The approach to Montauk Point Lighthouse is strikingly different to that of Orfordness Lighthouse. At the Ness the structure punctuates the horizon, seen from miles inland and public access is very limited. Here at Montauk Point, the lighthouse isn’t visible from the highway approach until you are fairly close. Most visitors approach by car, as it is just over 6 miles drive from Montauk town. It is a well-oiled operation in managing tens of thousands of visitors each year to the Lighthouse, Museum, Café and Shop.
The building of Montauk Point Light was authorised by George Washington in 1792, the same year that Orfordness Lighthouse was completed. They share the whitewash and iron-red banding: Orford has two red stripes, Montauk one (lighthouses have different markings to their nearby neighbours so they are easily distinguishable from sea). The first thing that strikes me about the Montauk structure is it is a thinner eight sided tower. This is borne out as we enter the building climb its compact spiral staircase over 100 ft to the top.
At the top there is a small viewing platform with incredible views to the north east we can see Connecticut and Providence, due east the Atlantic stretches before us.
We talk with several of the Museum staff, one who visited Orfordness Lighthouse when it was still a functional lighthouse and is devastated to hear of its current state, and the Montauk Point Lighthouse historian Henry Osmers who is a mine of information and knowledge. Henry takes us round the museum and tells us about the erosion of the Point and the shift in the edge of the ‘bluff’ or land edge.
Like Orfordness, when the lighthouse was build at the end of the C18th it stood 300 ft inland. The rate of erosion was about a foot a year and, according to Henry’s book On Eagles Beak: A History of Montauk Point Lighthouse
“By 1940 it had become apparent that in less than half a century the bluff would erode and undermine the lighthouse. The tower’s future was in jeopardy and something had to be done to halt the effects of erosion.”
(Osmer, 2017, p109)
It is evident from post Second World War aerial photographs of the Point that despite the US Government’s efforts to put in sea defences by way of massive boulders encircling the Point the raw scar of the eroded land is weakened and vulnerable to further landslide and movement.
Felicity and I are fascinated to hear Henry talk about how fight against erosion at the Point took a new turn by way of a radical champion and pioneer, Georgina Reid, an artist and textile designer. Throughout the early 1960s Reid experimented with a new way of fighting back erosion to save her house on in the north coast of Long Island constructing reed terracing and then planting grass and rye. This new type of construction proved so highly effective and sustainable that she patented her ‘Reed Trench Terracing’ method and published How to Hold up a Bank in 1969.
When Reid heard of the erosion at Montauk Point that was threatening the Lighthouse, she approached the coastguard with a reed terracing plan. Henry points out in his book
“Coast guard personnel were reluctant, however. They wondered how a 4-foot 11-inch 61 year-old woman with no engineering experience or funding could succeed in saving the lighthouse when other efforts had faded”
(Osmer, 2017, p116)
Luckily, they gave Reid a chance and granted her permission to undertake a pilot erosion control project funded by local donations. It was launched on the first Earth Day celebration in 1970. By the end of the first summer, the coast guard engineers recognised the potential for this new scheme to work in conjunction with larger Government funded earth works. Reid worked tirelessly on the project with volunteers for the next sixteen years. Greg Donohue who worked with Reid in the early 1970s continues to champion her work and sustainable approaches. Earlier it was announced that New York State will direct $24 towards long-term revetment coastal engineering from the Storm Resiliency Funding set up in the wake of Storm Sandy in 2012.
Erosion continues to threaten both Montauk Point and Orfordness Lighthouses. However, it is striking how the fate of Montauk Point and the Lighthouse is less bleak thanks to committed individuals and state investment. It is inspiring, here, to see how collaborations and observations from across specialisms can make a real difference. However, I fear that time and land have almost run out for Orfordness Lighthouse and despite the blistering hot sun, leave Montauk Point that day tinged with sadness.
