Sands Point Lighthouse Vertical
Sands Point Lighthouse
In 1806 Congress approved funding to build the fourth lighthouse on Long Island at the tip of Sands Point. The purpose of the tower was to alert ships in the Long Island Sound to the dangers of Execution Rocks. The lighthouse was built by Revolutionary war hero, Noah Mason, in 1809; Mason subsequently became the lightâs first keeper.
A little more than 100 years later, in 1917, Alva Belmont built Beacon Towers, her gilded age Disney-esque mansion adjacent to the lighthouse. It is believed that her influence was one of the main factors in decommissioning the lighthouse in December of 1922. Immediately afterward, Belmont purchased the property, with the lighthouse structure still intact. In 1927, the Estate, complete with the lighthouse, was sold to William Randolph Hearst, the billionaire newspaperman, who owned it until just after World War II.
On October 27, 1992, The Village of Sands Point and the Landmarks Commission designated the lighthouse as a village landmark. The lighthouse remains in its original location and is part of a privately-owned estate. The only way to get a glimpse of this historic landmark is from a boat off the tip of Sands Point on the Long Island Sound.
In 1806 Congress approved funding to build the fourth lighthouse on Long Island at the tip of Sands Point. The purpose of the tower was to alert ships in the Long Island Sound to the dangers of Execution Rocks. The lighthouse was built by Revolutionary war hero, Noah Mason, in 1809; Mason subsequently became the lightâs first keeper.
A little more than 100 years later, in 1917, Alva Belmont built Beacon Towers, her gilded age Disney-esque mansion adjacent to the lighthouse. It is believed that her influence was one of the main factors in decommissioning the lighthouse in December of 1922. Immediately afterward, Belmont purchased the property, with the lighthouse structure still intact. In 1927, the Estate, complete with the lighthouse, was sold to William Randolph Hearst, the billionaire newspaperman, who owned it until just after World War II.
On October 27, 1992, The Village of Sands Point and the Landmarks Commission designated the lighthouse as a village landmark. The lighthouse remains in its original location and is part of a privately-owned estate. The only way to get a glimpse of this historic landmark is from a boat off the tip of Sands Point on the Long Island Sound.