Staten Island Lighthouse

418 Edinboro Road | Lighthouse Hill | built 1912

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The lot about 1940
About 1940. Via 1940s.nyc
The lot about 1985
About 1985. Via 80s.nyc

The city photographed every building for its tax records around 1940 and again in the 1980s. NYC Municipal Archives.

Written with AI from the source each entry cites, then fact-checked.

  1. 1912

    The Staten Island Light goes into service as a range light for New York Harbor

    Known locally as the Richmond Light, the beacon on Lighthouse Hill was commissioned in 1912 with a light of 350,000 candlepower. Seen only on range, it aligns with the West Bank Light, 5.1 miles off, to help ships steer into the harbor channels. The Landmarks Preservation Commission described it as working together with the Ambrose Light Tower under the United States Coast Guard.

    Source: NYC Landmarks Preservation Commission

  2. 1912

    An octagonal yellow brick tower rises on a rusticated limestone base

    The lighthouse is an eight-sided shaft of yellow brick set on a rusticated limestone base and topped by a cornice. Stair windows framed in smooth stone with stepped lintels alternate around the shaft, and large brackets carry an octagonal captain's walk with an iron railing and bull's-eye windows. The glass-faced lantern above has its own small balcony, and a ball with a lightning rod crowns the roof. The Commission wrote that it looked more like something from the New England coast than New York City.

    Source: NYC Landmarks Preservation Commission

  3. 1912

    The lighthouse's original Fresnel lens is still in place in the lantern room

    The light's second-magnitude Fresnel lens and glass reflector from 1912 are still in place, although the mineral-oil lamp was later swapped for a 1,000-watt General Electric Airway Signal incandescent lamp, with an identical backup that switches on if the main lamp fails. Its fixed white light reaches 18 miles for ships arriving from the Atlantic. A second beacon, the Swash Channel Rear Light, burns around the clock outside the lantern room.

    Source: Wikipedia

  4. 1968

    January 17

    City landmarks the lighthouse despite federal objections

    When the Landmarks Preservation Commission held its hearing on September 13, 1966, a federal representative wrote that property owned by the United States was not subject to local law. The Commission designated the lighthouse anyway, saying it was aware of the jurisdictional question but wanted the city to state plainly its concern that the tower be preserved, and that the designation would alert New York's representatives in Washington if the building were ever threatened.

    “…a representative of the Federal Government questioned the proposal to designate the building, saying that Federally-owned property is not subject to regulation by local law…”

    Source: NYC Landmarks Preservation Commission

  5. 2005

    The Staten Island Range Light joins the National Register of Historic Places

    Already a New York City landmark since 1968, the lighthouse was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 2005. It still serves as a navigation aid for ships heading into the Ambrose Channel of Lower New York Bay, as the rear range partner of the West Bank Lighthouse, and can run on banks of batteries kept on site if the power fails.

    Source: Wikipedia

Further reading

Nearby

All 14 buildings with stories in Lighthouse Hill