Fire Island Lighthouse

Although the Hudson Valley of New York, where Bella Terra world headquarters are located, is beautiful, and we even have lighthouses nearby in the river, it's not the same as the ocean. It was time for a beach day. I chose to visit a beach I had frequented in my youth, Robert Moses State Park.

As it turns out, if you park in Field 5, you are just a half-mile walk, along a pleasant boardwalk with signs interpreting the dunes and marshes, from Fire Island Lighthouse.

The first lighthouse at this location was lit in 1827. It was replaced by the current taller tower in 1858 to serve as a key aid for ships approaching New York Harbor. Having been decommissioned by the Coast Guard, it was preserved and relit thanks to the efforts of the Fire Island Lighthouse Preservation Society.

It's worth climbing the 192 steps of the tower to get great views of Fire Island and the surrounding ocean and bay. Buy a ticket at the gift shop.

The Society recently recovered the lighthouse's original first order Fresnel Lens from the Franklin Institute, and last month opened a new building to display it.

Foundation of the original tower

First order Fresnel lens

View West - when the lighthouse was first built it was at the west end of the island. Fire Island now extends five miles further west.

View East

News from 1938: HURRICANE!

Damaged homes on Long Island, courtesy SUNY Suffolk.

The New England Hurricane of 1938 (aka the "Long Island Express") hit on Sept. 21, with a storm surge made even more powerful by the equinox and full moon. Some 700 people were killed between eastern Long Island and Massachusetts; property damage was estimated at $306 million ($4.72 billion in today's dollars), including half of the Northeast apple crop.

From the New York Times, Sept. 22:

Storm Batters All New England;
Providence Hit by Tidal Wave
Six Feet of Water in Streets of Business Section--Many Homeless in Area
Woonsocket Also Suffers

BOSTON, Sept. 21.--A terrific wind, touching 100-mile-an-hour hurricane force, tonight swept across New England, lashing sea water high into the streets of coastal cities, causing at least eighty known deaths and hundreds of injuries and resulting in damages reaching into tens of millions of dollars.

From the US Coast Guard:

Sept. 21, 1938--A hurricane hit the northeast coast, wreaking havoc among the lighthouses and the light keepers there. First assistant keeper Walter B. Eberle of the Whale Rock [RI] light was killed when his lighthouse was swept into the sea. The wife of head keeper Arthur A. Small was killed when she was swept away from the Palmer Island [MA] Light Station. The keeper of the Prudence Island [RI] Light Station's wife and son were drowned when that light station was swept into the sea. Many more stations and depots were severely damaged as well.

Watch this newsreel about the massive destruction and WPA's relief work: