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Old Saybrook (a separate town
from Saybrook, which is now called Deep River) was a prosperous
town full of sea captains' homes, and was for many years the
only major stop on the railroad between New London and New Haven.
The town remains a yachting capital and a quaint, exclusive community.
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To mark the entrance to the Connecticut River and the harbor
of Old Saybrook, officials decided to erect a lighthouse in 1802.
Land was purchased from William Lynde for $225, and the 35-foot
wooden tower was built by New London carpenter Abisha Woodward
in 1803.
The first lighthouse was criticized by mariners for being
too dim and too short. A group petitioned for the tower to be
raised by 25 feet, but it was decided to rebuild the lighthouse
instead. A new 65-foot brownstone tower was erected in 1838.
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The lighthouse is similar to the masonry towers built earlier
at New London and Faulkner's Island, but this one is considered
to represent the finest work of the three. The original wooden
spiral staircase appears to have been replaced during an 1868
renovation. The lighthouse's system of 10 lamps and reflectors
was replaced in 1852 by a fourth-order Fresnel lens. A fifth-order
lens was installed in 1890. A fog bell was added in 1854.
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An 1833 keeper's house remained in use until it was demolished
in 1858 and replaced by a new Gothic Revival gambrel-roofed wood-frame
house. This house was regrettably destroyed by the Coast Guard
in 1966 and replaced by a modern duplex house, against the wishes
of the Old Saybrook Historical Society.
With the addition of the Saybrook Breakwater Light in 1886,
Lynde Point became commonly known as the "Inner Light,"
while the Breakwater Light became known as the "Outer Light."
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- The lighthouse was featured in this
magazine ad in the 1950s
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The light was electrified in 1955 and automated in 1978, but
the 1890 Fresnel lens remains in place and Lynde Point Light
continues to exhibit a fixed white light as an active aid to
navigation. The 1966 duplex house serves as Coast Guard housing.
Actress Katharine Hepburn lived for many years in a house
close to Lynde Point Light and Saybrook Breakwater.
The road to the lighthouse is closed to the public. The lighthouse
can be seen from several places along the shore, but is probably
best viewed from the water.
You can read much more about this lighthouse in the book The Lighthouses
of Connecticut by Jeremy D'Entremont.
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- Michael Allen, chief engineer for
Coast Guard Aids to Navigation Team Long Island Sound, was living
at the light station in 2005. Allen said sunsets seen from the
top of the lighthouse were "amazing."
Keepers: ? Cranie (?), Daniel Whittlesey (?-1841),
Catherine S. Whittlesey (1841-c. 1850); Henry Clark (Clarke)
(c. 1850); James Rankin (1853-1861), A. H. Bushnell (1861-1867);
Jared Daniels (1867-1869); Richard Ingham (1869-1883), John Ninde
Buckridge (1883-1902), Samuel Wright (1902), Elmer Gildersleeve
(1902-1925), Captain ? Wolf, Arthur J. Baldwin (c. 1925-1930),
William Chapel, Norman Boyd (Coast Guard, 1952-1954), George
E. Sheffield (?, Lynde Point and Saybrook Breakwater Light),
Laureat Le Clere (Lynde Point and Saybrook Breakwater Light 1954-1970)
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