Coney Island NY Lighthouse by Harbour Lights

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Coney Island, New York

Harbour Lights Limited Edition #534
2001-2002 Society Exclusive

There's nothing typical about the Coney Island Lighthouse. It's not teetering on a desolate cliff. The keeper's house hasn't been boarded up or converted to a museum or a bed and breakfast. Instead, the sturdy steel skeleton tower stands 80 feet high, right in the middle of an old Brooklyn neighborhood -- so close to other houses that one can imagine a neighbor shouting up to the keeper, "Can I borrow a cup of sugar?"

And that's another difference. Coney Island actually still has a keeper, and he lives in the two-story red and white brick house next to the tower. Frank Schubert, 85, holds the distinction of being the last civilian lighthouse keeper in the United States.

He operated other lighthouses around New York until 1960, when he moved to Coney Island with his wife Marie and their three children. He's been the keeper ever since. Marie died in 1986.

"It's a very quiet life," Schubert says. His duties have diminished over the years, but they still serve an important purpose. He maintains the grounds, deters vandals, and in the event of a storm, resets the automated light mechanism. He also gives tours to the lighthouse's many visitors.

And though Schubert may describe his life as "quiet," he's had his share of exciting moments, too. Over the years, he saved at least 15 sailors. He describes one night when the entire portion of the lower bay was engulfed in flames. "It was in '77 or '78, we had a container ship hit an oil tanker. Punched a hole in its side. They stayed locked together in flames, floating down the channel, fire everywhere." Fortunately, everyone was saved.

Built in 1890 for $25,000, Coney Island light helped guide ships along the main channel of the New York Harbor. At that time, other buildings or roads didn't exist in the area. By 1921, there was so much construction that the only unblocked route to the station was by water. The Lighthouse Service had to purchase a right-of-way for $5,000.

Our replica shows the Coney Island Lighthouse as it is today, the original structure is well-maintained and in beautiful condition -- thanks to a man named Frank Schubert, the last genuine keeper of the flame.

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