 | |
 | |
| Location | Fort Washington Park, Manhattan, United States |
|---|---|
| Coordinates | 40°51′01″N 73°56′49″W / 40.8503°N 73.9469°W |
| Tower | |
| Constructed | 1921  |
| Construction | concrete (foundation), cast iron (tower) |
| Height | 40 ft (12 m) |
| Shape | conical |
| Markings | Red (tower), white (lantern) |
| Heritage | New York City Landmark, National Register of Historic Places listed place |
| Light | |
| First lit | 2002 |
| Deactivated | 1947–2002 |
| Lens | 12 inches (300 mm) |
| Characteristic | Fl R 3s |
Jeffrey's Hook Lighthouse | |
| Built | 1920 |
| MPS | Hudson River Lighthouses TR |
| NRHP reference No. | 79003130[1] |
| Significant dates | |
| Added to NRHP | May 29, 1979 |
| Designated NYCL | May 14, 1991 |
The Little Red Lighthouse, officially Jeffrey's Hook Light, is a small lighthouse located in Fort Washington Park along the Hudson River in Manhattan, New York City, under the George Washington Bridge.[2][3][4] It was made notable by the 1942 children's book The Little Red Lighthouse and The Great Gray Bridge, written by Hildegarde Swift and illustrated by Lynd Ward.
The lighthouse stands on Jeffrey's Hook, a small point of land that supports the base of the eastern pier of the bridge, which connects Washington Heights in Manhattan to Fort Lee, New Jersey.
History
The first attempt to reduce Hudson River traffic accidents at Jeffrey's Hook was a red pole, hung out over the river.[5] A ten candle-power light was added to the pole in 1889 to help alert the increasing river traffic to the spit of land at night. The land around Jeffrey's Hook was acquired by the city in 1896 and later became Fort Washington Park.[5]
The early structure was built as the North Hook Beacon at Sandy Hook, New Jersey. It stood there until 1917, when it became obsolete.[5] In 1921, it was reconstructed at its current location by the United States Lighthouse Board as part of a project to improve Hudson River navigational aids, and originally had a battery-powered lamp and a fog bell. It was operated by a part-time lighthouse keeper.[5]
Construction on the George Washington Bridge, immediately above the lighthouse, began in 1927.[6] When the bridge was completed in 1931,[7] the lighthouse navigational light was considered obsolete.[8] In 1948, the Coast Guard decommissioned the light and put it out with the intention of auctioning it off.[5] This proposed dismantling resulted in a public outcry, largely from children who were fans of the 1942 children's book The Little Red Lighthouse and the Great Gray Bridge.[9] This led the Coast Guard to sign its deed to the New York City Department of Parks and Recreation on July 23, 1951.[5]
The lighthouse was listed on the National Register of Historic Places as "Jeffrey's Hook Lighthouse" in 1979,[10] and was designated a New York City Landmark in 1991.[5] In 2002, it was relit by the city.[4][11]
Access
Public access to the lighthouse is by the Hudson River Greenway, reachable to the north by a footbridge across the Henry Hudson Parkway at West 182nd Street and Riverside Drive, and to the south by footbridges at West 158th Street or 151st Street.[12]
Tours of the lighthouse are given infrequently. They are arranged by the Parks Department's Urban Park Rangers, especially on the Little Red Lighthouse Festival day in late September and Open House New York day in October. The October Little Red Lighthouse Festivals in 2018 and 2019 were run by the organization Summer on the Hudson[13] in conjunction with the Riverside Park Conservancy[14] and the New York City Department of Parks and Recreation. The festival was not held in 2020 or 2021 due to the COVID-19 pandemic, but it resumed in 2022.[15]
In other media
The lighthouse is an important setting in the final scenes for the 1948 film Force of Evil, and Jane Campion's neo-noir film In the Cut features the lighthouse as motif and as a filming location.[16]
See also
- List of New York City Designated Landmarks in Manhattan above 110th Street
- National Register of Historic Places listings in Manhattan above 110th Street
References
- ^ "National Register Information System". National Register of Historic Places. National Park Service. March 13, 2009.
- ^ Light List, Volume I, Atlantic Coast, St. Croix River, Maine to Shrewsbury River, New Jersey (PDF). Light List. United States Coast Guard. 2009. p. 312.
- ^ "Historic Light Station Information and Photography: New York". United States Coast Guard Historian's Office. Archived from the original on May 1, 2017.
- ^ a b Rowlett, Russ (December 28, 2009). "Lighthouses of the United States: Downstate New York". The Lighthouse Directory. University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.
- ^ a b c d e f g New York City Department of Parks and Recreation. Historic plaque on the lighthouse
- ^ "GROUND IS BROKEN FOR HUDSON BRIDGE; Acting Mayor McKee Digs Earth at 178th Street, Mayor White on New Jersey Shore. PLANES SOAR OVER RIVER Governors of Both States Heard by Radio on Both Banks From Steamer in Hudson. SEE FRIENDSHIP CEMENTED Smith Says Span Will Increase Prosperity -- Moore Calls It Monument to Progressive Spirit". The New York Times. September 22, 1927. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved June 5, 2018.
- ^ "Two Governors Open Great Hudson Bridge As Throngs Look On". The New York Times. October 25, 1931. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved March 6, 2010.
- ^ White, Norval; Willensky, Elliot; Leadon, Fran (2010). AIA Guide to New York City (5th ed.). New York: Oxford University Press. p. 570. ISBN 978-0-19538-386-7.
- ^ New York City Landmarks Preservation Commission; Dolkart, Andrew S.; Postal, Matthew A. (2009). Postal, Matthew A. (ed.). Guide to New York City Landmarks (4th ed.). New York: John Wiley & Sons. ISBN 978-0-470-28963-1., p.213
- ^ "Little Red Lighthouse" Archived 2010-12-30 at the Wayback Machine, Washington Heights & Inwood Online, NYC Dept. of Parks & Recreation, August 2001, accessed February 27, 2012
- ^ Elise Marie Barry (February 1979). National Register of Historic Places Registration: New York MPS Jeffrey's Hook Lighthouse. National Archives and Records Administration. Retrieved November 11, 2025. (Downloading may be slow.)
- ^ Walsh, Kevin (January 16, 2018). "HERMAN "DENNY" FARRELL BRIDGE, Washington Heights". Forgotten New York. Retrieved April 6, 2022.
- ^ "Summer on the Hudson". www.nycgovparks.org. New York City Department of Parks & Recreation. Retrieved April 6, 2022.
- ^ "The Riverside Park Conservancy". The Riverside Park Conservancy. Retrieved April 6, 2022.
- ^ "Summer on the Hudson: Little Red Lighthouse Festival". www.nycgovparks.org. New York City Department of Parks & Recreation. Archived from the original on May 16, 2023. Retrieved May 16, 2023.
{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: bot: original URL status unknown (link) - ^ Rockland, Michael Aaron (2008). The George Washington Bridge: Poetry in Steel. Rutgers University Press. pp. 124–25. ISBN 9780813545547.
External links
| International | |
|---|---|
| Geographic | |
- 1921 establishments in New York City
- Government buildings on the National Register of Historic Places in Manhattan
- Lighthouses completed in 1921
- Lighthouses on the National Register of Historic Places in New York City
- New York City Designated Landmarks in Manhattan
- Relocated buildings and structures in New York City
- Tourist attractions in Manhattan
- Transportation buildings and structures in Manhattan
- Washington Heights, Manhattan
