Montauk tower’s rare Fresnel glass hasn’t pierced the dark since 1987
By Carissa Katz
It was particularly dark at Montauk Point shortly before 6 on Monday evening as a small crowd gathered near the Lighthouse gate under a still-moonless sky for an event that was years, some might even say decades, in the making.
As the clock turned to 6 on the nose, there was a flicker, then another and another and then, emanating from the Lighthouse tower, came two rotating beams of light to pierce the night sky with a strength not seen since the 1980s. The Montauk Lighthouse’s 3 1/2 order Fresnel lens, long relegated to the position of prized museum artifact, was back in its rightful place atop the tower.
The lens, manufactured especially for the Montauk Lighthouse in 1902 by the French company Barbier, Bénard, and Turenne, had served as a beacon for mariners from 1903 until 1987, when the Coast Guard replaced it with easier-to-maintain light sources: first a runway light and later a dimmer lamp to save energy and money.
Read the complete article in the East Hampton Star.