Saugerties Lighthouse - Saugerties, New York

When you think of lighthouses, first you may think of a lighthouse along the ocean or perhaps one of the Great Lakes. However, there are a number of lighthouses that are located up and down the Hudson River from New York City to the City of Hudson. With the Hudson River being a tidal estuary as far north as the Federal Dam just north of downtown Troy, ships can travel far north up the river and therefore would need lighthouses to guide the way.

One of these lighthouses is the Saugerties Lighthouse, located some 100 miles north of New York City and 42 miles south of Albany. Constructed in 1869 at the mouth of the Esopus Creek in order to aid navigation for boats along the Hudson River. With canals such as the Delaware and Hudson Canal terminating in Kingston and the famed Erie Canal once having ended in Albany, there was plenty of commercial traffic traveling the river. This was not the first lighthouse constructed at this site either. Previous lighthouses in Saugerties were constructed in 1835 and 1850. The 1835 lighthouse was destroyed by fire in 1848 and it appears that the 1850 lighthouse was merely replaced by the current lighthouse. The lighthouse tower is 46 feet tall and is still in operation, although it is handled through an automated operation these days.

The Saugerties Lighthouse is also one of the easier lighthouses along the Hudson River to visit, which involves an easy half mile walk along the Ruth Reynolds Glunt Nature Trail, which is a boardwalk and graded path along some wetlands along the riverside. It is recommended to visit to visit during low tide periods as the trail can flood during high tide. There is also a small dock for boaters to stop at the lighthouse. At the lighthouse, there is a seating area where you can enjoy the nice views of the lighthouse and the Hudson River itself. You may even seen a train quietly pass by on the other side of the river. For those who want to extend their stay at the lighthouse, it also doubles as a bed and breakfast inn.

Sources and Links:
Saugerties Lighthouse - Saugerties Lighthouse
Saugerties Lighthouse - Saugerties Lighthouse History
Hudson River Lighthouse Coalition - Hudson Riverlights
BB Online - Saugerties Things to Do: 4 Day Hikes
Adventures of a Carry-On - Saugerties Lighthouse Trail - Hudson Valley, New York

How to Get There:

Update Log:
January 15, 2018 - Posted original article to Unlocking New York.
September 7, 2021 - Transferred article from Unlocking New York to Gribblenation.

Comments

Chowchilla Mountain Road to Yosemite National Park

Chowchilla Mountain Road of Mariposa County is one of the oldest roadways servicing Yosemite National Park. As presently configured this fourteen-mile highway begins at California State Route 49 near Elliot Corner and terminates at the Wawona Road in Yosemite National Park. Chowchilla Mountain Road was constructed as a franchise toll road over Battalion Pass circa 1869-1870. The highway was built at behest of Galen Clark to connect the town of Mariposa to his property near the South Fork Merced River at what is now Wawona. In late 1874 the highway along with Clark’s Station would be purchased by the Washburn Brothers. The Washburn Brothers would continue to toll Chowchilla Mountain Road as part of their Yosemite Stage Route lines. The highway would ultimately become a Mariposa County public highway in 1917. Mariposa would later be more directly linked with Yosemite Valley in 1926 following the completion of the Yosemite All-Year Highwa...

Interstate 40's Tumultuous Ride Through the Pigeon River Gorge

In the nearly 60 years Interstate 40 has been open to traffic through the Pigeon River Gorge in the mountains of Western North Carolina, it has been troubled by frequent rockslides and damaging flooding, which has seen the over 30-mile stretch through North Carolina and Tennessee closed for months at a time. Most recently, excessive rainfall from Hurricane Helene in September 2024 saw sections of Interstate 40 wash away into a raging Pigeon River. While the physical troubles of Interstate 40 are well known, how I-40 came to be through the area is a tale of its own. Interstate 40 West through Haywood County near mile marker 10. I-40's route through the Pigeon River Gorge dates to local political squabbles in the 1940s and a state highway law written in 1921. A small note appeared in the July 28, 1945, Asheville Times. It read that the North Carolina State Highway Commission had authorized a feasibility study of a "...water-level road down [the] Pigeon River to the Tennessee l...

Angus L. Macdonald Bridge

At 1.3 kilometers (or about 0.84 miles) in length, the Angus L. Macdonald Bridge is one of two bridges crossing over the Halifax Harbour between Halifax, Nova Scotia and Dartmouth, Nova Scotia, with the other bridge being the A. Murray Mackay Bridge . Opened in 1955 and named after former Nova Scotia Premier and Canadian Minister of Defense for Naval Services Angus L. Macdonald, the Macdonald Bridge was the first bridge that crossed Halifax Harbour that was opened to traffic. The Macdonald Bridge was also the subject of the Big Lift, which was only the second time in history that the span of a suspension bridge were replaced while the bridge was open to traffic. Planning began in 2010 for the Big Lift, while construction took place between 2015 and 2017. Similar work occurred on the Lion's Gate Bridge in Vancouver, British Columbia before the project took place on the Macdonald Bridge. At this time, much of the bridge infrastructure is new, leaving only the towers, main cables and...

Gribblenation

Search This Blog