Stonington Lighthouse Door

by Joan Carroll

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Dimensions

12.000 x 18.000 inches

Title

Stonington Lighthouse Door

Artist

Joan Carroll

Medium

Photograph - Digital Photograph

Description

The seeming quiet of an early November morning in Stonington CT gives no hint of the storied history of this town. In the 18th and 19th centuries,the town was a thriving port, dominated by fishing, whaling, and shipbuilding, and the first U.S. ships involved in sealing in the Antarctic were based in Stonington. For more than 170 years, this modest stone citadel � a lighthouse tower attached to a dwelling � has stood at the entrance to the harbor of Stonington, Connecticut�s only port facing on the Atlantic. Now regarded fondly as a durable symbol of a seafaring past, in its working years it performed the valuable service of guiding ships across treacherous Fishers Island Sound.The building is notable among lighthouses of its period for its fanciful stonework, with ornamental cornices around the tower and weighty granite lintels above doorways and windows. When it was built in 1840 it had a nearly flat roof with simulated battlements, but it leaked so badly that two years later local craftsmen were called in to install the gabled roof it has today.The lighthouse remained in use from its construction in 1840, when it replaced an earlier lighthouse, until 1889, when it was supplanted by beacons on the harbor breakwaters. Even so, the keepers of the harbor beacons still used the house until 1909. The Stonington Historical Society acquired the building in 1925 and opened the first lighthouse museum here in 1927.

FEATURED PHOTO, 1 per Category-BALCONY WINDOW AND DOORS group, 3/13/14

FEATURED PHOTO, FAA Featured Images group, 3/13/14

FEATURED PHOTO, Heroes and Heroines group, 3/7/14

Uploaded

March 4th, 2014

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