Stonington's Old Lighthouse Museum

Story

The Stonington Harbor Light is a historic nineteenth century lighthouse located on the east side of Stonington Harbor in Stonington, Connecticut. A light housed in a small granite lighthouse known by this name was originally built by the federal government in 1824, and was located on Windmill Point in the harbor. Erosion led to the lighthouse being torn down and relocated to its current site in 1840. A second stone building was constructed and the 35ft tower was attached to the structure.In the 1880s, the Stonington Breakwater Light was constructed farther out in the harbor, and the Stonington Harbor Light was decommissioned in 1889.The site is now the home of the Stonington Historical Society, which uses the building as The Old Lighthouse Museum. Holdings in the museum document the area's long and distinguished cultural and nautical history, and exhibits include a sixth-order Fresnel lens.KeepersHead: Neil Martin 1882 Nahor Jones 1882 – 1886 Samuel C. Gardiner 1886 John Ryle 1886 – 1887 Samuel A. Keeney 1887 – 1903 Maurice Russell 1903 – 1904 Adolph Obman 1904 – 1907 John J. Cook 1907 – 1909 William Janse 1909 Adolph Obman 1909 – 1911 Robert R. Laurier 1911 – 1912 John H. Paul 1912 Joseph Meyer 1913 Charles R. Riley 1915 – 1916 Edward Grime 1917 – 1919 George Washington Denton, Jr. 1919 Edward Murphy 1919 - 1920 Edward Iten 1921 – 1927 Edward M. Whitford 1929 Robert M. Fitton 1930 Raymond F. Bliven 1930 – 1931 Martin Luther Sowle 1938 – 1953