Avery Point Lighthouse

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Visit our Tour Destination: Connecticut page to see the entire tour of the state’s Save America’s Treasures sites.

The fully-restored Avery Point Lighthouse.
Photo courtesy of the Avery Point Lighthouse Society.

Avery Point Lighthouse

East side of Thames River, Pine Island Channel
Avery Point Campus of the University of Connecticut

Groton, CT

Website:  Avery Point Lighthouse

The Treasure:  This handsome octagonal lighthouse served as a beacon for guiding small craft through the waters of New London Harbor for nearly 25 years.

Accessibility:  Stroll over to appreciate the exterior of the Avery Point Lighthouse on the grounds of the Avery Point Campus of the University of Connecticut. The interior of the historic lighthouse is not open to the public.

Background:  Respect for lighthouses as public treasures dates all the way back to the ancient world, where the Lighthouse of Alexandria was named one of the Seven Wonders of the World. Built circa 250 BC, the Lighthouse of Alexandria was acclaimed for its height (rumored to tower over 400 feet high) and its civic importance to the great city of Alexandria in Egypt. It remained standing for slightly over 1,000 years before succumbing to earthquakes and neglect.

The iconic Boston Light is built on the site of
the first lighthouse on American soil.  The
standing structure is the second oldest
working lighthouse in the country.  Photo
by Dpbsmith at the English Language
Wikipedia.  Source:  Wikimedia Commons

Throughout history, lighthouses have been regarded as necessities in coastal areas. They serve as aids to navigation, warn of hazards such as shoals and reefs, and mark the entrances to harbors. Beginning with the establishment of Boston Light in 1716, American communities invested in the construction of over 1,000 lighthouses in strategic locations on islands and coastlines. People dedicated their lives to maintaining and operating the lighthouses and the handsome structures themselves became points of pride for their local communities. As modern electronic navigational systems largely eliminated the practical need for lighthouses, hundreds of these distinctive buildings remain standing today, now in need of preservation as important and attractive testaments to our maritime heritage.

According to the “Lighthouse Friends” website, there are 21 surviving lighthouses in Connecticut. Most are in need of restoration and not currently open to the public. The oldest and tallest of the Connecticut lighthouses is the New London Harbor Light, which dates back to 1761 and is 90 feet tall. It is located on the west side of New London Harbor (across from the Avery Point Lighthouse) and is now under the care of the New London Maritime Society.

Our focus today—the Avery Point Lighthouse—is the last lighthouse to be built in Connecticut, constructed in 1943 and first used in 1944. It has a distinctive octagonal shape and rises to a height of 55 feet, with a balustrade (featuring marble railing balusters recycled from the gardens of the estate that once owned the property) circling the top of the structure. The U.S. Coast Guard managed the Avery Point Lighthouse as part of their New London training center facility, using the light as a beacon for guiding small crafts in the waters around New London Harbor. In its early years, the beacon was composed of a cluster of eight fixed lights. These were replaced by flashing green lights in 1960. The Avery Point Lighthouse completed its service as a functioning lighthouse on June 25, 1967.

The Avery Point Lighthouse as it looked in the
1990s, prior to restoration.  Photo courtesy of
the Avery Point Lighthouse Society.

Notes from the Editor:  The local community valued its lighthouse.  When the University of Connecticut reported in 1997 that the tower was in “dangerously poor condition” and a safety hazard, the move to restore the Avery Point Lighthouse began in earnest. In 2000, the Avery Point Lighthouse Society (APLS) was formed. More than 25,000 people signed a petition supporting the restoration and relighting of the lighthouse. Six years and $500,000 later, the APLS relit the lighthouse in a formal ceremony on the evening of October 15, 2006.

At the relighting, APLS co-chair Jim Streeter said, “These structures and the people who kept them operational should go down in history as heroes. I think about the hours the keepers and their families spent in isolation to provide protection to maritime traffic. The work the keepers performed was labor intensive and never ending. They received little public attention or recognition for their efforts. Therefore I hope by officially dedicating the Avery Point Lighthouse to the lighthouses and keepers, it will finally bring some well-deserved recognition to these important people and structures.”

Other Recommended Sites:  There are many historic lighthouses still standing in the United States and throughout the world. The Lighthouse Directory offers information on nearly all of them. Here’s the link to the lighthouses of Connecticut. And after you finish exploring Connecticut, you can move on to the lighthouses of other areas, perhaps the other New England states, the Pacific coast, or even the lighthouses of Europe, Asia, Africa, Australia, or Antarctica—more than 15,400 lighthouses throughout the world to discover and explore!

As a fundraiser for the lighthouse restoration, the Avery Point Lighthouse
Society sold over 3,100 commemorative bricks, creating this attractive
walkway on the Avery Point Campus of the University of Connecticut.
Photo courtesy of the Avery Point Lighthouse Society.

Tour America's History Itinerary

Monday’s destination:  Webb-Deane-Stevens Museum

© 2012 Lee and Terry Price