| Location: | Hudson River at Rondout Creek, Kingston, New York | ||||||||||||
| Coordinates: | 41.9208°N -73.9625°W | ||||||||||||
| Yearbuilt: | 1838 | ||||||||||||
| Yearlit: | 1915 (current tower) | ||||||||||||
| Automated: | 1954 | ||||||||||||
| Foundation: | Concrete pier with wood piles | ||||||||||||
| Construction: | Brick | ||||||||||||
| Shape: | Square tower with attached house | ||||||||||||
| Marking: | Yellow brick with black lantern | ||||||||||||
| Lens: | Sixth order Fresnel lens (original), 250mm (current) | ||||||||||||
| Characteristic: | Flashing White, 6 secs | ||||||||||||
| Fogsignal: | Horn (removed) | ||||||||||||
| Module: |
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Rondout Light is a lighthouse on the west side of the Hudson River at Kingston, New York.[1]
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.[2]
The current lighthouse was built in 1915, replacing the earlier 1867 lighthouse. In 1954 the light was automated and the building closed.[2] 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.[3] Rondout Light was transferred from the Coast Guard to the City of Kingston in 2002.[4] It is currently managed by the non-profit Hudson River Maritime Museum.
It was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1979.[5]