{{Short description|Lighthouse in Connecticut}} {{good article}} {{Use American English|date=July 2025}} {{Use mdy dates|date=March 2014}} {{Infobox lighthouse | yeardeactivated = 1967–2006 (reactivated) | shape = octagonal tower with balcony and lantern<ref>{{Cite rowlett|ct|access-date=2016-06-18}}</ref> | lens = LED | module = {{Infobox NRHP | embed = yes | name = Avery Point Lighthouse | nrhp_type = | image = | caption = | location = On Long Island Sound at 1084 Shennecossett Road, Groton, Connecticut | coordinates = {{coord|41|18|54.8|N|72|3|49|W|region:US-CT_type:landmark|display=inline}} | built = 1943 | architect = | architecture = Colonial Revival | added = August 23, 2002 | area = less than one acre | refnum = 02000866<ref name="nris">{{NRISref|2009a}}</ref> }}}}
'''Avery Point Light''' or '''Avery Point Lighthouse''' is located in Groton, Connecticut, on the Avery Point Campus of the University of Connecticut. The lighthouse was built in March 1943, but it was not illuminated until May 1944 due to concerns of possible enemy invasion during World War 2. Its original light consisted of eight 200-watt bulbs that were replaced by a flashing green light in 1960. It was deactivated on June 25, 1967, when the United States Coast Guard Training Station moved to Governors Island. It is officially listed as the last lighthouse built in the state; the only other claimant is the replica Mystic Seaport Light.
The lighthouse deteriorated until the University of Connecticut declared it to be a hazard in 1997. A restoration effort was launched in 1999 through the American Lighthouse Foundation (ALF) and the Avery Point Lighthouse Society. The restoration of the lighthouse began in 2001 and was completed in 2006, requiring a replica lantern, extensive structural repairs, and replacement of crumbling blocks. Bills were appropriated for $150,000 and $100,000 and used to complete the restoration. The relighting and re-dedication of the lighthouse was held on October 15, 2006. It was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 2002.
== Construction == [[File:Avery Point Light House in Groton, CT 01.jpg|thumb|left|Avery Point Light overlooks Fisher's Island Sound from the bluffs at Avery Point]] The land at Avery Point was owned by Morton F. Plant owned the land at Avery Point on which the lighthouse was constructed. His Branford House mansion is located several hundred feet away from the lighthouse.<ref name="Dentremont">{{cite book | title=The Lighthouses of Connecticut | publisher=Commonwealth Editions | author=D'Entremont, Jeremy | year=2005 | isbn=978-1-889833-70-5}}</ref> Plant's estate was sold to the state of Connecticut 24 years after he died, and it was later transferred to the U.S. Coast Guard.<ref name="Dentremont" /> The Coast Guard's deed required the construction and maintenance of beacon lights or other navigational aids as part of the Coast Guard's new training facility.<ref name="Dentremont" /> The Avery Point Light was named for Captain James Avery of New London, Connecticut.<ref name="Dentremont" />{{why|date=August 2025}}{{clarification|date=August 2025}}
The Avery Point Light was designed by Alfred Hopkins and Associates to be a 41-foot (12 m) octagonal tower,<ref name="Dentremont" /> and was completed in March 1943. It is built of brown concrete blocks and topped with an octagonal wooden lantern. During the restoration effort, it was discovered that six different types of concrete blocks were used in the construction.<ref name="rest2">{{cite web|url=http://apls.tripod.com/ |title=The Avery Point Lighthouse Society (APLS) (Archive.org capture from December 5, 2003) |publisher=Avery Point Lighthouse Society |access-date=March 24, 2014 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20031205233250/http://apls.tripod.com/ |archive-date=December 5, 2003 }}</ref>
The tower has a total of five windows, with two facing south and one each to the north, east, and west. The lantern gallery deck is constructed of concrete and lined with 32 Italian marble balusters, imported from Italy around 1900.<ref name="Dentremont" /><ref name="notes">{{cite web | url=http://www.averypointlight.com/TowerNotes.htm | title=Avery Point Lighthouse – Construction Updates | publisher=Avery Point Lighthouse Society | access-date=March 24, 2014 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140630001345/http://averypointlight.com/TowerNotes.htm | archive-date=June 30, 2014 | url-status=dead | df=mdy-all }}</ref> The interior has an iron ladder that leads up to the watchroom level.<ref name="Dentremont" /> The lighthouse design and masonry tower have Colonial Revival elements.<ref name="nrhpinv3" /><ref name="site">{{cite web | url=http://www.newenglandlighthouses.net/avery-point-light-history.html | title=Avery Point history | publisher=New England Lighthouses.net | access-date=March 24, 2014}}</ref> It is the last lighthouse built in the state of Connecticut as an official navigational aid.<ref name=site />
== Service == The Avery Point Light was not lighted until May 2, 1944, due to concerns about possible enemy invasions by sea.<ref name=site /> D'Entremont notes that the first light, consisting of eight 200-watt bulbs, were an unusual array that created a fixed white light source.<ref name=site /> Though it never had a formal keeper, the lighthouse was tended by personnel or students from the United States Coast Guard Training Station.<ref name=site /> In 1960, the light was changed to flashing green and the candlepower rating doubled from 100 to 200.<ref name=site /> The light was deactivated on June 25, 1967, when the training facility moved from Avery Point to Governors Island.<ref name=site />
== Restoration == left|thumb|In 2000, prior to restoration. The University of Connecticut listed Avery Point Light as being in "dangerously poor condition" by July 1997 and declared it a safety hazard.<ref name=site /> In December 2007, ''Lighthouse Digest'' included a brief article with the title "Avery Point added to Doomsday List" after rumors were reported of it being torn down.<ref name="ld">{{cite web | url=http://www.lighthousedigest.com/digest/StoryPage.cfm?StoryKey=206 | title=Avery Point added to Doomsday List | work=Lighthouse Digest | access-date=March 24, 2014 | author=Harrison, Timothy}}</ref> The article included two images showing the blocked-off lighthouse with its crumbling bricks and a sign reading "Keep Out Hazardous Area".<ref name= ld /> In 1999, the American Lighthouse Foundation (ALF) and the Avery Point Lighthouse Society (APLS) began fund-raising to save and restore the lighthouse.<ref name=site />
In 2000, the APLS website estimated that $25,000 would be needed for the initial engineering study and $150,000 to $200,000 to complete the restoration.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://apls.tripod.com/ |title=The Avery Point Lighthouse Society (APLS) – (Archive.org capture from August 23, 2000) |publisher=Avery Point Lighthouse Society |access-date=March 24, 2014 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20000823213201/http://apls.tripod.com/ |archive-date=August 23, 2000 }}</ref> In 2001, a bill aiming to raise $150,000 in bonds to fund the restoration was introduced by Connecticut State Senator Catherine Cook.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://apls.tripod.com/ |title=The Avery Point Lighthouse Society (APLS) – (Archive.org capture from March 2, 2001) |publisher=Avery Point Lighthouse Society |access-date=March 24, 2014 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20010302071141/http://apls.tripod.com/ |archive-date=March 2, 2001 }}</ref> which was later approved.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://apls.tripod.com/ |title=The Avery Point Lighthouse Society (APLS) – (Archive.org capture from November 30, 2001) |publisher=The Avery Point Lighthouse Society |access-date=March 24, 2014 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20011130165143/http://apls.tripod.com/ |archive-date=November 30, 2001 }}</ref> The New London ''Day'' noted that James Nordon's engineering firm of Gibble, Norden and Champion was providing an engineering study valued at $40,000 at no cost.<ref name=day>{{cite news|url=http://apls.tripod.com/documentscans/day020501.jpg |title=Local lawmakers to seek lighthouse funds |work=New London Day |date=5 February 2001 |access-date=March 24, 2014 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20010615164106/http://apls.tripod.com/documentscans/day020501.jpg |archive-date=June 15, 2001 }}</ref>
On December 1, 2001, the first part of the restoration began with the removal of the lantern.<ref name=site /> Due to the deterioration of the lantern, the decision was made to make a replica of the original lantern.<ref name=site /> From 2003 through 2004, the West Mystic Wooden Boat Building Company donated the materials and labor to construct the replica.<ref name=site /> The company's owner Steve Jones has close ties to the Avery Point Light, as he is a former lighthouse keeper for the Harbor of Refuge Light in Lewes, Delaware and was also a University of Connecticut professor at the time.<ref name=site />
The concrete blocks used in the lighthouse's construction were of poor quality due to the high sand content that crumbled with the expanding and contracting of the mortar.<ref name=site /> The decision was made to replace the outer face of the concrete blocks and to strengthen the remaining original blocks with cement and steel reinforcements.<ref name=site /> A total of 3,000 blocks were needed to complete the restoration and had to be produced using special molds.<ref name=rest2 /> The restoration work on the tower began in September 2003.<ref name=site /> Increasing costs of the restoration resulted in a need for more funding to complete the project. In 2003, the National Park Service{{'}}s "Save America’s Treasures Act" provided funding for another $100,000.<ref name="effort">{{cite web | url=http://www.averypointlight.com/RestorationEfforts.htm | title=Restoration Efforts and The Avery Point Lighthouse Society | publisher=Avery Point Lighthouse Society | access-date=March 24, 2014 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140630135044/http://averypointlight.com/RestorationEfforts.htm | archive-date=June 30, 2014 | url-status=dead | df=mdy-all }}</ref> Delays in the appropriation of funding delayed the second phase of the structural restoration until June 2005; the work was conducted from July through early November.<ref name=effort /> The relighting and re-dedication of the lighthouse was held on October 15, 2006.<ref name=site />
== Importance == The lighthouse has been described as a memorial tower in various sources, when in fact it was constructed as a working navigational aid. Jeremy D'Entremont writes in the 1994 ''America's Atlantic Coast Lighthouses: A Traveler's Guide'': "the tower was built as a memorial tower and as a symbolic representation of the USCG lighthouse keeping responsibilities."<ref name="Dentremont" /> He notes that the misunderstanding stems from an article from 1955 in ''U.S. Coast Guard Magazine'' and acknowledges that it has come to serve as a memorial.<ref name="Dentremont" /> The lighthouse was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 2002.<ref name="nris" /><ref name="nrhpinv3">{{cite web|url={{NRHP url|id=02000866}} |title=National Register of Historic Places Registration: Avery Point Lighthouse |date=December 6, 2001 |author=Bruce Clouette |publisher=National Park Service}} and {{NRHP url|id=02000866|title=''Accompanying 16 photos, both standing and disassembled, exterior and interior, 2001 and undated''|photos=y}}</ref>
== See also == {{stack|{{Portal|Connecticut|National Register of Historic Places|Engineering}}}} * List of lighthouses in the United States * List of lighthouses in Connecticut * National Register of Historic Places listings in New London County, Connecticut
== References == {{reflist|30em}}
== External links == {{Commons category|Avery Point Light}} * [http://www.averypointlight.com/ Avery Point Lighthouse Society]
{{Lighthouses of Connecticut}} {{NRHP in New London County, Connecticut}}
{{authority control}}
Category:Lighthouses completed in 1943 Category:Long Island Sound Category:Lighthouses on the National Register of Historic Places in Connecticut Category:Lighthouses in New London County, Connecticut Category:Buildings and structures in Groton, Connecticut Category:Octagonal buildings in the United States Category:University of Connecticut buildings and structures Category:National Register of Historic Places in New London County, Connecticut