Stratford Shoal (Middleground) Light Station unlikely to be the next hot tourist spot

BY MALLIE JANE KIM DESK@TBRNEWSMEDIA.COM

The Stratford Shoal Light Station in the middle of Long Island Sound is going up for auction June 12 through the U.S. General Services Administration’s real estate website, but locals with knowledge of area waterways doubt it will become the next tourist hot spot.

Other historic lighthouses around U.S. coasts have become vacation rentals, local government offices or museums. Such a fate might be tricky for the lighthouse at Stratford Shoal, also known as the Middle Ground Light, a stone building constructed in the late 1870s and perched on two partially submerged rocky islands halfway between Old Field on Long Island and Stratford, Connecticut. The U.S. Coast Guard will retain ownership of all navigation aid systems active at the lighthouse, regardless of a future owner’s development plan.

“Whoever decides to do something, it’s not going to be easy,” said Pete Murphy, owner of Sea Tow Port Jefferson and Murphy’s Marine Service. Murphy passes the lighthouse fairly often through his service rescuing stranded boaters and said the area seems most often used as a fisherman’s hot spot.

Murphy would welcome a commercial use of the property, like a bed and breakfast, and he could see expanding his shore-to-boat harbor taxi service to include ferrying visitors to a commercial entity at the lighthouse. According to Murphy, though, any potential renovations on the shoal would face challenges since it’s so far out into the sound. “The safety is getting there,” he said. “You’ve got to pick your weather to get out there.”

That isolation and exposure to waves and storms made the shoal lighthouse a tough posting for its keepers before it was automated in 1970. One assistant keeper, a newcomer from New York City named Julius Koster, reportedly suffered a psychological breakdown at the lighthouse in 1905, attempting to attack a colleague, then the lighthouse itself. Eventually he made an unsuccessful attempt on his own life.

Local water quality advocate George Hoffman agreed the lighthouse probably won’t see any major development since it is so far from shore, but it could entice someone who wants to get away from it all. “I think there’s a million people on Long Island who would like to live there,” he said. “But I think the reality is a bit harder because everything has to be brought in on a boat.”

Hoffman, who co-founded the Setauket Harbor Task Force, a volunteer environmental group that works to improve water quality in Port Jefferson and Setauket Harbors, isn’t concerned about the environmental impact of potential construction on the shoal, as any development would have to comply with government environmental regulations.

Still, Hoffman finds the idea of living on the shoal romantic. “Every one of us probably wanted to live on a lighthouse by ourselves,” he said. “Though movies about lighthouses all tend to end badly.”

The Stratford Shoal structure is on the national register of historic places and is one of four lighthouses the U.S. General Services Administration is auctioning this year, alongside six others to be offered at no cost to eligible historical, educational, nonprofit or local governmental agencies. The lighthouse had been awarded to lighthouse enthusiast Nick

Korstad under the latter designation in 2016. But Korstad, who has made a career of buying and renovating lighthouses around the country for use as destinations, gave up his stewardship of the water-bound site after his plan to use the lighthouse as a museum where guests could stay overnight faced too much regulatory red tape. The National Historic Lighthouse Preservation Act of 2020 allows the federal government to convey ownership of lighthouses to promote preservation of these historical sites and also to save taxpayer money on federal real estate costs. The starting point for bids of the Stratford Shoal Lighthouse is $10,000.

BY MALLIE JANE KIM DESK@TBRNEWSMEDIA.COM

Village

Local parks and trails took center stage at the Three Village Civic Association monthly meeting Monday night, June 5. The civic’s land use chair Herb Mones took attendees on an impressive slideshow tour of the area’s offerings for walkers, cyclists, view seekers and the like.

These natural spaces “are unique and different, and enable us to be proud that we’re Three Villagers,” Mones said. “I always say there are two types of people: Those that live in Three Villages, and those that want to live in Three Villages.”

Among the more-than-20 properties Mones highlighted were well-known spots such as Frank Melville Memorial Park, Avalon Nature Preserve, Gamecock Cottage and the Setauket-Port Jefferson Station Greenway Trail.

Also featured were lesser-known gems such as McAllister County Park located in Belle Terre near the eastern entrance to Port Jefferson Harbor; Old Field Farm County Park adjacent to West Meadow Beach; and the Besunder property on North Road at the entrance to Strong’s Neck.

Nearly all of the sites on Mones’ slideshow boast trails or harbor views, or both. Among his favorites, he said, is the Flax Pond Tidal Wetland Area.

He also mentioned a particular point of pride in Patriots Rock Historic Site, acquired by the Three Village Community Trust. “For the first time in 300 years, the site is open to the public,” said Mones, who is president of the trust. According to him, the trust plans to add trails surrounding the location to enable the public to enjoy the entire property.

There are also undeveloped, “emerging” places to watch, Mones said, such as the Suffolk County parkland known as the Sand Pits along the Greenway Trail; the Patriots Hollow State Forest across from the shopping center on Route 25A in East Setauket; and the Stephen D. Matthews Nature Preserve in Poquott. Each of those areas, he said, could use trails and added public access.

Mones urged members to keep a careful watch over these local natural assets. “Parks are so special, parks are so desirable, parks are so beautiful that you have to be ever vigilant because somebody is always trying to acquire, buy and obtain it,” he said.

Mones added that he plans to publish his presentation on the civic association Facebook page.

Police scam warnings

Also at the meeting, Suffolk County Police Community Liaison Officer Sergio Moller, from the 6th Precinct, warned about the prevalence of scams popping up in the area, particularly electronic scams.

According to Moller, residents are receiving texts purportedly from utility or media companies warning service will be halted unless the person clicks a link to pay their bill. “What a scammer wants you to do is hit that link, so they can get access to your computer,” he said at the meeting. “So don’t do that, please.”

He also urged the audience to be skeptical of calls from an unknown number alleging a loved one has been arrested or needs money — even if the voice on the other line is familiar. “Artificial intelligence can reproduce your voice to a T, so it may sound like you’re talking to your grandson … it may sound like you’re talking to a loved one,” he said.

As with the texting scams, Moller said people should call the person’s known phone number to verify whether they actually need assistance.

“Please don’t give money to anybody, especially if they ask you for gift cards,” he said. “If they are asking you for gift cards, this should be an automatic red light in the back of your head that this is not legit.”

Birds and Bees Protection Act. George Hoffman made an impassioned plea for civic members to lobby state Sen. Anthony Palumbo (R-New Suffolk) and state Assemblyman Ed Flood (R-Port Jefferson) to support the imminent Birds and Bees Protection Act [see also letters, page 22].