Little Gull Island Lighthouse
N 41° 12.384 W 072° 06.402
18T E 742584 N 4565706
A lighthouse in eastern Long Island Sound.
Waymark Code: WMF21X
Location: New York, United States
Date Posted: 08/09/2012
Views: 5
Located between Plum Island and Fishers Island, Little Gull has been the site of a lighthouse since the early 1800's. The island was once much bigger, with a keeper's house located next to the original light. Great Gull Island, located ~200 yards west of Little Gull, served as the Keeper's farm, where he raised vegetables, chickens, sheep, and a cow. The present structure dates to 1869.
Little Gull is virtually inaccessible due to the many submerged boulders near the shore. It is best viewed by boat, and good views can be had from the New London/Block Island ferry or the Orient Point ferry. The island now hosts a breeding rookery for Harbor Seals and Grey Seals.
Great Gull was developed in the late 1890's as a site for one of the coastal defense forts protecting the entrance to Long Island Sound. In the 1920's a huge 16-inch 75-caliber gun was mounted there, capable of hurling a 2100-pound shell 22 miles. Fort Michie was abandoned after WW-II, and Nature began to take over the old fort. Today the island is the nesting site for some 9500 pairs of Common Terns and 1300 endangered Roseate Turns. It has been owned since 1969 by The American Museum of Natural History, which maintains an ornithological research station there from April to October.
Coastal Lighthouse: Lighthouse
Range Lights: Not listed
LIGHTHOUSE CHALLENGE VISIT: Not listed
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