Mouth of the Connecticut River, CT
Est 1886, 49 feet, light 58 feet abovewater.

Saybrook Breakwater Lighthouse has an honored place on a special Connecticut license plate as a symbol of the effort to preserve Long Island Sound. It’s a picturesque structure that’s unfortunately difficult for the general public to view from land.

Jeremy’s Lighthouse Guide #27

The harbor of Old Saybrook, at the mouth of the Connecticut River, was limited in its development by a large sand bar at the harbor entrance. In the 1870s two parallel stone jetties were built and a deep channel was dredged between them. Saybrook Breakwater Light was first lighted at the end of the west jetty on June 15, 1886.

The 49-foot cast-iron tower has a basement, four main floors, a watchroom and a lantern room. More stones were eventually added to the breakwater making it possible to walk to the lighthouse, but waves washed over the rocks and in the winter the breakwater was often covered with ice.

On the afternoon of September 21, 1938, Keeper Sidney Gross noted in the station's log that a light southeast breeze had sprung up from a perfect calm. As the skies darkened and the winds increased, Keeper Gross and Assistant Keeper Bennett attempted to secure the station. By 4:00 p.m. the bridge from the lighthouse to the breakwater was swept away, as were the platform around the lighthouse and a rowboat. The two keepers boarded up the window to the engine room, but the waves smashed right through and flooded the room.

Keeper Gross stayed in the lantern room all through the night of what would be forever remembered as the Hurricane of ’38. He kept the light going even as he feared that the lighthouse wouldn't last the night. In the morning Gross surveyed the damage and entered in the log: "Everything swept away by hurricane except the tower."

Saybrook Breakwater Light was automated in 1959 and it continues to flash a green light as an active aid to navigation.

Click for more HISTORY of this lighthouse

Copyright 2004 by Jeremy D'Entremont,New England Lighthouses
Photos are the property of the author and may not be used without permission.
Photos above from Jeremy D'Entremont.