Sheffield Island Lighthouse

National Register Of Historic Places · Norwalk, Connecticut

A stone lighthouse of 1868 on an island in Norwalk harbour, reachable only by ferry, and one of the few lighthouses in Connecticut you can actually go inside and climb. The building is unusual - a four-storey granite house with the light built into it rather than a separate tower - and it held keepers and their families until it was decommissioned in 1902, after which the island went quiet and stayed that way. There are ten rooms to walk through, a lantern room at the top with the harbour and Long Island Sound laid out below, and a stretch of beach and salt marsh behind. Most of the rest of the island is a National Wildlife Refuge and is closed to visitors, which is why the birdlife is what it is. The ferry is the whole trip: about forty minutes on the water each way, and your time ashore is set by the return sailing rather than by you - normally about ninety minutes. Sailings are seasonal and weather dependent and cancel at short notice, and there is no other way across, so book ahead and then confirm on the day.

Sheffield Island, Norwalk Harbor, Norwalk, Norwalk, Connecticut, 06854, United States

STRICTLY SEASONAL AND FERRY-ONLY, typically late spring to early autumn with sailings on a limited weekly schedule that thins at the shoulders of the season. There is NO other way to reach the island. Sailings are weather dependent and cancel at short notice. Evening and sunset cruises run on announced dates. Book ahead and confirm the sailing on the day.

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