The Little Red Lighthouse, officially Jeffrey's Hook Light, is a small

lighthouse A lighthouse is a tower, building, or other type of physical structure designed to emit light from a system of lamps and lenses and to serve as a beacon for navigational aid, for maritime pilots at sea or on inland waterways. Lighthouses m ...

located in Fort Washington Park along the

Hudson River The Hudson River is a river that flows from north to south primarily through eastern New York. It originates in the Adirondack Mountains of Upstate New York and flows southward through the Hudson Valley to the New York Harbor between Ne ...

Manhattan Manhattan (), known regionally as the City, is the most densely populated and geographically smallest of the five boroughs of New York City. The borough is also coextensive with New York County, one of the original counties of the U.S. state ...

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...

, under the

George Washington Bridge The George Washington Bridge is a double-decked suspension bridge spanning the Hudson River, connecting Fort Lee, New Jersey, with Manhattan in New York City. The bridge is named after George Washington, the first president of the United S ...

. It was made notable by the 1942 children's book ''The Little Red Lighthouse and The Great Gray Bridge'', written by Hildegarde Swift and illustrated by

Lynd Ward Lynd Kendall Ward (June 26, 1905 – June 28, 1985) was an American artist and novelist, known for his series of wordless novels using wood engraving, and his illustrations for juvenile and adult books. His wordless novels have influenced ...

. The lighthouse stands on Jeffrey's Hook, a small point of land that supports the base of the eastern pier of the bridge, which connects Washington Heights in

Fort Lee, New Jersey Fort Lee is a borough at the eastern border of Bergen County, in the U.S. state of New Jersey, situated along the Hudson River atop the Palisades. As of the 2020 U.S. census, the borough's population was 40,191. As of the 2010 U.S. census, t ...

History

The first attempt to reduce

traffic accidents at Jeffrey's Hook was a red pole that was hung out over the river.

New York City Department of Parks and Recreation The New York City Department of Parks and Recreation, also called the Parks Department or NYC Parks, is the department of the government of New York City responsible for maintaining the city's parks system, preserving and maintaining the ecolo ...

. Historic plaque on the lighthouse A 10 candle-power light was added to the pole in 1889 to help alert the increasing river traffic to the spit of land at night. The land around Jeffrey's Hook was acquired by the city in 1896 and later became Fort Washington Park. The early structure was built as the North Hook Beacon at

Sandy Hook, New Jersey Sandy Hook is a barrier spit in Middletown Township, Monmouth County, New Jersey, United States. The barrier spit, approximately in length and varying from wide, is located at the north end of the Jersey Shore. It encloses the southern ...

, where it stood until 1917, when it became obsolete. It was reconstructed at its current location in 1921 by the

United States Lighthouse Board The United States Lighthouse Board was the second agency of the U.S. federal government, under the Department of Treasury, responsible for the construction and maintenance of all lighthouses and navigation aids in the United States, between 18 ...

as part of a project to improve Hudson River navigational aids, and originally had a battery-powered lamp and a fog bell. It was operated by a part-time lighthouse keeper. Construction on the

, immediately above the lighthouse, started in 1927. When George Washington Bridge was completed in 1931, the lighthouse navigational light was considered obsolete, so the Coast Guard decommissioned it, and put it out in 1948, with the intention of auctioning it off. The proposed dismantling of the lighthouse resulted in a public outcry, largely from children who were fans of the 1942 children's book, ''The Little Red Lighthouse and the Great Gray Bridge''. This led the Coast Guard to sign its deed to the

on July 23, 1951. The lighthouse was listed on the

National Register of Historic Places The National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) is the United States federal government's official list of districts, sites, buildings, structures and objects deemed worthy of preservation for their historical significance or "great artistic ...

as "Jeffrey's Hook Lighthouse" in 1979,"Little Red Lighthouse"
, Washington Heights & Inwood Online, NYC Dept. of Parks & Recreation, August 2001, accessed February 27, 2012 and was designated a

New York City Landmark The New York City Landmarks Preservation Commission (LPC) is the New York City agency charged with administering the city's Landmarks Preservation Law. The LPC is responsible for protecting New York City's architecturally, historically, and cu ...

in 1991. In 2002, it was relighted by the city.

Access

Public access to the lighthouse is by the

Hudson River Greenway The Manhattan Waterfront Greenway is a waterfront greenway for walking or cycling, long, around the island of Manhattan, in New York City. The largest portions are operated by the New York City Department of Parks and Recreation. It is separ ...

, reachable north of the George Washington Bridge by a footbridge across the

Henry Hudson Parkway The Henry Hudson Parkway is a parkway in New York City. The southern terminus is in Manhattan at 72nd Street, where the parkway continues south as the West Side Highway. It is often erroneously referred to as the West Side Highway throughout its ...

at West 182nd Street and Riverside Drive, and south of the bridge by a footbridge at West 158th Street or the newer Denny Farrell Greenway Bridge (a pedestrian and bicycle bridge) at 151st Street. The northern path is very steep immediately north of the bridge, while the southern path is flat. There is also a very obscure pedestrian underpass at Riverside Drive parallel to 177th Street, just south of the George Washington Bridge. It empties out on the other side of the Henry Hudson Parkway and it's a dirt path down to the lighthouse. This YouTube video gives directions for getting to and using this obscure path. A neighborhood group (Friends of

J. Hood Wright Park J. Hood Wright Park is a park of the New York City Department of Parks and Recreation which is located between Fort Washington and Haven Avenue, and between West 173rd and 176th Streets in the Washington Heights neighborhood of Manhattan, N ...

) in partnership with the NYC Department of Parks and Recreation does monthly cleanups of this route. There is yet another way to get to the Little Red Lighthouse from Washington Heights. This link shows the path using the Haven Ramp to the Little Red Lighthouse and then returns via this other path that takes you out to Riverside Drive on the west side of

NewYork-Presbyterian Hospital The NewYork-Presbyterian Hospital is a nonprofit academic medical center in New York City affiliated with two Ivy League medical schools, Cornell University and Columbia University. The hospital comprises seven distinct campuses located in the New ...

. From there one can walk south to 165th. Tours of the lighthouse are given infrequently. They are arranged by the Parks Department's Urban Park Rangers, especially on the Little Red Lighthouse Festival day in late September and

Open House New York Open House New York (OHNY) is a cultural nonprofit organization that holds annual Doors Open Days. It was founded in 2001 in New York City. Organization Open House New York (OHNY) is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization that hosts educational pro ...

day in October. The October Little Red Lighthouse Festivals in 2018 and 2019 were run by the organization Summer on the Hudson in conjunction with the Riverside Park Conservancy and the New York City Department of Parks and Recreation. There were no festivals in 2020 and 2021 due to the Covid pandemic.

In other media

The lighthouse is an important setting in the final scenes for the 1948 film ''

Force of Evil ''Force of Evil'' is a 1948 American crime film noir starring John Garfield and directed by Abraham Polonsky. It was adapted by Polonsky and Ira Wolfert from Wolfert's novel ''Tucker's People''. Polonsky had been a screenwriter for the boxing ...

'', and

Jane Campion Dame Elizabeth Jane Campion (born 30 April 1954) is a New Zealand filmmaker. She is best known for writing and directing the critically acclaimed films ''The Piano'' (1993) and '' The Power of the Dog'' (2021), for which she has received a tot ...

's neo-noir film ''In the Cut'' features the lighthouse as motif and as a filming location.

References

External links

Official website

Historic House Trust
{{Authority control Lighthouses completed in 1921 New York City Designated Landmarks in Manhattan Lighthouses on the National Register of Historic Places in New York City Government buildings on the National Register of Historic Places in Manhattan Tourist attractions in Manhattan Washington Heights, Manhattan Transportation buildings and structures in Manhattan Relocated buildings and structures in New York City

History

Access

In other media

See also

References

External links