West Point Light (New York)

West Point Lighthouse
Light #39 on Gee's Point

Coordinates	41°23′45″N 73°57′3″W / 41.39583°N 73.95083°W / 41.39583; -73.95083Coordinates: 41°23′45″N 73°57′3″W / 41.39583°N 73.95083°W / 41.39583; -73.95083
Year first constructed	1853
Deactivated	1946
Construction	Wooden
Tower shape	Square
Markings / pattern	White
Focal height	40 ft (12 m)
Original lens	Sixth order Fresnel lens
Characteristic	Fixed white
ARLHS number	USA-879 ^[1]

West Point Light was a lighthouse at the United States Military Academy in West Point, New York. It was located at Gee's Point and was sometimes referred to as Gee's Point Light.

West Point Light would be shown on the NOAA Chart 12343^[2] if it were still active. Today, Light 39 (USCG 1-38005 ^[3]), on a skeleton tower with a fixed green light characteristic, has replaced West Point Light on Gee's Point.

History

West Point, 45 miles (72 km) above the Battery, is the site of the United States Military Academy. The northeastern extremity of West Point descends to a rocky point, upon the extremity of which was West Point lighthouse. On the opposite side of the river and north of West Point is Constitution Island; the bend between the two is locally known as Worlds End, and has very deep water of 36 fathoms (216 ft; 66 m).

A little above Constitution Island, on the west bank of the river, is a steep, rocky, wooded hill 1,396 feet (426 m) high, known as Crow's Nest, and just above it is a prominent hill 1,340 feet (410 m) high known as Storm King Mountain.^[4]

West Point is a high, bluff thickly wooded point, almost entirely occupied by the grounds and buildings of the United States Military Academy. On the northeast it descends to a bare rocky point, upon the extremity of which stood a low square wooden tower, painted white. This was West Point Lighthouse.^[5]

Cultural

The Archives Center at the Smithsonian National Museum of American History has a collection (#1055) of souvenir postcards of lighthouses and has digitized 272 of these and made them available online. These include postcards of West Point Light (New York) ^[6] with links to customized nautical charts provided by the National Oceanographic and Atmospheric Administration.

References

External links

Lighthouse Friends site
"Historic Light Station Information and Photography: New York". United States Coast Guard Historian's Office.
Rowlett, Russ. "Lighthouses of the United States: Downstate New York". The Lighthouse Directory. University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.

Lighthouses of the Hudson River

Coxsackie Light Danskammer Point Light Esopus Meadows Light Four Mile Point Light Hudson-Athens Light Little Red Lighthouse (Jeffrey's Hook) New Baltimore Light Rockland Lake Light Rondout Creek (Kingston) Light Saugerties Light Stony Point Light Stuyvesant Light Tarrytown Light (Sleepy Hollow) Van Wies Point Light Watervliet Light West Point Light

Lighthouses of New York

Ambrose Tower Aunt Phebe Rock Barber's Point Barcelona Blackwell Island Bluff Point Braddock Point Buffalo Light Buffalo Harbor North and South entrance Lights Buffalo Harbor South Entrance Light Buffalo North breakwater East end Light Buffalo North Breakwater South End Light Cape Vincent Carleton Island Cedar Island Charlotte–Genesee Cold Spring Harbor Coney Island Coxsackie Crossover Island Crown Point Cumberland Head Dunkirk East Charity Shoal Eatons Neck Elm Tree Beacon Esopus Meadows Execution Rocks Fair Haven Fire Island Fort Niagara Fort Lafayette Fort Tompkins Fort Wadsworth Frenchman Island Galloo Island Gardiners Point Horse Island Horton Point Hudson-Athens Huntington Harbor Kings Point Latimer Reef Little Gull Island Little Red Montauk Point Moriches New Dorp North Brother Island North Dumpling Oak Orchard Old Field Point Old Orchard Shoal Ogdensburg Harbor Orient Long Beach Bar Orient Point Oswego Harbor West Pierhead Plattsburgh Beacon Plum Island Point Aux Roches Prince's Bay Race Rock Rock Island Romer Shoal Rondout Sands Point Saugerties Selkirk Shinnecock Sodus Outer Sodus Point South Brother Island Channel Range South Buffalo North Side Split Rock Point Staten Island Statue of Liberty Stepping Stones Stony Point (Henderson) Stony Point (Hudson) Strawberry Island Upper Cut Range Stuyvesant Sunken Meadows Sunken Rock Tarrytown Thirty Mile Point Three Sisters Island Throgs Neck Tibbetts Point Turkey Point Watervliet West Point West Bank Whitehall Narrows Whitestone Point

United States Military Academy

Academics	Combating Terrorism Center DPE

Athletics	Army Black Knights Army–Navy Game Baseball Basketball (M, W) Commander-in-Chief's Trophy Football Ice Hockey (m) Lacrosse (m) Softball Rugby (m) Facilities Christl Arena Doubleday Field Gillis Field House Michie Stadium Tate Rink

Campus	Chapels Catholic Jewish Old Cadet Protestant Flirtie Walk Grounds Cemetery Hayes Gym Lusk Reservoir Monuments Plain Thayer Hotel Trophy Point West Point Light

History	Academy History Constitution Island Fort Clinton Fort Putnam Great Chain Kosciuszko's Garden Redoubt Four

People	Alumni "Class the stars fell on" Notable non-grads Master of the Sword Superintendent current Sylvanus Thayer

Traditions	Class ring Honor Code IOCT Mules On, Brave Old Army Team Sandhurst Competition Thayer Award The Corps

Lore	Eggnog Riot

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