Five Mile Point Light, New Haven

Five Mile Point Light, also known as Five Mile Point Lighthouse or Old New Haven Harbor Lighthouse, is a U.S. lighthouse in Long Island Sound on the coast of New Haven, Connecticut. Located at the entrance to New Haven Harbor, the beacon's name derives from its proximity to Downtown New Haven, about five miles away. The original lighthouse consisted of a 30-foot octagonal wooden tower built in 1805 by Abisha Woodward. In 1847, a new 80-foot octagonal tower was constructed by Marcus Bassett with East Haven brownstone. This new beacon was illuminated by 12 lamps with reflectors which were positioned 97 feet above sea level. Also constructed at this time was a two-and-one-half story brick house which supplanted the previous, deteriorating keeper's dwelling. A fourth-order Fresnel lens replaced the lamps in 1855 and a fog bell was added in the 1860s. The Five Mile Point Light was deactivated in 1877 when the nearby Southwest Ledge Light was completed. Currently, the lighthouse is contained within Lighthouse Point Park and, along with the keeper's house, was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1990. ()