Fire Island House Keepers
When you hear the word, “Family,” a few words may come to mind such as, tradition or culture. Family is an important part of our lives, most of us would agree. With that in mind, I wanted to go back in time and learn more about the lighthouse keepers, as well as, their families. The lighthouse is indeed an important landmark, but I wanted to know the people behind the scenes.
Lighthouse Keepers weren’t necessarily responsible for the light alone. Felix Dominy, was more of an innkeeper than a light keeper. Mr. Dominy entertained boarders and other visitors during his occupancy at the lighthouse. Felix Dominy was also a Captain in the U.S. Marine Corps. His wife, Phoebe Dominy was also a lighthouse keeper, who took care of the injured on the incoming ships. Mr. Dominy actually writes a letter to his son, about an incident that occurred one night he was working, which can be found on lighthousefriends.com.
When we think of the lighthouse, we think of just controlling a light. As a result, I wanted to inform people about what actually went on in the lighthouse besides the usual speculation of solely a light being monitored for incoming ships.
The ensuing lighthouse keeper, after Felix Dominy, was named Eliphalet Smith. He’s a Revolutionary War Veteran, and served from 1844 until 1849, when he died. Shortly after, the most recent replacement of the Fire Island Lighthouse was built in 1857. Congress approved $40,000 to build the replacement. Two gentlemen by the name J.C. Duane and J.C. Morton were put in charge of this assignment. The lighthouse that’s up today, is double the height of its previous.
There are famous books and stories about the Fire Island Light Keepers. The Fire Island Tide Newspaper, is the New York Times for the residences on Fire Island. For the last thirty years, residents, visitors and businesses on Fire Island have relied almost exclusively on the Fire Island Tide Newspaper as their source of island-wide news, entertainment, information and gossip. Today, over 60,000 bi-weekly readers continue to rely on the Fire Island Tide Newspaper. The Fire Island Tide Newspaper is a part of the family of Fire Island’s people.
Family means a lot me, and a lot of you, as well. Going back in time and learning more about the lighthouse keepers, as well as, their families, was a joyful experience. Seeing the pictures, reading the spellbinding letters, and even hearing the voices of the members of the Fire Island Preservation Society was an astonishing experience in itself. This is exactly why I specifically chose to research the lighthouse keepers, and who was in control of the distinguished Fire Island Lighthouse. I knew this topic was going to not only grasp my attention and the attention of others, but also a pleasure learning about the behind the scenes people of this wonderful Lighthouse. There’s still a lot to learn. Let’s get the rest of the world knowing about this historic Island!
My information for this research project came from a lot of different sources including, novels, hand written letters from lighthouse keepers, magazines, newspapers, websites, and more. A couple websites I discovered are; longislandsurnames.com and fireislandtide.net. The others I mentioned previously. Fire Island: Heroes & Villains on Long Island’s Wild Shore, is a great book I read during the research. Fire Island Tide Newspaper became a part of my daily readings, as well.
Lighthouse Keepers weren’t necessarily responsible for the light alone. Felix Dominy, was more of an innkeeper than a light keeper. Mr. Dominy entertained boarders and other visitors during his occupancy at the lighthouse. Felix Dominy was also a Captain in the U.S. Marine Corps. His wife, Phoebe Dominy was also a lighthouse keeper, who took care of the injured on the incoming ships. Mr. Dominy actually writes a letter to his son, about an incident that occurred one night he was working, which can be found on lighthousefriends.com.
When we think of the lighthouse, we think of just controlling a light. As a result, I wanted to inform people about what actually went on in the lighthouse besides the usual speculation of solely a light being monitored for incoming ships.
The ensuing lighthouse keeper, after Felix Dominy, was named Eliphalet Smith. He’s a Revolutionary War Veteran, and served from 1844 until 1849, when he died. Shortly after, the most recent replacement of the Fire Island Lighthouse was built in 1857. Congress approved $40,000 to build the replacement. Two gentlemen by the name J.C. Duane and J.C. Morton were put in charge of this assignment. The lighthouse that’s up today, is double the height of its previous.
There are famous books and stories about the Fire Island Light Keepers. The Fire Island Tide Newspaper, is the New York Times for the residences on Fire Island. For the last thirty years, residents, visitors and businesses on Fire Island have relied almost exclusively on the Fire Island Tide Newspaper as their source of island-wide news, entertainment, information and gossip. Today, over 60,000 bi-weekly readers continue to rely on the Fire Island Tide Newspaper. The Fire Island Tide Newspaper is a part of the family of Fire Island’s people.
Family means a lot me, and a lot of you, as well. Going back in time and learning more about the lighthouse keepers, as well as, their families, was a joyful experience. Seeing the pictures, reading the spellbinding letters, and even hearing the voices of the members of the Fire Island Preservation Society was an astonishing experience in itself. This is exactly why I specifically chose to research the lighthouse keepers, and who was in control of the distinguished Fire Island Lighthouse. I knew this topic was going to not only grasp my attention and the attention of others, but also a pleasure learning about the behind the scenes people of this wonderful Lighthouse. There’s still a lot to learn. Let’s get the rest of the world knowing about this historic Island!
My information for this research project came from a lot of different sources including, novels, hand written letters from lighthouse keepers, magazines, newspapers, websites, and more. A couple websites I discovered are; longislandsurnames.com and fireislandtide.net. The others I mentioned previously. Fire Island: Heroes & Villains on Long Island’s Wild Shore, is a great book I read during the research. Fire Island Tide Newspaper became a part of my daily readings, as well.