Digest>Archives> Jan/Feb 2018

The Forgotten Cold Spring Harbor Lighthouse

By Timothy Harrison

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The Cold Spring Harbor Lighthouse, in Cold Spring Harbor, New York, is shown here during the opening campaign for the 1941 Nassau Tuberculosis and Public Health Association’s fundraising drive. Shown on the lower deck from left to right were Health Commissioner Earle G. Brown; Secretary Frances H. Barbour; First Vice President, Mrs. Henry Hill Anderson; campaign manager, Miss Phebe Seaman; and Mrs. George E. Brower, President.

On the upper deck by the lantern, on the left, is lighthouse keeper Albert G. Possel and on the right Boatswain’s Mate Paul P. Potocki, USCG. Lighthouse keeper Possel, who became the lighthouse keeper at Cold Spring Harbor Lighthouse in 1938, later went on to serve at the following New York State lighthouses: Rondout Creek Lighthouse from 1945 to 1946, and at the no longer standing North Brother Island Lighthouse from 1946 to 1953.

In 1965, the Coast Guard, no longer needing the Cold Spring Harbor Lighthouse, offered it for sale. A couple who lived nearby, recalling their fond memories of hearing the lighthouse keeper playing the piano at the lighthouse years earlier, purchased the lighthouse. It took them about a year to move the lighthouse to their property. Although the lighthouse still stands, being on private property in a gated community, few will ever see it, and its existence has been forgotten by many.

This story appeared in the Jan/Feb 2018 edition of Lighthouse Digest Magazine. The print edition contains more stories than our internet edition, and each story generally contains more photographs - often many more - in the print edition. For subscription information about the print edition, click here.

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