Montauk Point Lighthouse Museum
2000 Montauk Highway, Montauk, NY 11954
Phone: 631 668-2544
Email: director@montauklighthouse.com
Website: www.montauklighthouse.com
Region: South Fork / Hamptons to Montauk; Suffolk County
National Maritime Historic Landmark. Museum, tower and gift shop. Tours of 20 or more are welcomed all year. Admission price includes museum, gift shop and tower climb as well as a 28 minute video. This is the oldest lighthouse on Long Island, and also the oldest in New York State, completed in 1796 on a spot where the Royal Navy had maintained signal bonfires for its ships during the American Revolution. Congress appropriated $255.12 in 1794 to buy the site. Three years later, President George Washington authorized the construction of the lighthouse after many ships had been lost on the reefs at land's end. The builder was John McComb Jr., a famous early American architect, who was given a budget of $22,300. Now only 50 feet from the edge of the bluff (originally 297 feet), the 80-foot sandstone tower is threatened by erosion. Almost $1 million has been spent to terrace the bluff and haul in boulders to save the lighthouse. The Coast Guard operates the beacon, which was automated from Fresnel lens to 1,000-watt airport-type beacon in 1987. The Montauk Historical Society operates the visitor center and takes care of the grounds. Located at the easternmost tip of Long Island.
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