Kingston-Rondout Lighthouse

The First Lighthouse (1837-1867)

On March 3, 1837, Congress appropriated $5000 for the building of a lighthouse at the mouth of the rondout Creek on the Hudson River. It was called the Rondout Creek Light. At this time the lighthouse establishment was under the control of the fifth auditor of the U.S. Treasury, who was Stephen Pleasonton. The structure was made of wood, consisting of a keeper's frame, swelling with the tower rising from it. It was built on a rectangular pier, 42 feet by 50 feet and became operational in 1838.

Three and a half miles down the river, the first lighthouse at Esopus Meadows was lighted a year later. It was essentially a duplicate of the Rondout Creek Light. In 1838, the lantern was equipped with seven lamps and parabolic reflectors. In 1842 this was changed to five lamps and 14-inch parabolic reflectors and again in 1850 to four lamps and 16-inch reflectors. However in 1852, the newly created Lighthouse Board took over the responsibilities of overseeing our nation's lighthouse system.

As a result of this, in 1854, the lantern was refitted with a sixth order lens and Argand lamp. It had a fixed white light and was fueled by whale oil. Due to exposure to the elements and ice in the winter, in 1855 major repairs were made to the pier. Ten years later, the lighthouse was in such terrible condition that it was decided to build a new lighthouse next to the existing structure. The keepers of the Rondout Creek Lighthouse were:

March 1838: James McCausland
December 1838: John McCausland
February 1842: Martin G. Hayes
February 1845: Arthur M. Crange
October 1845: Johannes D. Hasbrouk
March 1849: Josiah Warner
April 1853: John Kelly
May 1856: George W. Murdock (died by drowning)
July 1857: Mrs. Catherine A. Murdock, his widow The Second Lighthouse (1867-1915)

Kingston-Rondout Lighthouse

On July 28, 1866, $22,000 was appropriated for the rebuilding of the lighthouse. The new structure was erected next to the original lighthouse. It was a two-story dwelling built of bluestone with its tower attached. The lantern, which was 38 feet above sea level, was equipped with a sixth order lens. The fixed white light could be seen for 11 miles. The second lighthouse was known as the Rondout Lighthouse. However in the early 1870s, the Army Corps of Engineers built two dikes at the entrance of Rondout Creek. In 1880, three stake lights were established to mark the dikes: two on the north dike and one on the south dike. With the building of the dikes and changes in the river's flow, the existing structure eventually found itself too far in toward the shore from the entrance of the creek to be of much help to navigation. It was thus proposed to build a new lighthouse at the end of the north dike. The keepers of the Rondout Lighthouse were:

1867-1907: Mrs. Catherine A. Murdock
1907-1915: James B. Murdock -- her son who was assistance keeper since 1880

It is worthy to note that Mrs. Murdock served as a lighthouse keeper for more the 50 years. Quite an accomplishment. However, with the building of the new lighthouse, it was not the end of the history of the Rondout light. In 1916, the iron lantern and deck were dismantled from the old lighthouse and shipped to Bristol, Rhode Island, where it was used to replaced the original wooden lantern and deck, which had fallen into disrepair. There it was shown until 1927 when the Bristol Ferry Light was discontinued. Minus its lantern and deck, the structure stood until 1953 when it was demolished by the Coast Guard. The stone foundation is still visible today.

On July 17, 1910, Congress appropriated $40,000 to erect a new lighthouse at the end of the north pier. Work started in 1913 and was completed in 1915, amazingly at a cost of only $26,634. This was $12,00 less than was estimated. The light was first lit on August 25, 1915 and received a hearty salute from the first passing boat: the Albany tug "Mary M."

The new lighthouse commonly known as the Rondout 11 was actually called the Rondout North Dike Light Station. Built by L.H. Bannon Plumbing & Heating Construction Co., it is the newest and largest of the Hudson River's lighthouses. Constructed or buff-colored (yellow) brick, the three-story house sits on a man-made island, created by driving wooden piles almost  40 feet into the riverbed, massing stones behind the piles from the bed to the tidewater mark, and setting in a concrete pier within a sheet-steel cofferdam. The pier, which rose 6 feet above high tide, had an open area in its center to accommodate a cistern and a storage room.

It was heated by a coal furnace in the basement, which provided steam radiation heat. This wasn't replaced until the 1980s, when an oil burner was installed. Also to note is that there was no electricity until the late 1940s. The first floor had a kitchen, large pantry, dining room, and sitting room. The second floor had three bedrooms and a bathroom. The third floor served as an attic with an extra cistern.

The cisterns provided water for drinking and cooking while general purpose water was pumped directly from the river. The kitchen and bathroom were modernized in 1950. The tower which stood 42 feet above sea level was equipped with a fourth order Fresnel lens and had a fixed red light. In 1924 a 150-candlepower oil lamp was installed and replaced again in 1939 by an 870-candlepower incandescent oil vapor lam. It now has a fixed white light flashing every six seconds. The station was also equipped with a fog signal consisting of a 1000-pound bell operated by clockwork. It was replaced by another bell in 1924 that struck every 20 seconds. The lighthouse was automated in 1954 as was the fog signal. There was until just recently (1994) an automatic fog signal located on the porch roof. It had one blast every 30 seconds.

The present lighthouse witnessed many changes in the use of lamps and fog signals and also within the lighthouse organization itself. In 1910 when the new lighthouse was proposed, Congress abolished the lighthouse board and replaced it with the Bureau of Lighthouses. In 1939 the United States Coast Guard took over the lighthouse service and there it remains today. The keepers of the Rondout North Dike Light Station were:

1915-1923: James B. Murdock
1923-1935: Ernest Bloom
1935-1945: Robert L. Howard (died: head injury from fall on the ice)
1945-1946: Albert H. Passel
1946-1954: Herman Lange (civilian keeper)

Information provided by Hudson River Maritime Museum.