After 200 years of shining a light around the tip of Long Island, the Montauk lighthouse has finally been names a national Landmark by the US Department of the Interior. Authorized by President Washington in 1792, construction began in 1796. The lighthouse stands 110’6″ high and has 137 steps to the light tower. The light flashes every 5 seconds and can been seen from 19 nautical miles away – on a clear day that is. It is the first lighthouse in NY state.
It took more than 6 years, having been rejected twice, to receive this designation and has come about thanks to the efforts of its’ supporters who had to prove the lighthouse played a role in the development and growth of the Port of New York, which turned out to be harder than anticipated. The committee located and searched through years of shipping records to show quantity of shipments made to the area and how the lighthouse played a vital role for ships en route.