SILENT GROUNDS COLLECTIVE · NONPROFIT EDUCATIONAL ARCHIVE

Lighthouse Point & Five Mile Point Light

SGC-CT052-052 · Research edition September 12, 2026

A selected, source-based research collection for New Haven and Fairfield counties. Includes credited photographs where reusable images were located, historical interpretation and links to supporting records. It is a growing inventory, not an exhaustive survey. Photographs retain their individual dates and reuse terms; images do not establish present access conditions.

Collection cover: see credited item below

The story in pictures

LIGHTHOUSE POINT CAROUSEL BUILDING, NEW HAVEN, CT

LIGHTHOUSE POINT CAROUSEL BUILDING, NEW HAVEN, CT

Date unverified; Commons file has a 1970 camera timestamp

THE LIGHTHOUSE POINT CAROUSEL IS LOCATED IN THE EAST SHORE SECTION OF NEW HAVEN, CONNECTICUT. THE CAROUSEL BUILDING WAS BUILT IN 1916, REPLACING AN EARLIER ONE.

Image credit and source
Lighthouse Point Park - lighthouse and view of downtown New Haven

Lighthouse Point Park - lighthouse and view of downtown New Haven

2015-03-29 14:59:45

View of downtown New Haven, Connecticut and Five Mile Point Light in Lighthouse Point Park

Image credit and source
Lighthouse Point Park in New Haven, Connecticut

Lighthouse Point Park in New Haven, Connecticut

2018-05-18 15:25:18

This is the Lighthouse located in New Haven, Connecticut at Lighthouse Point Park, a fun park to attend to along the coast of the Atlantic Ocean that has a twist of New England Lighthouses.

Image credit and source
LighthousePoint NewHavenCT

LighthousePoint NewHavenCT

2007-07-01

Lighthouse and rocky shoreline at Lighthouse Point Park. The lighthouse at Lighthouse Point Park, New Haven, photographed in 2007.

Image credit and source
PostcardLighthouseSouthSideEastHavenCT

PostcardLighthouseSouthSideEastHavenCT

circa 1912

Color postcard of the old lighthouse's south side at Lighthouse Point. A historic postcard depicts the south side of the old lighthouse at Lighthouse Point.

Image credit and source
Read the full history

Collection history

Five Mile Point’s first lighthouse was a wooden tower built in 1805. The stone tower followed in 1847. Keeping those dates separate explains why accounts may give different ages for the lighthouse site and the surviving tower. [CT052-S01]

The light was superseded in navigation by Southwest Ledge in 1877. Its later life as a landmark within a recreational landscape shows how a working maritime structure can take on new civic meaning. Historical views and modern photographs record different phases of that transition. [CT052-S01]

The lighthouse story contains several beginnings. A wooden light opened in 1805; the stone tower followed in 1847. A photograph of the stone structure cannot show the original wooden building, even when a caption correctly dates the light station to 1805. This distinction connects architecture to the practical task of navigation while keeping the surviving object's own age clear. [CT052-S01]

Southwest Ledge superseded Five Mile Point's navigational role in 1877. The older tower's continued visibility allowed it to take on another life within a recreational landscape. Historical and later photographs can therefore be compared as evidence of changing surroundings and public uses. The tower becomes a way to tell a longer waterfront story: first a working aid to passage, then a recognizable landmark. Navigation records, park documents and visitors' accounts each illuminate a different part of that transition. [CT052-S01]

Key dates

Site status: Historic lighthouse within a public waterfront park

A closer look at the surviving record

LIGHTHOUSE POINT CAROUSEL BUILDING, NEW HAVEN, CT

THE LIGHTHOUSE POINT CAROUSEL IS LOCATED IN THE EAST SHORE SECTION OF NEW HAVEN, CONNECTICUT. THE CAROUSEL BUILDING WAS BUILT IN 1916, REPLACING AN EARLIER ONE.

Read the image and source notes: CT052-P01

Lighthouse Point Park - lighthouse and view of downtown New Haven

View of downtown New Haven, Connecticut and Five Mile Point Light in Lighthouse Point Park

Read the image and source notes: CT052-P02

Lighthouse Point Park in New Haven, Connecticut

This is the Lighthouse located in New Haven, Connecticut at Lighthouse Point Park, a fun park to attend to along the coast of the Atlantic Ocean that has a twist of New England Lighthouses.

Read the image and source notes: CT052-P03

LighthousePoint NewHavenCT

Lighthouse and rocky shoreline at Lighthouse Point Park. The lighthouse at Lighthouse Point Park, New Haven, photographed in 2007.

Read the image and source notes: ED-C-image-pass-008

PostcardLighthouseSouthSideEastHavenCT

Color postcard of the old lighthouse's south side at Lighthouse Point. A historic postcard depicts the south side of the old lighthouse at Lighthouse Point.

Read the image and source notes: ED-C-image-pass-009

Search the collection

Includes source text where acquired. Source websites require an internet connection. OCR may contain errors; verify names and dates against the scan.

6 catalog entries

CT052-S01 · Sources & research leads · Source reviewed September 2026

Five Mile Point Light: history and source bibliography

Supporting source for the collection’s history, chronology and research notes. Maritime navigation and shoreline recreation share the same New Haven landmark.

External source; the full publication remains with its publisher. The archive provides an original educational summary and a link. See the collection history for the claims supported by this record.

Credit: Five Mile Point Light. Cite SGC SGC-CT052-052, CT052-S01, source title, page and URL; accessed 2026-09-12.

CT052-P01 · Photographs · Date unverified; Commons file has a 1970 camera timestamp

LIGHTHOUSE POINT CAROUSEL BUILDING, NEW HAVEN, CT

THE LIGHTHOUSE POINT CAROUSEL IS LOCATED IN THE EAST SHORE SECTION OF NEW HAVEN, CONNECTICUT. THE CAROUSEL BUILDING WAS BUILT IN 1916, REPLACING AN EARLIER ONE.

Reuse permitted under CC BY-SA 3.0; credit the creator, link the license, and identify changes. Adapted images must be shared under the same license. Image supplied at web resolution; no editorial changes to the source image.

LIGHTHOUSE POINT CAROUSEL BUILDING, NEW HAVEN, CTCredit: JERRYE AND ROY KLOTZ MD / CC BY-SA 3.0. Cite SGC SGC-CT052-052, CT052-P01, source title, page and URL; accessed 2026-09-12.

CT052-P02 · Photographs · 2015-03-29 14:59:45

Lighthouse Point Park - lighthouse and view of downtown New Haven

View of downtown New Haven, Connecticut and Five Mile Point Light in Lighthouse Point Park

Reuse permitted under CC BY-SA 4.0; credit the creator, link the license, and identify changes. Adapted images must be shared under the same license. Image supplied at web resolution; no editorial changes to the source image.

Lighthouse Point Park - lighthouse and view of downtown New HavenCredit: Jllm06 / CC BY-SA 4.0. Cite SGC SGC-CT052-052, CT052-P02, source title, page and URL; accessed 2026-09-12.

CT052-P03 · Photographs · 2018-05-18 15:25:18

Lighthouse Point Park in New Haven, Connecticut

This is the Lighthouse located in New Haven, Connecticut at Lighthouse Point Park, a fun park to attend to along the coast of the Atlantic Ocean that has a twist of New England Lighthouses.

Reuse permitted under CC BY-SA 4.0; credit the creator, link the license, and identify changes. Adapted images must be shared under the same license. Image supplied at web resolution; no editorial changes to the source image.

Lighthouse Point Park in New Haven, ConnecticutCredit: Daphne Swiateck / CC BY-SA 4.0. Cite SGC SGC-CT052-052, CT052-P03, source title, page and URL; accessed 2026-09-12.

ED-C-image-pass-008 · Photographs · 2007-07-01

LighthousePoint NewHavenCT

Lighthouse and rocky shoreline at Lighthouse Point Park. The lighthouse at Lighthouse Point Park, New Haven, photographed in 2007.

Modern color photograph. Display copy optimized for the web with proportional resizing and compression. The linked repository identifies the original image. Reuse: CC BY-SA 3.0

LighthousePoint NewHavenCTCredit: Versageek / Wikimedia Commons; creator's original upload or named collection. Cite SGC SGC-CT052-052, ED-C-image-pass-008, source title, page and URL; accessed 2026-09-12.

ED-C-image-pass-009 · Postcards · circa 1912

PostcardLighthouseSouthSideEastHavenCT

Color postcard of the old lighthouse's south side at Lighthouse Point. A historic postcard depicts the south side of the old lighthouse at Lighthouse Point.

The printed caption includes New Haven (East Haven); preserve its wording as historical geography, not a present municipal address. Photomechanical/colored postcard, not an untouched color photograph of 1912. Display copy optimized for the web with proportional resizing and compression. The linked repository identifies the original image. Reuse: PD-US-expired per Commons

PostcardLighthouseSouthSideEastHavenCTCredit: Unknown author / Wikimedia Commons; creator's original upload or named collection. Cite SGC SGC-CT052-052, ED-C-image-pass-009, source title, page and URL; accessed 2026-09-12.