hudson lighthouse

7/25/2019 Hudson Lighthouse

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M

WELCOME

TO

THE

TIUDSON.ATHENS

LIGHTHOUSE

I

would

like

to take

this opportunity

to welcome

you

to our

lighthouse.

The

Hudson-Athens

Lighthouse

is

bne

of

seven remaining lighthouses

on the

Hudson

River.

Once

there

were thirteen,

but six have

been demolished

and are

gone

forever.

Our

lighthouse is the

northem most

on the river.

With

its

ied brick

and stone

construction

it

is

also the most stately

and

truly

the

gem

of

the Hudson River. It was

built

in

1874

and

is

still an

active aid

to navigation,

having

been

automatednlg4g.

We

hope that

you

enjoy

your

visit

to the lighthouse,

taking

a step

back

into

time

and

hopefully getting

an

understanding

of

what

it

was

like to

have been

a

lighthouse

keeper

and

living in

a lighthouse. We

will do our

best

to

answer

your

questions

and make

your

visit a

memorable

one.

As

you

tour

the

lighthouse,

I

would

ask

you

to

seriously consider

becoming

a

volunteer

in our

orgarization

so that we can continue to open up the lighthouse

for

others

to

enjoy

as

you

have today. Financial

support through

yearly

dues

and contributions

are

only a

part

of

what

makes

this

a

successfirl endeavor

and

is

greatly

appreciated.

However,

our

most

important and

greatest

asset is our members and

the

volunteer

time that

they

give.

It

is my

hope

that

you

will become an

active member

in our

organization.

Again

thank

you

for

visiting

the

Hudson-Athens

Lighthouse.

1Eu

frgfrtfr**4*

JfUf*

W



Emil

Brunner

The

Last

Civilian

Lightkeeper

1932-1949



THE

LIGHTHOUSE

In

the

late

1880's, hazards created

by

the

Middle

Ground

Flats

opposite

the

City

of

Hudson

made

navigation

of

the

Hudson

River at that

point

extremely

risky

for

the

busy shipping

route

that went from New

York City

to Troy.

After

much

petitioning

to the

Congress

of

the

United

States,

a

survey

was

completed

and an appropriation.

of

$35,b00.00

was

approvednlST2to build the

Hudson City

Lighthouse.

:

Construction

began

in

early

1873.

Pilings

were

driven

some fifty

feet

into

the

riverbed

and then

surrounded by

a

granite

pier. The

keeper's

dwelling

was then

constructed

on

top

of

the

man-made

pier.

The north

end of

the

lighthouse

base

was

designed

like the

bow of

a

ship.

This was done

to

protect

the lighthouse

from

the

frequent

ice flows in

winter

and spring. Built

in the

Second

Empire

architectural

style,

the two

story

brick

and

granite

structure

sits majestically

in

the middle

of the

river

between

Hudson

and

Athens.

The lighthouse

was

put into

operation

on

November

14,1874

with

Henry D.

Best

as

its first

keeper and automated on

November

10,1949

almost

seventy-

five

years

to

the date

on which

it

was

first

lighted.

Today

the

lighthouse

still serves as

an aid to

navigation

guiding

ships

safely

around

the Middle

Ground Flats. In

July

of

2000,

the U.S.

Coast

Guard

officially

transferred

the

title

of

the lighthouse

over to

the Hudson-Athens

Lighthouse

Preservation

Society.

As the

new

owners of the lighthouse,

it

is now our

responsibility to

preserve

this

historic

building

for

future

generations

to enjoy.

We

are now the

present

day

keepers

of

the

lighthouse.



The

Outside

Deck

This

lighthouse

is

one

of

seven

thit remain

today

on the

Hudson

River.

They

are

The

Hudson-Athens,

Saugerties,

Rondout

in

Kingston,

Esopus

Meadows,

Stony

point,

Tarrytown,

and Jeffrey's

Hook

(also

known

as

the

Little

Red Lighthouse)

All

in

total

there

were

ttrirteen

lighthouses'on

the Hudson

River.

Stulvesant,

Coxsackie,

Four

Mile

Point,

The old

Rondout

Light,

West

Point, and

Rockland

Lake

are

no longer

standing.

The

Hudson

City

Light

(its

official

name) is now

the northernmost

lighthouse

on the

river

and was first

lighted

on

Nov

l4th,

r874

with

Henry

D.

Best

as

its

first

keeper.

The Coast Guard

installed

the electric

fog

bell

you

see on the

deck

in the

later part

of the

1940s.

Prior

to

1946 there

was

no electricity

in

the

lighthouse.

Everything

was

operated

by

kerosene

or

coal.

It

is

one

of

two

fog

bells

in the

lighthouse.

The

other

hangs

overhead from the

tower

and

is

still

functional.

You will

get

a

closer

look

at

that

when

you

go

up to

the Lantem

Room.

The

round metal plate

you

see

is

the

opening

to

the

coal

bin.

Coal

was brought

to

the

lighthouse

on boats

that

were

called

Lightho;e

Tenders.

These

tenders

also brought

others supplies

that were

needed.

T'hey.

operated

out

of

a

central location

on Staten Island,

which

was called

a

lighthouse

depot

The

old

depot

on

Staten

Island is

nowthe

home

of

The

National

Lighthouse

Museum.

The

U.S.

Lighthouse

Service

was taken

over by the

U.S.

Coast

Guard

in

1936.

That

was the beginning of

the end

of the

Lighthouse Keeper.

Today

all

of

our lighthouses

have

been

automated and

the only

lighthouse

in

the

U.S. that is

still

manned

is

the

Boston

Light,

which was the nation's

first

light.

Giving

tours

of the

lighthouse

was

also a

part

of the duties

of

a lightkeeper.

As

found

written

in the

Instructions

To

LighlKeepers

from the

year

1902

is the

foll,owing:

ac--

Keepers

must

be

courteous

and polite

to all visitors

and

show

them

everyhing

of

interest about

the

station

at

such

times

as will

not

interfere

with

light-house

duties.

Keepers must

not

allow

visitors

to

handle

the

apparatus

or deface

light-house

property.

Special

care must be taken

to

prevent

the

scratching of names

or initials

on the

glass

of

the

lanterns or

on

the

windows

of the

towers. The

keeper

on

duty

at

the time

is

responsible

for

any injury

or

defacement

to

the

buildings,

lenses, lamps,

glazing

of

the

lantem

and

to

any other light-house property

under

his charge,

unless

he

can identify

the

parties

who have

done

the injury,

so

as

to

make them

accountable

for

it;

and

any

such

damage

must be reported immediately

to the inspector

or

engineer

of the

district,

with

the

names

of

the

person

or

persons,

if

they

can

be

ascertained.

No

visitor

should

be admitted

to

the

tower

unless

attended

by a keeper,

nor in

the watch room

or lantern

between

sunset

and

sunrise.

The

Basement

The

basement

was

used as

a storage

area,

mostly

for coal

and

oil

and

the various

tools that

a

lightkeeper

needed to

perform

his duties and

also

as a

workshop

for

the

lightkeeper.

The coal

furnace

for the

central heating

system

and

a

6500-gallon

cistern,

which

held

their water

supply

are also

located in the

basement.



The

First Floor

The

Kitchen

The

kitchen

was

the heart

of

the

lighthouse.

I

would

imagine

that

something was

going

on

here

a

good

part

of

the day

with

the

preparation of meals,

baking,

and of course

coffee.

As

was

every.thing

in the lighthouse,

cooking

methods

were rather

primitive.

The

stove

was fueled

by

coal

which meant

that

one

had

to

get

coal

from

the basement

and

I

am

sure

there

was

always

cleaning to do. The

coal stove

meant

that

it

was nice

and

warm

in the

winter

but

a bit on

the toasty side during

the summer

months.

Water

was

collected

from

the

roof

into

a cistern located under the

kitchen.

It was

then

pumped

by

hand when

needed,

using

the

old

fashioned hand

pump

on the sink.

There

was

no

indoor plumbing

until

1938

when

a

bathroom was installed inside

the lighthouse

as

well

as a

central heating

system

that

was run

by a coal furnace.

Up until

then there

was

an

outhouse that

hung out over

the river

just

to

the

right of

the flagpole.

A

fun

experience

in

the

winter I

am

sure. Laundry

was done by

hand

in

the

old

days,

but

I

believe

that

the

Brunners

had an

old

gas

engine

washing

machine.

Ironing was done with

a cast

iron

flat

iron

that was heated

on the

kitchen

stove.

The Sitting

Room

The next

room

was the sitting room,

much

like our

living

rooms except that

there

was

no

television

or telephone. Remember, they

did

not

have

electricity.

The lightkeepers

and their

families

pretty

much had to entertain

themselves.

However

Mr.

Brunner

liked

to

tinker

with

things

and

rigged up his own homemade

crystal

radio set

which

did not

need

electricity

to

operate.

I

don't

know

how

good

the reception

was

as

there were

not

many

radio

stations

back

then. Today

in this room

we

have

a display

of

some

Hudson

River

memorabilia

in

the

display

case along

with a

replica

of

a Keeper's

hat

and badge. In the

corner

is

a reproduction

of

a

Lighthouse

Service

blanket.

Originals

of these

items

in

good

condition

are

very

hard

to

come

by

and are very

expensive

to

purchase.



The

Keeper's

Room

There

were several

keepers

that were stationed here

at this

lighthouse

over

the

years,

the

last civilian

keeper being

Emil

Brunner.

Our

restoration

efforts

have

focused

upon the

years

in

which

he

and

his family

lived at the lighthouse.

This

small

room

here

on the

first

floor

was

his

bedroom,

as he had

to

be

up

several

times

during

the

night

to

check the

light

and

refuel

the lantern.

The

oil

or

kerosene for

the lantern

was

stored

in

the

basement and had

to

be brought

up

to

the lantem room. The

partial

lens

you

see on

the

floor

is

one similar

to

that which

would

have been here.'Tlie

original

lens

as

I have

been

informed is in the

South

Street Seaport

Museum in New

York City.

Emil

Brunner,

the

last

civilian

keeper

was here from

1932

until

1949.

The

last

person

to tend

the

lighthouse was

William Nestlen,

who

oversaw

the

operations

of

the

light

and

fog

signal

from 1966

until 1986.

The

first

keeper

was

Henry

D.

Best.

He

kept

the

light until

his

death

in

January

of

1893 and was succeeded by his

son,

Frank.

Through

the

years

the lighthouse

had nine

lightkeepers

including

one

wgman,

Nellie

Best,

foia

short time

in

1918.

Keepers

Of

The

Hudson-Athens Lighthouse

1874

-

Henry D.

Best

1893 -

Frank

Best

1918

-

Netlie

Best

1918

-

William J.

Murray

t922

-

August Kielberg

1932

-

Emil Brunner

1949 -

G.E.

Speaks

1957

-

Perry

Peloubot

1966

-

William Nestlen



The Second

Floor

The

Stairway

.

The

stairs

are

narrow

and winding.

Please

notice

the brass

hand

railing.

The

Lighthouse

Service

was

noted

for

all

its brasswork.

All

of

the

fittings

of

the

lens and

lantem

apparatus

were

made

of

brass

as well

as

many

other

items found

in

the

lighthouse

such

as duspans,

work

boxes,

oil

lanterns,

oil

cans,

etc.

When

the

lighthouse

was

closed

up

in

1954

most

of

the

brasswork

was

taken

out.

This

railing

is all that

remains. 'Of

o*r

all of

the

brass

was expected

to

be kept

polished.

These

items as

well

as

other

supplies

came

from

a

central

warehouse

called

a

Lighthouse

Depot'

which for the

Hudson

River

lighthouses

was

located

on Staten

Island.

This

is

the site

which was

picked

for

the

soon

to

be.opened

National

Lighthouse

Museum.

The last

verse

of

a

poem

written by

Fred

Morong,

a

Maine

lightkeeper,

circa 1920

goes

like

this:

And

when

I

have

polished

until

I

am

cold,

And

I'm

taken

aloft

to

the

Heavenly

Foldr'

Will

my

harp

and my

crown

be

made

of

pure gold?

No,

brasswork

The

Bedrooms

The

second

floor

has

four

rooms

that

were

used

as bedrooms.

The

Brunners

had

five

children,

four

of which

lived

at the

lighthouse

until

the

family

moved

into

the Town

of

Athens

in

1938.

They

were

Emily,

Richard,

John,

Robert

(who

was

actually

born

in

the

lighthouse),

and

Norman

who

was

born

after

the

family

had

moved

into

town.

Mr-

Brunner

of

course

remained

at the

lighthouse,

while

the

rest

of

his

family

lived

in town.

Now

I can

imagine

that

raising

four

children

in

such

a confined

space

must

have

been

no

small

challengi.

It

is

hard

to

imagine

not

having

a

yard

or

streets

to walk

down

or other

children

to

PlaY

with.

We

are

going to

use these

rooms

on

the

second

floor

to

interpret

river

life

around

the

lighthoor

itd

the

waterfront

industries

of

both

Hudson

and

Athens.

You

will find

,o*r pi.t*es

of

the children

who lived

here

as

well

ry

some enlarged copies

of

old

postcards

from

the

Hudson

and

Athens

area.

The

larger

bedroom

has some

displays

and

pi t*.r of

boats

that

operated

on

the

river.

Also

in the

small

room

you

will frnd a display

of

ull

th

lighthouses,

which

were

on

the

Hudson

River,

past, and

present'



Hudson

and Athens

The city of Hudson

was

a

well-established

river

port

being

founded

in

1784

as

a

whaling

port

by

a

group

of

Nantucket

whalers

who

relocated

from

to

coast.

They

had

feared

that England would

retake

the

colonies

and

wanted

a

safer

place

to

run

their

whaling

industry

from.

Hudson

was one

of several whaling

ports

on the

Hudson

River.

It

was

also a stop

for the

Hudson

River

Dayliners,

which

carried thousands

of

passengers

up and

down

the river

from

Troy to

New

York City.

Athens was

a ship-building

town.

Many

ships and

boats

were

built

in

Athens

including the 281-foot Kaaterskill,

which

ran

for

over

thirly

years

between

New

York,

Catskill,

and

Hudson. The

Athens

Shipyard,

the

Clark Pottery, the

Every

& Eichhorn

Ice

house, and

the

Howlands

Coal Yard

were

irmong

many businesses

that

were

located

in

Athens. These and other industries

on the

river

all

shipped

their

goods

by

boat.

Many

of

the

waterfront buildings

were

destroyed

in

the

fire

of

March23rd

1935.

There

were

also

a

number

of ferries

that ran

from

Athens

to

Hudson from as early

as 1778

until

the

1940's.

One

of

the

last was the

Hudson-Athens,

which

ran

from

1921

until

1938.

She

was

replaced by the Hopewell, which

ran

into

the 1940's.

The ferryboats

were

doomed

by

the

opening

of

the Rip Van Winkle

Bridge

in

1935.

All

this combined

with

the

hundreds

of

sloops,

steamships,

and barges

that

went up

and down the

river

made

this

a very

busy

area

on the

river.

In

the earlier days of

navigation

the lighthouses

on the

Hudson

River

were

shut

down for the

winter

season,

usually

from

December to March

as

ice

made

the

river

impassible.

During

the

winter

the

keepers would

often engage

in

some

seasonal

employment to supplement

the

low

wages that they received

as

a

lighthouse

keeper.

Helping with

the

ice harvest

was a cofirmon

form

of

employment

as

the

keepers

lived

on

the

river.

But in later

years

the

Coast

Guard kept

the

river

open

with

the

use

of

icebreakers. Then the lighthouses

remained

operational

all

year.

The Saturday

Evening

Post-December 28th,

1946

The Hudson-Athens

Lighthouse

By

Mead Schaeffer



THE

FOGBELL

The

above

is

a

picture

of

the original

fog

bell

appaiatus,

which

is

still

operational.

The

first

fog

bells

were

rung

by

hand,

but

around

1860,

the

Lighthouse

Board

installed

mechanisms

to

ring

them

mechanically.

Engines

were

used

at first,

but

the

clock

work'r

system

as we

have

here

(where

the

falling

weight

is the

source

of

power)

was

soon

adopted,

as it

was both

more

practical and

reliable.

: :

The

fog

bell

chores

of

the

light

keepers

improved

with

the installation

of

semi-

automatic

ringing

mechanisms.

The

system

here

in

the lighthouse

is a

weight

and

pulley

escapement*

system

that

used

weights

that

could

be

wound

to

start a

timed

session.

Not

unlike

a

grandfather

clock, the

system

needed

to

be

periodically

rewound

to

insure that

the

fog

bell

continued

to sound

throughout

the

duration

of

fog

conditions.

Should

the

escapement

mechanism

fail,

the

keepers

then had

to

sound the

bell

manually,

and

at

timed

intervals

and

for the

duration

of

the

storm

or fog. Consider

the

conditions

of

this

effort

between

the hard

and seemingly

endless

labor

and

the

close-by

clang

of

the

bell.

This

dedication

to

duty

and

to the

safety

of

others

is

a landmark

of

the

U.S.

Lighthouse

Service

and its

successor,

the

U.S. Coast

Guard.

The

Hudson-Athens

fog

bell

with the

clock

work

apparatus

is

one

of

the few

remaining

in the

United

States.

It

rang

once

every

fifteen

seconds

when

it was

foggy.

By

the

1920's

the

Lighthouse

Service

had

developed

electrically

operated

bells.

The

bell

by

the

front

door

of

the

lighthouse

is

an example

of

this

type

of

fog bell.

The

United

States

Coast Guard installed

it

in the

1940's.

Today,

sirens

along

with diaphones

and diaphragm

horns

are the

principle

sound-

type

fog

signals

used

in

the United

States.

The

last

thirty

or

forty

years

has

seen the

development

of

the

soundless

fog

signal:

the

radiobeacon

and GPS

(Global

Positioning

System),

which

uses

satellites

orbiting

the earth

to

pinpoint

your position.



THE

LANTERN

ROOM

This

is where the

actual

light

of

the lighthouse was. Before modern technology

and the automation

of

this lighthouse,

the keeper

would

have

to

keep

the

light

shining.

Every night he

would

have

to light

the lamps

and make sure that they

burned

brightly

and

did

not run out

of oil.

This

usually

meant several

fiips

a night

up and

down

the

stairs.

During

the hours

of

darkness, the

light

was

never to

go

out

and

if

the

Lighthouse

Service received

complaints

that the

light

was

not

lit

or that

it

was

poorly

lit,

the

lightkeeper would

be in

danger

of

losing

his

job.

In the morning he would

have

to

clean

the

soot from

the lantern

room, clean the

lens,

polish

the

brass, and make

the

lamps

ready

for

the following

night.

This

had to be

done everyday. The lantern

room

as well

as the

entire

lighthouse

was

subject

to

periodical

inspection

by

a

Lighthouse

Service

District

Inspector.

If

all

were not

in ship-shape

the keeper

would

be

writtpn

up

and warned.

If the

lighthouse

continually did

not

meet

the Lighthouse

Service standards,

the

keeper

would

be replaced.

However if all were

well,

he

would

receive

praise

and

usually

a

written

commendation.

The Lighthouse

Service had very

strict regulations

as

to

how

a lighthouse

should be kept.

The

lens,

which

was in

this lighthouse,

is

now at

the

South

Street

Seaport

Museum

in New

York

City.

It

was a

frfth

order lens, being one of

the smallest,

but

could

still be seen some

eight to ten miles

away. The

lights

on the river did not

have

to

be

seen

as

far

away

as those

on the

Great Lakes

or on

the

ocean.

The

original

light

of

this

lighthouse was

a fixed light, which

was changed

to

a

flashing

light in

1926..

Ttre

light

is

54 feet

above sea

level.

Today the

light

is

automated and is turned

on at

night

by means

of a light

sensor.

It

is solar

powered

and maintained

by the U.

S.

Coast

Guard.

The

Hudson'Athens Lighthouse

Preservation Society maintains

the

rest

of

the

lighthouse.

:.:

THE

MIDDLE

GROT]]\[D

FLATS

From

the

lantem

room if

you

look

to

the

north

you

will see

an

island.

The

is the

middle

ground

flats and

the

reason

for the building of this lighthouse.

In

the mid

to

late

1800's this was

just

a mud

flat,

which

was completely submerged at high

tide.

There

are

two

high tides

a

day

as

far north

as

Troy

on

the Hudson River. This

meant

that

twice a

day the mud

flats were under water

and

a

possible

tlreat

to boats navigating

the river.

I

am

quite

sure that

many

a

boat

captain had wished that the lighthouse

had

been

built

much

sooner

that

1874

as

many

ships

found themselves grounded

on

the

mud flats.

Tlrough

the

years

with

dredging

and the depositing

of

the

silt,

the

mud

flats

have

become

an island. The main channel

of the

river is

to the

right

of the

island

towards

the

city

of Hudson.

The channel

on the left towards Athens is also

navigable,

but

only

for

smaller boats.

Today the lighthouse

probably

would

not have had to

been

built

as

the

island is

always

visible.

hudson lighthouse

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