Greens Ledge Light Preservation Society

Greens Ledge Light Preservation Society Greens Ledge Lighthouse is a historic active lighthouse in Long Island Sound near Darien & Norwalk CT

Greens Ledge Light Preservation Society is a 501c3 nonprofit that acquired Greens Ledge Light in 2017. We have a mission to restore, preserve, and protect this historic lighthouse.

06/14/2026

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06/12/2026

2 Healthy Osprey Chicks! 🐥

Sea Trails and Performance Testing for Lightkeeper Charlie Erdmann 🫡 Delivery in Connecticut later this month!
06/09/2026

Sea Trails and Performance Testing for Lightkeeper Charlie Erdmann 🫡 Delivery in Connecticut later this month!

06/07/2026

Hang On Olivia! 😳 The Saturday evening storm brought a peak wind gust of 66mph - one of the most sudden and powerful gusts in years. Olivia the Osprey held down the nest and the chicks are ok!

06/07/2026

Powerful evening thunderstorm brought wind gusts of 66mph at the Lighthouse 😳 Stay Safe!

06/04/2026

Lightkeeper Charlie Erdmann 🫡 Sea trials underway!

06/03/2026

Two little heads emerged! 🐣 Still hiding under the camera but we’ll be seeing more of the little guys soon!

125 Years Ago, This Week! 🏗️ In May 1901, the Lighthouse’s massive iron caisson foundation - 33 feet in diameter and 4 s...
05/24/2026

125 Years Ago, This Week! 🏗️

In May 1901, the Lighthouse’s massive iron caisson foundation - 33 feet in diameter and 4 stories in height - was assembled on the dock at Wilson’s Point - present-day Norwalk Yacht Club. That dock was chosen for a reason: it was directly served by the old rail spur from South Norwalk Station, running down the Wilson Avenue corridor to the waterfront.

The mammoth floating derrick Century lifted the completed cylinder from the Wilson Point dock and swung it onto the derrick. Heavy fog delayed the trip overnight. Early the next morning - May 22nd - the derrick was towed out to Greens Ledge - the shallow reef off the Darien/Rowayton shoreline - where the caisson was sunk into place in about 10-15’ of water.

Over the following weeks, barges carried concrete materials, stone, brick, and supplies from the dock out to the ledge. The cast iron cylinder was filled with a massive concrete mix of Portland cement, sand, gravel, broken stone, and large stones. Once completed, the foundation was protected by 1,500 tons of riprap stone placed around its base.

This initial layer of riprap only reached roughly to the waterline at low tide. The dramatic field of rocks you see around the lighthouse today came later - 30,000 tons (60 million pounds) of stone from the excavation of Radio City Music Hall.

In the following weeks after the caisson foundation was filled, the tower began to rise: a cast-iron structure 21 feet wide at the base, tapering to 17 feet at the top, with curved iron plates, interior floors, brick-lined compartments, and a glass lantern built to withstand the open waters of Long Island Sound. From low tide, the lighthouse towers nearly 10 stories above the water.

So as America marks its 250th anniversary, Greens Ledge Lighthouse is celebrating a milestone of its own - its quasquicentennial, 125 years since construction began on the historic lighthouse. 🇺🇸

The Lighthouse is now a hub of environmental monitoring. 🌊🔭We installed a new suite of real-time environmental monitorin...
05/19/2026

The Lighthouse is now a hub of environmental monitoring. 🌊🔭We installed a new suite of real-time environmental monitoring systems - transforming the lighthouse into a live scientific observation platform in the middle of Long Island Sound.

Using a YSI EXO3 water-quality sonde, we’re now continuously monitoring water temperature, salinity, and dissolved oxygen levels in real-time - providing valuable insight into changing marine conditions, ecosystem health, stratification, hypoxia risk, seasonal warming trends, and tidal mixing patterns. The system will also support educational programming and field research, including use by the SoundWaters Summer Research Intensive.

We’ve also deployed a GeoLux radar-based water level and wave sensor, allowing us to track real-time tide levels, sea state, and wave conditions directly from the lighthouse. These measurements have important applications for boating safety, storm monitoring, coastal resilience research, and understanding how weather and vessel traffic impact conditions across the Sound.

The systems are integrated through a NexSens data logger and telemetry platform, with live data published directly through the Greens Ledge website.

Combined with our existing weather station infrastructure and live wildlife and harbor cameras, Greens Ledge now hosts hundreds of unique real-time scientific parameters spanning weather, climate, water quality, water levels, and sea-state monitoring - leveraging the lighthouse’s uniquely exposed location in Long Island Sound as a platform for education, research, and public safety.

At Greens Ledge Lighthouse, preservation isn’t just about protecting the past - it’s about using this remarkable place to serve the Sound, support education, and inspire the next generation of stewards.

Address

PO Box 43
Rowayton, CT
06853

Telephone

+12039399654

Website

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