Overview

Liberty Island is a federally owned island in Upper New York Bay in the northeastern United States. Its most notable feature is the Statue of Liberty (Liberty Enlightening the World), a large statue by Frédéric Auguste Bartholdi that was dedicated in 1886. The island also contains the Statue of Liberty Museum, which opened in 2019 and exhibits the statue’s original torch.

Long known as Bedloe’s Island, it was renamed by an act of the United States Congress in 1956. Part of the State of New York, the island is an exclave of the New York City borough of Manhattan, surrounded by the waters of Jersey City, New Jersey. There were a number of disputes regarding the jurisdictional status of the island during the 20th century.

Liberty Island became part of the Statue of Liberty National Monument in 1937 through Presidential Proclamation 2250, signed by President Franklin D. Roosevelt.[3] In 1966, it was listed on the National Register of Historic Places as part of the Statue of Liberty National Monument, Ellis Island, and Liberty Island.

According to the United States Census Bureau, the island has a land area of 14.717 acres (5.956 ha), and is the property of the federal government. Liberty Island is located in the Upper New York Bay within the waters of Jersey City, New Jersey. It is one of the islands that are part of the borough of Manhattan in New York. The historical developments which led to this construction made Liberty Island an exclave of one state, New York, in another, New Jersey. Liberty Island is 2,000 feet (610 m) east of Liberty State Park in Jersey City and is 1.6 miles (2.6 km) southwest of the Battery in Lower Manhattan.

Liberty Island has been owned by the federal government since 1801, first as a military installation and now as a national landmark. Statue of Liberty National Monument, Ellis Island and Liberty Island, listed on the National Register of Historic Places since 1966, encompasses land in both states, control of which is superseded by the United States. The undisputed boundary between New Jersey and New York is in the center of the Hudson River and the Upper New York Bay, with Liberty Island situated well on the New Jersey side of the water line with Liberty Island itself an exclave of the State of New York and a part of New York City, allowing the state and city of New York to retain sovereignty of Liberty Island, serve process there and collect sales tax from Liberty Island souvenir shops.

Overview

The Dunkirk Lighthouse, also known as the Point Gratiot Light, is an active lighthouse located at Point Gratiot on Lake Erie in New York state.  The lighthouse was established in 1826 and the current tower was first lit in 1875. The lighthouse was automated in 1960 and is still operational. The foundation is made out of dressed stone and the lighthouse is made out of rubblestone encased in brick. The tower is square-shaped with the upper two thirds in white and the lower third left natural and the lantern housing in red. The original lens is a third order Fresnel lens installed in 1857 in the original 1826 light and is still in operation. Its being still in use makes it a rarity. Only 70 such lenses are operational in the United States, 16 being on the Great Lakes of which two are in New York. At the entrance to the park property is the South Buffalo North Side Light, formerly located in Buffalo Harbor. It was added to the National Register of Historic Places as Point Gratiot Lighthouse Complex in 1979.

The Dunkirk Lighthouse also worked in collaboration with the Dunkirk Pier-head light, guiding ships into the Dunkirk harbor. The assistant lighthouse keeper manned the pier-head light.

There have been five total towers that have served as the pier-head light. The first two were destroyed by ice from the lake. The third was removed in 1939, and replaced by a metal skeleton tower. The metal tower was then replaced by the current tower, and the skeleton tower now resides on the property of the Dunkirk Lighthouse.

All four rooms of the second floor of the original keeper’s house are part of the veteran’s museum. There is one room devoted to each of the branches of the armed forces, with an additional building housing artifacts from the Coast Guard. Additionally, the hallway contains an exhibit on the Vietnam War. Almost all artifacts contained in the museum are donated by local residents or by the United States Coast Guard, due to their association with the lighthouse.

The Dunkirk Lighthouse is open eventally from May through October. The hours are 10:00am to 2:00pm in the spring and fall, and 10:00am to 4:00pm in the summer. Guided tours include a climb to the top of the lighthouse, a tour of the keeper’s house, Veteran museums and gift shop. The lighthouse is also open to private ghost investigations, and runs public ones in the fall through local paranormal investigators.