Execution Lighthouse

[Paul B]

Execution Lighthouse was built in the early 1800s and sits in the middle of the Lond Island Sound. It has never been opened to the public and was sealed shut since the 1970s. The Coast Guard is giving away all of it's lighthouses for one dollar with a few stipulations. The owners must maintain the property and it must be a non profit organization.
People I know aquired the lighthouse and my wife and I went out there yesterday. It is in horrible shape and the owners plan to make a tiny Bed and Breakfast there. There is no electricity, sewage or water there and I would like to work there as a consultant.
It got it's name from the rumor that British soldiers would chain American prisoners there during the war and wait for the tide to come up.
(this is also where I did the majority of my diving in the seventees and eightees)
Here are some pictures

 

[CHEMCHEF]

That is cool. What a beautiful place. How are you going to deal with the sewage issue????

 

[Paul B]

They are looking into a toilet which burns the waste and turns it into ask, kind of like a microwave

The Coast Guard still will maintain the light because it is an important aid to navigation, but the keepers house will be part of the B&B. There was also two other structures structures on the island which burned down decades ago. On the right of the tower was a generator room which will be re built using old plans, it will be a day room for the B&B as the keepers quarters are real small and you may want to kill yourself if you stayed there more than a day :hmm3:
The left side is a helocopter pad which may become a band stage for small concerts. It is a historic place commissioned by George Washington so the outside can not be changed except to re build what was there.
(I don't know if Washington ever used the helocopter pad):hmm2:
This place was my favorite dive location and I have dozens of dived here looking for wrecks and lobsters.
In 1920 a large ship hit the rocks and sank. It almost damaged the lighthouse. There were 14 people aboard and a bunch of horses. The Sound was covered in ice so the 14 people and horses had to stay on the island for 3 days before being rescued. There is hardly room on the island for one horse and they could not make it to the helocopter pad part of the island which I don't think was there in 1920.
I am trying to get electricity to the island as the original cables were cut. The light works on Solar power.
The stairs to the light are repaired now but one day in the seventees I was diving there and we saw that the door was kicked in, we went in and found WW2 radio equipment all over the place. The next week we went back and there was barbed wire around the island. It is still not open to the public only invited guests.
The birds are cormorants which are large black birds which eat fish. They eat a lot of fish as you can see by the condition of the roof and helocopter pad.
On the fourth of July they plan to have a band there and boats will be invited to anchor around the place for the concert. I plan to be there also

 

[Paul B]

Stairs in the keepers quarters leading to the second floor. There are three floors and a crawl space below.

 

[Paul B]

Looking down the ladder from the light

 

[grknyer]

Pretty cool if you look past the bird s**t problem. :lol2: This past week I was watching Secrets Of New York when they briefly talked about this particular lighthouse. Your description and pic tour is actually better! Thanks Paul

 

[Paul B]

Grknyer, I am glad you like my tour.
I have been boating, fishing and diving near the thing most of my life and I finally got the chance to go in and check it out. It was just a coincidence, I heard a couple talking about it in my marina and I introduced myself. It was the people who purchased it for a dollar.
As we spoke I got more interested and due to my long history of working in construction I figured I could be part of the restoration.
I am hoping to get to work there as it is only a 15 minute boat ride from my marina.
The place is full of history (and maybe ghosts)
They filmed a Ghost Hunting show there last week which will air in Dec on the Travel channel.http://www.longislandlighthouses.com/exrock.htm
The place is sealed up until next year

 

[Paul B]

http://www.lighthousefriends.com/light.asp?ID=749

 

[Awibrandy]

Great info as usual Paul!!! And great pics as well. Thanks for sharing my friend....:hug:

 

[Paul B]

Looking towards the East River from the light

 

[ulmo]

Is this the lighthouse that can be seen on the Throgs Neck Bridge? Ghost, I'll be afraid to spend the night there.

 

[Paul B]

The smaller one named Stepping Stones is closer to the bridge. You can also see Execution Lighthouse but it is more in the distance.

In the last picture, you can see the Throgs neck bridge in the background so you can see how far it is

 

[ZANYMASTER]

Considering it's age,it's in pretty good shape.

 

[Paul B]

The stone structure is almost perfect, they built all of these things to last forever as they are all in maintenance nightmare places. The interior has a lof of water damage but after sitting out in the sea with no heat and a leaky roof for almost 2 centuries will do that. The heat worked into the 70s.

 

[NYPDFrogman]

I've been on the island plenty of times during my 18 year stint on the scuba team and have done my fiar share of diving.
I'm happy to see someone taking over the building

one of the old timers that were on the team claims to have found bones and skeletons there while diving I personal did not
I used to clean up on the lobsters!

 

[Paul B]

I never found any bones there but as you know, the bottom is all large rocks there and bnot easy to find anything.

 

[ulmo]

Thanks for the reply. Can you still get lobster in LI waters? I've heard of past stories where they were so abundant but now not as much due to disease and over-harvesting.

 

[Paul B]

Ulmo, I have not dived for lobsters in a few years, there are no lobster pots there anymore and they used to be all over the place. There are all sorts of theories as to why they disappeared but no one really knows. The disapearance seems to be around the same time as spraying for west nile virus mosquetoes but it could just be a natural thing or just warm water. We have more tropical fish here so that could be it.

 

[FocusReefing]

In regards to power, why not invest in solar energy. Its much more ifficient. And it pays for it self in the long run. I'm sure the owners would be eligible for grants and all kinds of government assitance given the fact that this is a historical site. I think it would also be a responsible choice with regards to the environment. But I think its awesome! I love old places with history. I wish them and their project lots of luck.

 

[Paul B]

Thats actually why they spoke to me. I have solar power on my home which I installed myself. I have the only house in my town with solar and it is a very large town as you know, (North Hempstead)
They are thinking solar but the island is too small to have enough panels. We may go solar and wind but the historical society may not permit it.