Top 10 Lighthouses in New York
New York State's lighthouse heritage spans a geography of remarkable breadth: the Atlantic-facing bluffs of Long Island, the crowded harbour approaches of the greatest port in the western hemisphere, the Hudson River valley, the Great Lakes shore along Lake Ontario, and the St. Lawrence passage to Canada. No other state encompasses such variety of navigational environments, and few can match the historical significance of the lights that guided commerce into New York. The lighthouse at Montauk Point, authorised by the Second Congress in 1792, was among the first federal public works in the new republic. The inner harbour lights of the Kill Van Kull, the Hudson, and the East River represent the densest concentration of navigational marks in North America. New York's lighthouse inventory includes offshore wave-swept towers, river caisson lights, cliff-top Fresnel installations, and pier-head structures; the statewide preservation network that maintains them is among the most active in the country.
1. Montauk Point Lighthouse, Montauk
Montauk Point Lighthouse, authorised by President Washington and completed in November 1796, was the first lighthouse in New York State and the fourth built by the new federal government. Designed by architect John McComb Jr. — who also designed New York City Hall — the white-painted granite octagonal tower stands 110 feet tall on the eastern tip of Long Island, at the point where the Atlantic approaches to New York begin. A third-order Fresnel lens flashes white every five seconds with a range of 24 nautical miles. The light is active and Coast Guard-maintained. The site is managed as a historic site by the Montauk Historical Society, which has constructed an extensive museum in the keeper's dwelling. Coastal erosion has been a persistent concern — the original tower was sited 297 feet from the bluff edge by the army engineer who calculated it would last two centuries; reinforcement work has been ongoing since the 1990s.
2. Fire Island Lighthouse, Fire Island National Seashore
Fire Island Lighthouse, the third lighthouse on this site since 1826, was completed in 1858 to a design by engineer William Fresnel. The black-banded tower is 168 feet tall and carries its original first-order Fresnel lens, one of the largest in the country, producing a white flash visible for 24 nautical miles. The lighthouse marks Fire Island Inlet and the western tip of the Fire Island barrier beach, guiding trans-Atlantic shipping from the south into New York's Lower Bay. After decommissioning in 1973 it was relit in 1986 following public advocacy. The surrounding national seashore is accessible by ferry from Bay Shore, and the lighthouse is open for climbing during summer and autumn. The Fire Island Lighthouse Preservation Society operates the adjacent museum in the restored keeper's quarters.
3. Hudson-Athens Lighthouse, Hudson River
The Hudson-Athens Lighthouse, completed in 1874 and designed by engineer J.H. French, is a distinctive Second Empire-style mansard-roofed structure built on a stone-filled timber crib in the middle of the Hudson River between the cities of Hudson and Athens. The brick building — more a small house than a tower — carries a lantern on its roof that marks the Middle Ground shoal, a critical hazard for river navigation in this reach of the Hudson. The light was staffed until 1949 and the interior retains much of its Victorian domestic character. The Hudson-Athens Lighthouse Preservation Society operates regular boat tours to the lighthouse from Hudson, making it one of the more accessible of New York's offshore structures.
4. Robbins Reef Lighthouse, Kill Van Kull
Robbins Reef Lighthouse, a cast-iron caisson structure completed in 1883 in the Kill Van Kull channel between Staten Island and Bayonne, New Jersey, is one of the most romantically famous lighthouse stations in American history. The tower sits on a concrete-filled iron foundation in the middle of the busy ship channel, with the skyline of Lower Manhattan visible to the northeast. It is associated with Kate Walker, who served as keeper from 1894 to 1919 — one of the longest-serving female lighthouse keepers in American history and a well-documented figure in the national lighthouse heritage. The structure is currently the subject of a preservation and potential adaptive-reuse project, with public access available by boat during occasional tours.
5. Sodus Outer Lighthouse, Sodus Point
The Sodus Outer Lighthouse, completed in 1938 to replace an 1871 predecessor, marks the outer end of the West Sodus pier on Lake Ontario — one of the finest natural harbours on the southern shore of the lake. The current concrete tower is not remarkable architecturally, but the adjacent Old Sodus Point Lighthouse of 1871 — a square limestone tower with attached keeper's dwelling, now a maritime museum — is the architecturally distinguished structure at this site. The limestone tower, 45 feet tall, served Lake Ontario commerce for decades. The museum is operated by the Sodus Bay Lighthouse Museum and open in summer; the grounds are accessible year-round. Lake Ontario's winter storms make November to February visits memorable but cold.
6. Tibbetts Point Lighthouse, Cape Vincent
Tibbetts Point Lighthouse stands at the northeastern corner of Lake Ontario, where the lake narrows to become the St. Lawrence River — a critically important geographical transition point for navigation between the Great Lakes and the Atlantic. The current white stucco tower of 1854 stands 59 feet tall on the point, its focal plane elevated to about 69 feet above lake level, and its isophase white light is visible for 16 nautical miles. The original 1827 tower was replaced in 1854 when it proved inadequate for the growing traffic. The keeper's dwelling is now a youth hostel — one of only a handful of American lighthouse keeper's quarters operating as overnight accommodation. The site is owned by Jefferson County and open year-round; the combination of lighthouse, hostel, and dramatic lake-meets-river geography makes this one of the most characterful overnight lighthouse experiences in the Great Lakes region.
7. Saugerties Lighthouse, Saugerties
The Saugerties Lighthouse, a brick dwelling-tower combination completed in 1869, sits at the mouth of Esopus Creek where it enters the Hudson River — a location that required a lighthouse to mark the junction and the shoal water extending from the creek mouth into the river channel. The lighthouse is a two-storey Italianate brick building with a small lantern on top, reachable by a half-mile footpath across a tidal marsh from the town of Saugerties. The Saugerties Lighthouse Conservancy has restored the building and operates it as a bed-and-breakfast, giving overnight guests access to one of the most evocative lighthouse experiences on the Hudson. The path floods at high tide during some seasons and timing the visit requires checking tide tables.
8. Rondout Lighthouse, Kingston
The Rondout Creek Lighthouse at Kingston, a stone crib lighthouse completed in 1915 at the mouth of the Rondout Creek where it meets the Hudson River, was the last lighthouse built on the Hudson and replaced a series of earlier structures going back to 1837. The brick Victorian structure is associated with female keeper Catherine Murdock, who tended the light for over 50 years from 1857. The lighthouse is accessible by boat tour from the Hudson River Maritime Museum in Kingston. The museum itself, in the former canalboat basin of the Delaware and Hudson Canal, is one of the finest maritime heritage venues in the Hudson Valley.
9. Long Island Sound — Old Field Point Lighthouse
The Old Field Point Lighthouse, completed in 1868 on the North Shore of Long Island at the entrance to Port Jefferson Harbor, is a modest but well-preserved example of the granite tower and keeper's dwelling combination typical of the Long Island Sound lighthouse series. The tower, 34 feet tall, guided Sound traffic into one of the most active harbours on the Sound in the nineteenth century. The lighthouse is on the grounds of the Old Field Village Hall and accessible during village events; the grounds are publicly open. Long Island Sound contains a significant number of surviving lighthouse towers — including those at Orient Point, Stepping Stones, and Old Saybrook — that together document the commercial history of this inland sea.
10. Fire Island to New York Harbor — Coney Island Lighthouse
The Coney Island Lighthouse, a simple cast-iron skeleton tower of 1890 at the western end of Coney Island, marks the junction of Gravesend Bay and the Ambrose Channel — the main deep-water approach to New York Harbor used by all large vessels. Standing 75 feet tall with a focal plane of 67 feet, its flashing red light with a range of 16 nautical miles provides the inner channel mark that works in conjunction with the Ambrose Tower farther offshore. The lighthouse stands in a residential neighborhood and is not open to visitors, but it is visible from the elevated section of the F train and from several points along the Coney Island waterfront. It remains an active U.S. Coast Guard light.
Visiting New York's Lighthouses
Montauk Point is open year-round with seasonal variation in tower climbing hours. Fire Island is accessible by ferry from Bay Shore (mid-May to October). Hudson-Athens boat tours depart from Hudson on summer weekends. Tibbetts Point offers year-round grounds access and seasonal hostel stays. The New York State Lighthouse Society (nylhs.org) coordinates tours and publishes touring resources for all regions of the state. Open the map to explore the full distribution of New York's navigational lights from the harbour to the Great Lakes, including dozens of minor lights and fog signals not covered here.