{{Use American English|date=July 2025}} {{Use mdy dates|date=January 2025}} {{Infobox NRHP | name = Sheffield Island Light | nrhp_type = | image = Sheffield Island Lighthouse.jpg | caption = Sheffield Island Light in 2025 | location = Sheffield Island, Norwalk, Connecticut | coordinates = {{coord|41|2|55.61|N|73|25|8.93|W|display=inline,title}} | locmapin = Connecticut#USA | built = 1868 | architect = | architecture = | added = January 19, 1989 | area = less than one acre | refnum = 88003222<ref name="nris">{{NRISref|version=2010a}}</ref> }}
'''Sheffield Island Light''' is a historic lighthouse located at the southern end of the Norwalk Islands in Norwalk, Connecticut. It marks the west side of the mouth of the Norwalk River on northern Long Island Sound.
==History== The island, at the time known as "White Island", was purchased by Captain Robert Sheffield in 1804 for $6000.<ref name="uscg_history"/> In 1826 Gershom Smith, Sheffield's son in law, sold 4 of the island's {{convert|53|acre|ha}} at the southwest point to the United States government for the purpose of building a lighthouse. Smith would serve as the first keeper for the light which was completed in 1828. At the time the island was known as Smith Island. The first light originally ran on oil.
In 1857 the light was upgraded to a fourth-order Fresnel lens. The original {{convert|30|ft|m}} tower was replaced by a Victorian style limestone (masonry) dwelling, with a {{convert|44|ft|m}} high light tower in the gable, in 1868.<ref name="nris"/> The Fresnel lens from 1857 was moved into the new structure and with a focal plane {{convert|51|ft|m}} above water it was visible for more than {{convert|12|mi|km}}.<ref name="nris"/> The lighthouse is of the same design as lighthouses at Great Captain Island and Morgan Point in Connecticut; Old Field Point Light and Plum Island in New York; and Block Island North in Rhode Island.<ref name="friends">{{cite web|url=https://www.lighthousefriends.com/light.asp?ID=782 |title=Great Captain Island Lighthouse, Connecticut at Lighthousefriends.com|accessdate=2006-08-21}}</ref>
Greens Ledge Light was built to the west of Sheffield in 1900 and was better located to warn ships of the rocks and shoals on the approach to Sheffield Island harbor and Norwalk harbor. Sheffield Island Light was then deactivated in 1902.<ref name="uscg_history">{{cite uscghist|CT|accessdate=2008-06-20}}</ref> Sheffield Island Lighthouse was put up for sale in 1914 and purchased by Thorsten O. Stabell. In 1986 the 118-year-old structure was purchased by the Norwalk Seaport Association for renovation and restoration. In 1989 the lighthouse was placed on the National Register of Historic Places. In 1993 an electric generator was added to the structure. In the fall of that year, a great storm flooded the basement of the building and artifacts were lost or destroyed.<ref name="uscg_history"/> In 2002 the Seaport association started ferry service to the island, which is still running.<ref name="seaport_sheffield">{{cite web|url=http://www.seaport.org/sheffield_island.htm |title=Sheffield Island Lighthouse and Nature Trail |publisher=Norwalk Seaport Association |accessdate=2008-06-01 |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20080501111900/http://www.seaport.org/sheffield_island.htm |archivedate=2008-05-01 |url-status=dead }}</ref> In October 2011 the lighthouse was re-lit by a solar powered system installed to replace the gasoline generator system. The beacon is focused only on the Norwalk side and is not intended for use as navigation.<ref>{{cite news|last=Rivard|first=Nicole|title=Sheffield lighthouse glows for first time in 100 years|url=http://www.stamfordadvocate.com/news/article/Sheffield-lighthouse-glows-for-first-time-in-100-2223324.php#ixzz1bAqzQPTo|accessdate=18 October 2011|newspaper=Stamford Advocate|date=2011-10-18}}</ref>
==See also== {{Portal|Connecticut}} *National Register of Historic Places listings in Fairfield County, Connecticut
==References== *Crompton, Samuel Willard. "The Lighthouse Book." Barnes and Noble Books, New York, 1999. {{ISBN|0-7607-1135-6}}.
==Notes== {{Reflist}}
==External links== {{commons category|Sheffield Island Lighthouse}} *[http://www.seaport.org Norwalk Seaport Association], which runs the lighthouse
{{Lighthouses of Connecticut}} {{NRHP in Fairfield County, Connecticut}}
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Category:Lighthouses completed in 1868 Category:Buildings and structures in Norwalk, Connecticut Category:Lighthouses in Fairfield County, Connecticut Category:Lighthouses on the National Register of Historic Places in Connecticut Category:Museums in Fairfield County, Connecticut Category:Maritime museums in Connecticut Category:Tourist attractions in Norwalk, Connecticut Category:National Register of Historic Places in Fairfield County, Connecticut Category:1828 establishments in the United States