The “Maid of the Meadow,” the Esopus Meadows Lighthouse, was constructed in 1839 for a sum of $6,000 to warn mariners of the submerged mudflat. River traffic must travel on the east side of the lighthouse to avoid the dangerous shallows.

Esopus Meadows Lighthouse Photograph courtesy U.S. Coast Guard

The first Esopus Meadows Lighthouse was a twin to the original Rondout Creek Lighthouse. Flood tides and ice flows weakened the structure, and in 1871, a sturdier lighthouse was constructed a few yards south. The foundation for the second lighthouse consists of 250 forty-foot-long piles that were driven into the riverbed. The piles were capped with twelve-inch-square timbers and a circular granite pier, to provide a base for the lighthouse. The lighthouse, the only wood frame structure with a clapboard exterior on the river, sent forth its beam from a fifth-order Fresnel lens with a focal plane of fifty-three feet above low water.

Keepers and their families lived at the station, accessible only from the water. The first floor was a combination kitchen/dining room/living room, while bedrooms were located on the second level. Keeper John Kerr kept company there with a barnyard of pets. Two deodorized skunks ran the rails of the lantern room, and when Kerr rowed to town, he always brought along his pet rooster which sat, head cocked, in the bow of the rowboat.

When the river froze over in the winter, the lighthouses along the river were shutdown, and many keepers took part time jobs on shore. In the summer, if the station was in order and the inspector was not due for a while, the keepers would join the fruit harvest to earn extra cash.

On September 14, 1903, an inspector did come calling and found the keeper away from the station. The inspector's report read: "Station is in good condition. Lamps not cleaned & keeper absent from station & is evidently neglecting duty by being frequently absent. Dwelling needs painting. Keeper hereby directed to paint dwelling - and admonished to be more attentive to duty or will be probably transferred to less desirable station or discharged." The keeper apparently did not like the admonition he received as he wrote out his resignation that same day to take effect on the third day of October, 1903.

A light was mounted on a metal tower adjacent to the lighthouse when it was automated in 1965. Boards were placed over the windows and then painted to look like curtained windows. One of the paintings even had a black cat in the window, giving the lighthouse a lived-in look and hopefully discouraging trespassers. Left unattended, the Esopus Meadows Lighthouse deteriorated quickly. Over the years, several barges slammed into the granite pier, and the continual force of flood tides and ice floes weakened the pier to the point where it developed cracks. Settling of the foundation also caused the east side of the lighthouse to droop sixteen inches.

Almost certain demolition was on the horizon when Arline Fitzpatrick, whose uncle Manny Resendes was lighthouse keeper from 1937 to 1944, leased the site from the Coast Guard, formed the Save Esopus Lighthouse Commission (SELC) and began the long task of restoring it with a team of dedicated volunteers. Arline used to stay at the lighthouse with her aunt and uncle in the summer. When she returned to live in Port Ewen in the 1980s as an adult, she was devastated by the ruinous condition of the lighthouse.

Through the diligent work of the lighthouse organization, the structure has steadily been restored. Along with emergency repairs, the group has also performed extensive carpentry work and re-shingled the mansard roof. The lighthouse has been placed on an I-beam frame and put back into proper horizontal alignment.

On September 22, 2002, under the National Historic Lighthouse Preservation Act of 2000 pilot disposal program, title of the lighthouse passed to SELC.

The Coast Guard promised that if the SELC restored the lighthouse, the light would be moved from the modern skeletal tower and returned to the lantern room. True to its word, the Coast Guard transferred the light on May 31, 2003, and once again the signal beamed forth from the Maid of the Meadow. Stan Fletcher, one of three Coast Guardsmen on duty at Esopus when the light was extinguished in 1965, was given the honor of flipping the switch.

In May of 2010, a floating dock was installed to permit larger vessels to call at the lighthouse, and in July, the lighthouse was opened to visitors arriving aboard the Estuary Steward. Ten tour dates were offered in 2010, and an enhanced schedule will follow in subsequent years. Some restoration work is still needed at the lighthouse, but the public can now visit the Hudson River's only remaining wooden lighthouse thanks to the efforts of the dedicated members of The Save Esopus Lighthouse Commission.

References

1. Lighthouses of New York, Greater New York Harbor, Hudson River and Long Island, Jim Crowley, 2000.
2. Lighthouses and Legends of the Hudson, Ruth R. Glunt, 1975.
3. “Transfer of Ownership For Esopus Meadows Lighthouse,” Jim Crowley, Lighthouse Digest, December 2002.
4. “Volunteers work to restore historic Esopus Lighthouse,” Anthony P. Musso, The Poughkeepsie Journal, December 30, 2009.