Lynde Point Light

Lynde Point Light has aided vessels navigate in and out of the Connecticut River and Old Saybrook Harbor since 1803. Listed on the National Register of Historic Places, it was built in 1839, replacing the first one—a wooden structure that just 35 feet tall—built in 1803. The lighthouse is built out of brownstones, has eight sides, and is 65 feet tall (71 feet above the water). It is under the jurisdiction of the U.S. Coast Guard and the light itself is an active navigational aid. The public cannot go inside the lighthouse but it is visible from the road that leads to it (this road may be closed to the public as well, however).

The lighthouse is named after the original owner of the property, William Lynde. Congress appropriated funds for the lighthouse in 1802 and hired a carpenter named Abishai Woodward to build it. As it was only 35 feet high, the lighthouse proved to be inadequate as it was too short for the light to be seen. The current taller and studier one was constructed in 1839 (the walls are five feet thick at the base and two feet thick at the top). The first keeper's house was built in 1831 and attached to the lighthouse; it was later replaced in 1858. The lighthouse was renovated in 1867. That keeper's house was replaced by a modern duplex in 1966. A fifth-order Fresnel lens was installed in the lighthouse in 1890 and remains there today. 

"Lynde Point (Saybrook Inner) Lighthouse." Lighthouse Friends. Accessed March 7, 2019.  http://lighthousefriends.com/light.asp?ID=798.

Templeton, Dorothy B. "Lynde Point Lighthouse." May 29, 1990. National Park Service - National Register of Historic Places Nomination Form.  https://npgallery.nps.gov/NRHP/GetAsset/NRHP/89001469_text.