The lighthouse was built on a new foundation, located to the south of the former location, traces of which are still visible on the adjoining small island. Two hundred and fifty piles, each 40 feet long, were driven into the river bottom. They were cut off three feet below the mean water mark, capped with 12 inch square timers and topped with a deck of three-inch pine. Granite blocks were stacked 16 feet high producing a pier with a diameter 49 feet at the base and 46 feet at the top. On top of this pier was built a wooden keeper's dwelling with a mansard roof and clapboard exterior. Inside the house is a kitchen, sitting room and equipment room on the first floor and three bedrooms and a bath on the second.

The light tower extends above the living quarters with an octagonal deck housing the light. Situated 53 feet above the mean water line, the lantern room previously contained an optic fifth-order Fresnel lens providing a 270 degree arc of light that was visible for 12 nautical miles.

The lighthouse was tended by resident keeper until 1965 when it was converted to an automatic solar powered system. Although only accessible by boat, without the care of on-site keepers, the lighthouse fell into the ruinous hands of vandals and Mother Nature.

In 1979, the Esopus Meadows Lighthouse was listed on the National Register of Historic Places. The road to restoration didn’t really begin until 1990 when the Save Esopus Lighthouse Commission was formed. The concerned volunteers, under the direction of Arline Fitzpatrick, leased the site from the Coast Guard and began extensive restoration efforts. SELC raised funds from various sources to cover emergency repairs, extensive carpentry, painting and shingling of the mansard roof.

By 1997, a reorganization of SELC, as well as new volunteers from the Aids to Navigation Coast Guard Station in Saugerties, continued to bring the lighthouse back to life.

The fall of 2000 brought an impressive milestone in restoration efforts – stabilization and leveling of the house was completed.

July 2001 brought another milestone for the lighthouse. The restoration was reorganized as a museum under the New York State Regents providing a provisional charter as the Esopus Meadows Lighthouse which allows the pursuit of additional funding and ownership of the house.

In September 2002, the lighthouse stewardship was formally granted by the General Services Administration to the newly-chartered Esopus Meadows Lighthouse.

Perhaps the most rewarding achievement to date happened on May 31, 2003. After 38 years of darkness, a new light was installed in the tower, thereby deeming the house “a working navigational aid.”

Press blue button for photos, history, restoration photos, and more about the Esopus Meadows Lighthouse.

Things To Do at The Esopus Meadows Lighthouse
Historic Site
Museum
Tour the Lighthouse

Museum exhibits convey an appreciation for the history of the canal, including its initial financing, development of the technological innovations with which it is associated, and the nature of life on a canal boat. Numerous tools and artifacts from the canal era are on display, along with the work of famous local artists. The working model of a lock is a highlight of the visit, as it demonstrates how canal boats dealt with differences in elevation over the route.

Brief History
"The D&H Canal was conceived by the Wurts brothers as a means to transport anthracite coal from their Pennsylvania mines to the Hudson River at Kingston, New York, from where it was shipped downriver to New York City. This 108-mile, 108-lock waterway operated from 1828 until 1898, and its construction is associated with such new technologies and feats of civil engineering as the gravity railroad and the cable suspension bridge.

"The canal was constructed along a previously unsettled route in less than three years using only picks, shovels, draft animals and blasting powder. Towns and villages sprang up along its route, and industries developed to exploit local resources such as lumber, agricultural products, and bluestone. Natural (hydraulic) cement was discovered near High Falls in 1825, and was used in constructing the canal and in building structures such as the Brooklyn Bridge and Statue of Liberty. The availability of anthracite coal was a boon to the Hudson Valley brick industry, which supplied the building needs of metropolitan New York."

Press blue button for more about the history of the D & H (Delaware & Hudson) Canal.

Things To Do at the Museum
Canal Museum store and bookshop
Tools and artifacts from the canal era

In 1887, to recognize Senate House's role in the Revolution, New York State acquired the property, which quickly became a vital community museum. A two-story Museum Building was constructed in 1927 to house and display the site's burgeoning collection. Among its treasures are: major art works by John Vanderlyn and other members of the Vanderlyn family of Kingston, dating from the 1720s through the 1870s, and notable paintings by Ammi Phillips, Joseph Tubby, James Bard, and Thomas Sully. Press blue button for more information about the Senate House State Historic Site.

The Story of Huguenot Street
After decades of sojourn and relocation, a group of twelve Huguenot refugees from what is today northern France and southern Belgium and linked by family, religion, and friendship purchased nearly 40,000-acres along the Wallkill River in the Hudson Valley. They purchased this land from the native Esopus Indians, thus establishing a permanent home where they could pursue their Protestant faith free from religious and political persecution. They named the new town after die Pfalz, the region along the Rhine River where they had found temporary refuge before journeying to the new world.

The families began replacing their temporary homes in the early 1700s with stone houses along what is now known as Huguenot Street, seven of which survive today. The houses were added to over the first century or so of their existence to provide more comfortable living arrangements, and today the domestic environments of the colonial period and the early years of the Republic are preserved to inspire and to educate. While four of the houses are similar to their early appearance, the National Historic Landmark district also includes three original stone houses that were altered in the 1830s, the 1890s, and the 1940s, enabling three hundred years of history to be told on the street, displaying both continuity and change in American history.

Press blue button for more about Huguenot Street and the Huguenot Historical Society.