saw much ship traffic in
the 1800's. As navigational technology improved, lighthouses became less
vital to marine safety, The Fire Island Light was extinguished in 1974.
Local citizens banded together to form the Fire Island Lighthouse
Preservation Society. Working with the National Park Service, the Society
raised funds to restore the Lighthouse, which is today a unit of Fire
Island National Seashore.
Fire
Island Lighthouse: Historic Site
4640 Captree Island
Captree Island, NY 11702-4601
(631) 587 - 6338
Directions
I-495 to Sagtikos State Pkwy south (Exit 53) or S. State Pkwy to R.Moses
Causeway (Exit 40) south. Go to end, follow R.Moses State Park signs. Bear
left at traffic circle, park in Field 5. Walk 1 mi. on boardwalk nature
trail or dirt rd to lighthouse.
Information Center
The historic keepers' quarters are now home to a National Park Service
visitor center.
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