The Hudson-Athens Lighthouse has helped ships steer around the Hudson Middle Ground Flats for 150 years. Volunteers with the Hudson-Athens Lighthouse Preservation Society, the community group maintaining the site, have warned that extensive wear and tear at its base due to commercial barge traffic could cause the lighthouse to collapse beneath the waves.
Speaking in Athens Monday, Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer announced the federal government won’t let that happen.
Earlier this year, the nonprofit National Trust for Historic Preservation put the lighthouse on its list of “11 Most Endangered Historic Places” in the U.S.
By becoming part of the Army Corps of Engineers’ protection program, Schumer says the site will receive the funding and labor it needs to shore up its infrastructure. While a specific dollar amount was not mentioned Monday, the Preservation Society has previously estimated the total cost to be around $7.5 million.
New York District Commander Col. Alexander Young says the Army Corps allocated $50,000 for a feasibility study earlier this year. Next, it will develop a restoration plan.
“We are fortunate that the Hudson-Athens Lighthouse Preservation Society has done a tremendous amount of work already," says Young. "So we’re looking to incorporate that into our work, to allow us to streamline and act with a sense of urgency here.”
Volunteers at the lighthouse have warned it could sink within the next few years.
The lighthouse is still in operation. Not just as a beacon, but as a historic site and tourist attraction. The Preservation Society hosts tours of the site — reachable by boat — to teach about the Hudson River’s role in American commerce, and what life was like in Hudson and Athens during the late 19th Century.
Van Calhoun, chair of the Preservation Society’s restoration committee, says the lighthouse used to run on oil lamps meticulously cared for by a lighthouse keeper and their family. Nowadays, it uses an automatic, solar-powered LED.
“It represents a way of living that used to happen, too," he notes. "And the funny thing is you can’t get to it, so it remains a bit of a mystery to a lot of people.”
The cargo ships running up and down the Hudson River today are a lot bigger than those in 1874 — and that’s what is causing the lighthouse to be unstable. Calhoun says these barges make huge waves as they go by, and over time, the push and pull of the water has sucked out boulders and mud from the base of the lighthouse, exposing the wood pilings it was built on.
“It’s an unforeseen consequence to the shipping that we have today, that we never envisioned we’d ever have," he adds.
The site previously received two $500,000 state grants to help stabilize the structure. Calhoun says the Preservation Society has discussed a range of options to shore up the lighthouse since 2022, from smaller plans that would buy them a few more years, to more extensive projects. Calhoun says they’re aiming for the best option possible — the “100-year fix," as he calls it — and the Army Corps seems to be on board.
“The Corps of Engineers deciding that we’re worthy as a project, and [saying] that they’re gonna do it, is just tremendous," he smiles.
The Army Corps didn’t give a specific start date Monday, but Schumer pledged to continue pushing the issue. Calhoun says the Preservation Society is also working on a project to replace the lighthouse’s roof — but if you pass it at night, you’ll still see it decorated with lights for the holidays, for the 36th straight year.
