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All the United States New York State New York City Sands Point Execution Rocks Lighthouse

Execution Rocks Lighthouse

An isolated beacon with a history of grisly murder and a view of some of literature's greatest inspirations.

Sands Point, New York

Added By
Luke Spencer
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Execution Rock Lighthouse   Luke J Spencer / Atlas Obscura User
Execution Rock Lighthouse   Luke J Spencer / Atlas Obscura User
Execution Rock Lighthouse   Luke J Spencer / Atlas Obscura User
Gatsby’s Gold Coast Mansions   Luke J Spencer / Atlas Obscura User
Execution Rocks Lighthouse   Captain Steve Sailing / Atlas Obscura User
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About

The solitary Execution Rocks Lighthouse in the Long Island Sound guards the way to mansions which inspired The Great Gatsby, but also hides a macabre history of murder.

In the middle of Long Island Sound, equidistant from New Rochelle and Port Washington, stands a lighthouse built in the 1850s. The tiny rocky island on which it was constructed was known as the Execution Rocks. Legend has is that during their occupation of Long Island during the Revolutionary War, British redcoats would chain Colonial prisoners to the rocks, and execute them by allowing the doomed souls to drown in high tide.

The island's gruesome history added a new chapter in the 1920s, when famed serial killer Carl Panzram confessed to luring sailors away from bars, murdering them, and dumping their bodies at the island. When the last lighthouse keeper retired in the 1970s, the lighthouse turned fully automatic. But some visitors still report unusual sounds, apparitions and footsteps, ghostly reminders of the island's troubled past.

Tours are available in the summer through the Lighthouse Restorations organization, and water taxis from Port Washington go near the island, passing by the gold coast mansions that were the inspiration for Gatsby's house in F. Scott Fitzgerald's The Great Gatsby. (You can book an overnight stay directly through the nonprofit.) With grisly murder and literary prestige, what more could one ask for in a lighthouse?   

Related Tags

Islands American Revolution Lighthouses Crime Execution Military

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Water taxi run by Manhasset Bay Harbor Tours, out of Port Washington. Thursday, Friday, Saturday & Sunday only.

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Added By

Luke J Spencer

Edited By

Rachel, Captain Steve Sailing

  • Rachel
  • Captain Steve Sailing

Published

February 4, 2014

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Sources
  • http://www.lighthouserestorations.org
  • http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Execution_Rocks_Light
  • http://www.longislandlighthouses.com/exrock.htm
Execution Rocks Lighthouse
Sands Point, New York, 11050
United States
40.878139, -73.737861

Nearby Places

Hart Island

Bronx, New York

miles away

Sands Point Preserve

Sands Point, New York

miles away

Rat Island

Bronx, New York

miles away

Explore the Destination Guide

Photo of Sands Point

Sands Point

New York

Places 2

Nearby Places

Hart Island

Bronx, New York

miles away

Sands Point Preserve

Sands Point, New York

miles away

Rat Island

Bronx, New York

miles away

Explore the Destination Guide

Photo of Sands Point

Sands Point

New York

Places 2

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