Collectibles

Item Description

A noble, Victorian sentinel once stood among the battle-torn fields of Fort Tompkins, on Staten Island in New York. Looking completely out of place next to a military stronghold, Fort Tompkins’ stark black and white color scheme and striking architecture would have been better suited for an aristocrat’s home. But mariners from that time would argue that Fort Tompkins was a welcome sight amid the artillery and cannons. This lighthouse saved lives. Her old-world charm and Mansard roof brings forth images of the nineteenth century. One could imagine visitors dress in Edwardian fashion, with their corsets and gowns, arriving for afternoon tea. 

But the lighthouse at Fort Tompkins served a more utilitarian purpose. Established in 1828, high on a bluff, Fort Tompkins guided vessels approaching Staten Island. At one time, a fourth-order lens cast its light from the lantern room. Lightkeepers assigned to the station would go into New York for supplies, but always returned before nightfall to light the beacon. This sentinel was so near civilization and so close to Fort Tompkins, the lightkeepers were never required to keep journals or note the passing of ships. Because of this, events at Fort Tompkins Lighthouse were not well documented and its history forgotten.

But the Lighthouse Board always kept records, preserving at least a timeline of the life of Fort Tompkins Lighthouse. Archives from the Lighthouse Board describe the precarious location that the lighthouse stood on. Experiments in explosions and artillery fire caused the glass in the lantern room to break. On more than one occasion, the sentinel became an unwitting target.

So in 1871, the lighthouse was moved. But the very move that was intended to save the lighthouse doomed its fate.  Although the building was now out of the battery range, it was too far from the water’s edge. A recommendation was made to transfer the lighthouse’s duties to the Fort Wadsworth Light, advice that was heeded in 1903. The Fort Tompkins Light disappeared forever soon thereafter.

Item Special Note

Special seasonal 2002 edition (there was one edition for each season of the year). HL #655. In original box.