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Edward T. Pastorini, pictured here, was the last lighthouse keeper to serve at New York’s Saugerties Lighthouse at the mouth of the Esopus Creek on the Hudson River. He arrived there in 1948, the same year that Russia started jamming broadcasts of the Voice of America and the first monkey “astronaut” was launched into space.
Edward Pastorini had plenty of lighthouse keeping experience by the time he arrived at Saugerties Lighthouse. He had previously served as an assistant keeper from 1942 to 1948 at the Penfield Reef Lighthouse in Long Island Sound near Fairfield, Connecticut.
After living at the Saugerties Lighthouse for nearly six years, in February of 1954 Edward Pastorini was notified that the light station would be automated and the lighthouse would be closed up. Making sure that he would be leaving the lighthouse in perfect condition before he moved out, he thoroughly cleaned the entire station and put a fresh coat of paint on the walls of the three large upstairs bedrooms. As he left the lighthouse for the last time and locked the door, tears came to his eyes knowing that no one would be given the opportunity to live there like he had. It had been a good life. Little did he know what was about to happen.
A short time thereafter, a Coast Guard tender arrived on scene with orders which, to this day, make no sense. The crew of the tender ripped out the furnace, all the fixtures, and tore out the plumbing, allowing gallons of water to be drained on the floors which then soaked through the floorboards. Then, as shown here, the Coast Guard boarded up all the windows and doors.
The Saugerties Lighthouse, which Edward Pastorini had left in immaculate condition, soon began a very rapid state of deterioration. Before long, the light station was in such poor condition that the Coast Guard planned to demolish the entire light station. However, local historian Ruth Reynolds Glunt and architect Elsie Barry stepped in and started a campaign to stop the demolition and get the lighthouse listed on the National Register of Historic Places.
In later years, 10,000 old bricks, which had crumbled because of moisture, were replaced when the lighthouse underwent a full restoration, thanks to the efforts of Saugerties Lighthouse Conservancy. Today the restored lighthouse is available for overnight stays.
If Edward T. Pastorini were still around today, he would feel vindicated that the lighthouse is again being properly cared for.
This story appeared in the
Jan/Feb 2019 edition of Lighthouse Digest Magazine. The print edition contains more stories than our internet edition, and each story generally contains more photographs - often many more - in the print edition. For subscription information about the print edition, click here.
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