Seven to Save Spotlight: Hudson-Athens Lighthouse
This month, let’s all take a closer look at the Hudson-Athens Lighthouse, one of our current Seven to Save sites.
Seriously, just look at it (Hudson-Athens Lighthouse photo taken by John Cody)
The National Register-listed Hudson-Athens Lighthouse was constructed in 1874 and is one of only seven remaining Hudson River lighthouses (of the original 14). While the US Coast Guard maintains the light, the nonprofit Hudson-Athens Lighthouse Preservation Society (HALPS) stewards and maintains the structure. In 1967, Governor Nelson Rockefeller established the Hudson River Valley Commission to explore possible uses for the Hudson River lighthouses. The Commission suggested that certain lighthouses owned by the Coast Guard be turned over to nonprofit groups to ensure their preservation and upkeep. The Hudson–Athens Lighthouse was the first station to benefit from this arrangement. In 1982, a group of concerned citizens from neighboring Greene and Columbia Counties formed HALPS, and in 1984, a 20-year lease was signed between them and the Coast Guard. In 2000, title to the station was turned over permanently to HALPS, who has been solely responsible for analysis and mitigation of structural, aesthetic, interpretive, and public access issues that face the property.
Being located in the middle of the Hudson River comes with unique preservation challenges. So does continuously operating for almost 150 years. If this structure is going to remain an icon of the Hudson River, maintenance and restoration work is a priority. Thankfully, HALPS has a dedicated team of volunteers and supporters (you can support the Lighthouse too by clicking here) who are making sure to do everything they can to give the Lighthouse another 150 years. This month we’ll hear from some of them as we help tell the story of the Hudson-Athens Lighthouse. It really is a beautiful building, but it’s also an important one, both on its own and in the wider context of historic lighthouses more generally.
We hope you’ll follow along as we share some lighthouse history, video tours, and of course, breathtaking photography of this incredibly special (and Instagrammable) historic site.
You can find all the blog posts in the series by clicking here.