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Under the guidelines of the National Historic Lighthouse Preservation Act, the General Services Administration (GSA) has offered the Stratford Shoal Lighthouse and the Peck Ledge Lighthouse, both in Connecticut, up for adoption to qualified applicants. If no applicants step forward to apply, the lighthouse will be put up for auction and sold to the highest bidder.
The Stratford Shoal Lighthouse, also known as the Middle Ground Lighthouse, was established in 1877 in Long Island Sound near Bridgeport, Connecticut. The structure is a near twin to Race Rock Lighthouse in New York. The lighthouse replaced the Lightship LV15 that had previously been stationed there, and the first keeper of the lighthouse, William McGloin, had previously been the captain of the lightship.
Tragedy struck the lighthouse in 1887 when 2nd assistant keeper John P Hutchinson disappeared while rowing to shore. Although the boat and his hat with the letters L H E washed up on shore, his body was never found. The letters stood for Light House Establishment.
In 1905, while the head keeper was away, a bizarre incident occurred at Stratford Shoal Lighthouse when 2nd assistant keeper Julius Koster went insane. On and off for two days (some stories say five days), Koster (sometimes spelled Coster) terrorized 1st assistant keeper Merrill Hulse (sometimes spelled Morrell or Morell). Reportedly for no reason at all, Koster attacked Hulse with a razor blade taped to the end of a pole. At one point, Hulse prevented Koster from committing suicide, and another time Hulse had to wrestle and fight with Koster when the deranged man tried to smash the Fresnel lens with an ax. Hulse was finally able to lock Koster in a room, and Koster tried unsuccessfully to chisel his way out. Finally helped arrived, and Julius Koster was removed from the lighthouse and fired from his job. Some reports indicate that Koster might have suffered from alcohol poisoning from bad liquor that he had been known to drink. Later, at his home in New York, the troubled man was finally successful in taking his own life.
Peck Ledge Lighthouse is a cast iron tower of the style that is often referred to as a spark plug lighthouse. Also known as Peck’s Ledge Lighthouse, it was built 1906 at the entrance to Norwalk Harbor in Long Island Sound. By lighthouse standards, its time as a staffed light was short.
Peck Ledge was automated in 1933, and its 4th order Fresnel lens was removed in 1939 and replaced by a modern optic. During World War II the tower was staffed by Coast Guard personnel. It is believed that sometime in the 1950s the Coast Guard removed the canopy from the lower outer deck, giving the lighthouse an entirely different appearance. But after that, the structure had no real maintenance until 1990 when the Coast Guard sand blasted and painted the tower and secured it from the elements.
This story appeared in the
Jul/Aug 2014 edition of Lighthouse Digest Magazine. The print edition contains more stories than our internet edition, and each story generally contains more photographs - often many more - in the print edition. For subscription information about the print edition, click here.
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