Caitlin Emma Photo
Ensign Watkins was the first British man to storm New Haven’s beach during the Revolutionary War; a farmer living in the area shot him dead on the spot. When the British didn’t return for his body, Watkins began haunting the woods around the beach. He finally inhabited the New Haven Harbor lighthouse when it was built in 1840 — where his ghostly soul remains.
East Shore park ranger Terry McCool revealed that secret on a tour of the lighthouse.
McCool (pictured) gives internal tours of the 70-foot-tall lighthouse from September to May about two or three times a month. He gave one Wednesday morning despite the raw cold, rain and snow forecast for the rest of the day.
“I love to come up here on stormy days,” said McCool, who has climbed to the top of the lighthouse hundreds of times. “It’s so calm up here.”
“This park is such a treasure,” said John Cox, a longtime park volunteer and East Shore neighbor. Cox said he has climbed the lighthouse only a handful of times.
The lighthouse is also called Five Mile Point Lighthouse because it stands five miles away from New Haven’s downtown green, McCool said as he began to climb the stone spiral staircase — 73 steps to the top.
The inside was cool and dim. A cable spiraled along the wall for use as a handrail. McCool pointed out the sandstone, which was quarried from East Haven.
McCool said the history of the lighthouse began in 1804 when a farmer named Amos Morris sold one acre of his land to the U.S. government for $100. The government built a lighthouse; Morris became its first keeper. His main duty was to make sure that the light burned bright every night for the ships sailing into New Haven.
The lighthouse served as a beacon for mariners up until 1877 when it was replaced by the Southwest Ledge Light about a mile offshore. Now, it serves as a city landmark and the focal point of New Haven’s Lighthouse Point Park. The lighthouse was placed on the National Registry of Historic Places in 1990.
The 73 sandstone steps stopped at a landing. A short ladder led to a small square hatch.
“Some people only get as far as the landing,” McCool said. The brave ones ascend the ladder through the hatch and into the circular, glass-paneled room that used to contain the light.
Inside the glass room, the 360 degree view stretches to all of New Haven’s neighbors, Guilford and all the way to Long Island. The wooden parts of the room beneath the glass are carved with names and initials.
McCool and Cox took in the view. McCool said he hopes more people come out to explore the lighthouse and the park.
“This is for everybody in New Haven,” he said. “This is their landmark.”
Interested climbers can contact the East Shore Ranger Station at 203 – 946-8790.