Staten Island Range Light (Amrose Channel)

Also known as Ambrose Channel Rear Range Light, Staten Island Lighthouse serves as the rear range light companion to West Bank Lighthouse. The ninety-foot tower is located on Staten Island’s Richmond Hill, at a point that is 145 feet above sea level and over five miles northwest of West Bank Lighthouse.

In June 1906, Congress authorized the establishment of Staten Island Lighthouse and the raising of West Bank Lighthouse at a cost not to exceed $100,000. A sum of $50,000 was provided for the project that month, and by July 1908, West Bank Lighthouse had been raised for $9,197.96, and $9,253.16 had been spent for purchasing land and performing preliminary work on Staten Island. Congress appropriated an additional $50,000 in March 1909, and a contract for building Staten Island Lighthouse was awarded later that year to the New Jersey Foundry and Machine Company. As evidenced by the year inscribed in the base of the tower, most of the lighthouse was completed in 1909. In fact, by July 1910, the lighthouse only lacked its lantern and iron staircase.

Plans and specifications for the nearby keeper’s dwelling were drawn up in 1910, and by July 1911, twenty-five percent of the residence was finished. The light was finally put into operation on April 15, 1912, when all work at the station had been completed except for grading, laying the sidewalks, and installing a lightning rod atop the tower. This additional work was not completed until 1915, and the total cost of the station came to $73,972.64.

The illuminating apparatus consists of a second-order range lens of one panel, made up of 6 refracting and 7 reflecting prisms, reinforced by a mirror of 9 totally reflecting prisms, and giving a fixed white light in range with West Bank. The light is furnished by a 55-millimeter, double-tank, incandescent oil vapor lamp. The intensity of the beam is rated at 300,000 candlepower, the focal plane of the light is 231 feet above mean high water, and the light is visible 21 nautical miles in clear weather. The mineral oil is stored in tanks in an isolated vault at the foot of the tower and raised to the watch room by a suitable pump.

A second light has been mounted on the tower to serve as the rear range light for the Swash Channel. The keeper’s dwelling is now a private residence.

In May 2022 the lighthouse underwent a major refurbishment to its exterior to prolong its life.