Community Corner

Montauk Lighthouse Landmark Decision Looms

National Parks Service advisory committee recommends the 215-year-old lighthouse for National Historic Landmark designation.

On Thursday, a National Park Service advisory committee recommended to the Secretary of the Interior that the 215-year-old be named a National Historic Landmark.

After what has been a six-year process to earn the prestigious designation, the final step is gathering the signature of the secretary, Ken Salazar - a step that seems imminent, given the recommendation of the board.

"We're thrilled to have gotten this, though we still have a little way to go," said Eleanor Ehrhardt, a member of the Montauk Lighthouse Committee, part of the Montauk Historical Society. "Mr. Salazar is from Colorado so I think he knows more about mountains, but we're hoping he likes oceans and lighthouses too."

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The Montauk Lighthouse Committee put forth its proposal for National Historic Landmark designation shortly after the Coast Guard transferred ownership of the lighthouse to the historical society in 2005.

National Historic Landmarks, according to the Department of Interior, are "nationally significant historic places designated by the Secretary of the Interior because they possess exceptional value or quality in illustrating or interpreting the heritage of the United States."

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Should the lighthouse receive the landmark status, it would step into a prestigious circle of less then 2,500 landmarks - including the Thomas Moran and Jackson Pollack Houses - and could help the historical society obtain certain grants. It is currently one of over 86,000 locations on the National Register of Historic Places.

Ehrhardt said in applying for the designation, the committee pointed to the lighthouse's significance particularly between the years of 1797 and 1870, when ships sailing around Montauk Point made Montauk a premier port.

A spokeswoman for Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand, D-N.Y., confirmed the news. and , D-Southampton, have been pushing for the landmark status for the lighthouse since the spring.

“The committee’s decision brings Montauk Point Lighthouse one step closer to taking its rightful place as one of our National Historic Landmarks," said Gillibrand, in a statement. "The iconic lighthouse’s importance is indisputable."


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