Staten Island Range Light (Amrose Channel)

Chance Brothers Lighthouse Chance Brothers Lighthouse
  • Date of lens manufacture

    1912

  • Date of lighthouse construction

    1912

  • Country

    United States

  • Commissioning body

    US Congress

  • Order of lens

    2nd order

  • Fixed or revolving lens

    Fixed

  • Active/Inactive

    Active

  • Describe the character of light
    ---
  • Describe the lighthouses daymarks

    Pyramidal, 90 foot octagonal masonry tower with red and white lantern house.

  • Which aspects of the lighthouse (other than the lens) were manufactured by Chance brothers
    ---
  • Describe the history of the lighthouse

    Also known as Ambrose Channel Rear Range Light, Staten Island Lighthouse serves as the rear range light companion to West Bank Lighthouse. The ninety-foot tower is located on Staten Island’s Richmond Hill, at a point that is 145 feet above sea level and over five miles northwest of West Bank Lighthouse.

    In June 1906, Congress authorized the establishment of Staten Island Lighthouse and the raising of West Bank Lighthouse at a cost not to exceed $100,000. A sum of $50,000 was provided for the project that month, and by July 1908, West Bank Lighthouse had been raised for $9,197.96, and $9,253.16 had been spent for purchasing land and performing preliminary work on Staten Island. Congress appropriated an additional $50,000 in March 1909, and a contract for building Staten Island Lighthouse was awarded later that year to the New Jersey Foundry and Machine Company. As evidenced by the year inscribed in the base of the tower, most of the lighthouse was completed in 1909. In fact, by July 1910, the lighthouse only lacked its lantern and iron staircase.

    Plans and specifications for the nearby keeper’s dwelling were drawn up in 1910, and by July 1911, twenty-five percent of the residence was finished. The light was finally put into operation on April 15, 1912, when all work at the station had been completed except for grading, laying the sidewalks, and installing a lightning rod atop the tower. This additional work was not completed until 1915, and the total cost of the station came to $73,972.64.

    The illuminating apparatus consists of a second-order range lens of one panel, made up of 6 refracting and 7 reflecting prisms, reinforced by a mirror of 9 totally reflecting prisms, and giving a fixed white light in range with West Bank. The light is furnished by a 55-millimeter, double-tank, incandescent oil vapor lamp. The intensity of the beam is rated at 300,000 candlepower, the focal plane of the light is 231 feet above mean high water, and the light is visible 21 nautical miles in clear weather. The mineral oil is stored in tanks in an isolated vault at the foot of the tower and raised to the watch room by a suitable pump.

    A second light has been mounted on the tower to serve as the rear range light for the Swash Channel. The keeper’s dwelling is now a private residence.

    In May 2022 the lighthouse underwent a major refurbishment to its exterior to prolong its life.

  • Current management body/ ports authority

    National Lighthouse Museum

  • Historical preservation societies/manager/operator

    National Lighthouse Museum

  • Is the site vulnerable to coastal erosion?
    no
  • Have you experienced any affects of climate change on the lighthouse?

    No

  • Observations on the condition of the lighthouse?

    Excellent.

  • Is the site open/closed to the public

    Closed

  • Is the tower open/closed to the public

    Closed

  • Latitude and Longitude
    ---
  • On-site bookable accommodation available
    no
  • Associated web addresses
  • Other details

    The lighthouse was declared a Historic Landmark by the city of New York in 1968. Staten Island is also home to the National Lighthouse Museum - https://lighthousemuseum.org/

    ARLHS USA-809; Admiralty J1082; USCG 1-34795 (Staten Island Light) and 1-35035 (Swash Channel Range Rear Light).

  • Which resources did you use to research this lighthouses?
added on August 8, 2022
Made In Smethwick: Lighthouses Around the World

In the 1800s, Chance Brothers & Co glassworks in Smethwick began making the hi-tech lenses that lighthouses use to warn ships of dangerous locations. By 1951, over 2,500 lighthouses around the world were fitted with a Chance lens.

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