Blackwell Island Light

The Blackwell Island Light stands fifty feet tall at the northern tip of the island, a rugged tower built from gray gneiss stone quarried directly from the ground beneath your feet. Its construction in eighteen seventy-two was overseen by the prominent architect James Renwick, Junior, who is also responsible for the design of Saint Patrick's Cathedral in Manhattan. While Renwick provided the Gothic revival blueprints, the heavy lifting was performed by inmates from the local penitentiary, who hewed the stones and assembled the octagonal shaft. The lighthouse was not an official federal project but was instead commissioned by the city to guide vessels through the treacherous, churning waters of the Hell Gate strait.