The Titanic Memorial Lighhouse NYC
The Titanic Memorial Lighhouse NYC
The lights shine once again in the Titanic Memorial Lighthouse, and the time-ball drops at noon.
Unique among lighthouses of the era, the Titanic Lighthouse’s signature lantern was a fixed green light, not yellow or white—one of the few lighthouses in the country to use that color. The beacon consisted of three Cooper Hewitt mercury lamps, rated at 2500 cp each. Though the light was more symbolic than navigational, it could be seen six miles down The Narrows at the very entrance to New York Harbor. Under optimum conditions, it could be spotted up to 10 miles at sea, helping guide ships into port.
During its years of operation it was one of only two official Coast Guard lights on Manhattan Island, the other being the Jeffrey’s Hook Light beneath the George Washington Bridge, better known as “The Little Red Lighthouse.” Over the years the Titanic Light’s steady green light gleamed nightly as a welcoming beacon to all who knew it. During World War II, however, the light was extinguished “for the duration,” as were most other beacons around the world. However, the time ball continued its daily plunge at the stroke of noon. The Titanic Memorial Lighthouse originally stood on the roof of the 13-storey Seamen’s Church Institute at 25 South Street in lower Manhattan. Every year on April 15, memorial services were held at the Institute to commemorate the Titanic disaster.
The lighthouse stood atop the Seamen’s Church Institute building, shining its green light and dropping its noontime ball for decades. Then, on July 24, 1968, the Institute relocated to its new site at 15 State Street, and the old building was slated for demolition. The lighthouse and time ball were lowered intact to street level, where it wasdismantled by the Kaiser-Nelson Steel & Salvage Corporation. It was then gifted by the Institute to the South Street Seaport Museum, located several blocks up the East River. For many years Titanic Light’s time ball was the only surviving active instrument of its kind in the United States.
Learn more about the lighthouse and the South Street Seaport Museum at the link below:
https://southstreetseaportmuseum.org/about-titanic-memorial-lighthouse