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Rondout Creek Leading Light
Rondout 2 Lighthouse, Kingston (Ulster County, New York).jpg
Rondout Creek Leading Light is located in New York
Rondout Creek Leading Light
Rondout Creek Leading Light
Location in New York
Location Hudson River at Rondout Creek, Kingston, New York
Coordinates 41°55′15″N 73°57′45″W / 41.92083°N 73.96250°W / 41.92083; -73.96250
Year first constructed 1838
Year first lit 1915 (current tower)
Automated 1954
Foundation Concrete pier with wood piles
Construction Brick
Tower shape Square tower with attached house
Markings / pattern Yellow brick with black lantern
Height 48 feet (15 m)
Focal height 54 feet (16 m)
Original lens Sixth order Fresnel lens
Current lens 9.8 inches (250 mm)
Range 9 nautical miles (17 km; 10 mi)
Characteristic Flashing White, 6 secs
Fog signal Horn (removed)
Admiralty number J1139
ARLHS number USA-702
USCG number 1-38190

Rondout Light is a lighthouse on the west side of the Hudson River at Kingston, New York.

Nomenclature

  • The official name in the Coast Guard Light List is Rondout Creek Leading Light.
  • The National Register name, Kingston/Rondout 2 Lighthouse comes from its location in a series of day beacons and lights in Rondout Creek. Number 2 is the first on the right hand side.
  • The USCG history site calls it Rondout Creek (Kingston) Light.

History

The first lighthouse at the entrance to the Rondout Creek was a wooden one built in 1837. It was replaced by a second lighthouse, made of sturdier bluestone, in 1867. The bluestone lighthouse was abandoned after 1915 and torn down in the 1950s. Only its circular stone foundation remains today.

The current lighthouse was built in 1915, replacing the earlier 1867 lighthouse. In 1954 the light was automated and the building closed. The National Historic Lighthouse Preservation Act provides for the Coast Guard to declare some lighthouses surplus, and for their ownership to be transferred to historical, non-profit or local government entities following an application process and review. Nine lighthouses were identified in the fall of 2001 as part of a pilot program to transfer such lighthouses. Rondout Light was one of those nine. Rondout Light was transferred from the Coast Guard to the City of Kingston in 2002. It is currently managed by the non-profit Hudson River Maritime Museum.

It was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1979.

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