{"nrhp_refnum":"73001260","name":"New Dorp Light","other_names":["Moravian Light"],"category":"building","location":{"address":"Altamont Ave., Staten Island","address_restricted":false,"city":"New York","county":"Staten Island","state":"NY","lat":40.575981228000046,"lon":-74.14113866599996,"geom_source":"nps_gis"},"listed_date":"1973-08-28","is_nhl":false,"nhl_designated_date":null,"areas_of_significance":["Architecture"],"significance_levels":["local"],"summary":{"what_it_is":"A lighthouse station on New Dorp Heights, off Altamont Avenue on Staten Island, New York City, built around 1854 under the Federal Lighthouse Service. It is a two-story clapboarded frame keeper's dwelling with a square light tower rising from its roof.","why_significant":"The nomination calls it a rare remaining example of a simple, economy-minded lighthouse design once common in New York State, with a rectangular tower rising through the house roof instead of the typical tall cylindrical tower. It is also ranked as a local landmark for its long service as a navigational beacon over the Verrazano Narrows and lower New York Bay.","narrative":"New Dorp Light, also called the Moravian Light, is a lighthouse on high ground at New Dorp Heights on Staten Island, overlooking the Verrazano Narrows and lower New York Bay. Built around 1854 for the Federal Lighthouse Service, it combines a two-story clapboarded frame dwelling on a brick foundation with a short square tower rising from the center of the gable roof. A cantilevered balcony circles the tower room, and a low pyramidal roof carries the beacon, which showed a steady light rather than a flashing one. A small wing with a covered porch was added at the entrance. The design was a departure from the usual tall cylindrical tower, and the house let the keeper live close to the light. It is described as a rare surviving example of the plain, low-cost lighthouses built when the federal government kept expenses down. The Coast Guard acquired it in 1939 and operated it until 1964. It was designated a New York City landmark before national listing.","period_of_significance":"19th Century (specific date 1854)","architect_builder":null,"architectural_style":null,"criteria":[],"status_note":"Coast Guard operated it from 1939 until it passed out of active use in 1964; later declared excess and awaiting disposal by the General Services Administration. Form lists condition as altered, on original site, and use as unoccupied.","vacant_flag":true,"machine_generated":true,"model":"claude-sonnet-5-5","prompt_version":"v1.0-2026-10-29","generated_at":"2026-10-29 02:50:39.484922-05","source_pdf":"https://s3.amazonaws.com/NARAprodstorage/lz/electronic-records/rg-079/NPS_NY/73001260.pdf"},"photo":{"url_800":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/73001260/8544951597-800.webp","url_1600":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/73001260/8544951597-1600.webp","licence":"Public domain","author":"Unknown authorUnknown author","credit_html":"<a href=\"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Newdorp.JPG\" rel=\"noopener\">Unknown authorUnknown author</a>, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons","source_page":"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Newdorp.JPG"},"district":null,"sources":{"nps_snapshot_date":"2026-05-22","nara_catalog":"https://catalog.archives.gov/id/75321377","wikipedia":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/New_Dorp_Light","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q1796230"},"indexable":true,"url":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/new-york/staten-island/new-dorp-light-73001260/"}