History of the Faulkner’s Light Brigade

In January 1991, a ten-member grassroots citizens group calling itself the “Friends of Faulkner’s,” met at the Guilford Free Library and began the effort to preserve Faulkner’s Island. The organizational meeting did not occur spontaneously, but grew out of the efforts of a small group of concerned volunteers. It started as a dream and then––ten years later–– the dream became true! This is the story of the dreamers, or key players, in a successful campaign of historic preservation.

Several years earlier, Joel Helander, the Guilford town historian with a life-long affinity for Faulkner’s Island, acquired an acute sense that neglect and erosion were threatening the octagonal lighthouse revered by mainlanders and mariners. He realized that an action campaign was needed to halt the runaway erosion endangering a historic landmark. Believing that such a campaign must begin with awareness and appreciation, he published a definitive account of the island’s history in 1988. It sounded the alarm. In August 1989, Helander coordinated an “open house” on Faulkner’s Island, which had never been done before, and continues to be a celebrated event.

In October 1989, Helander visited the island with a new-found friend, George Gdovin, Guilford’s Building Inspector, whose association with Faulkner’s began with his service with the Search and Rescue Division of the U.S. Coast Guard’s Group Long Island Sound. Gdovin’s coast guard duties had frequently brought him to the island to deliver provisions. Seeing the  extent of the erosion, he organized the Faulkner’s Island Island Research Project in February 1990 to develop a topographic survey map of the island. Afterwards, the Project affiliated with Little Harbor Laboratory of Guilford, a non-profit marine research organization owned by Sarah (Sally) Richards. An intensive geomorphic study of the island in transition became the subject of his Masters thesis at Antioch University. Gdovin’s  commitment demanded five years of his spare time and provided critical scientific data that would support the cause of island preservation.

When Faulkner’s Island was listed on the National Register of Historic Places, May 29, 1990, the argument for preservation was bolstered overnight. The Connecticut Historical Commission facilitated this long overdue listing, officially designating Faulkner’s as a cultural resource worthy of preservation at the national level.  Al Hollingsworth, then president of the Guilford Preservation Alliance, responded to Helander’s formal request that its board of directors consider establishing a “ways and means” committee to address lighthouse preservation. Hollingsworth persuaded the GPA board to strike a new alliance with the citizens group that would become known as the Faulkner’s Light Brigade. FLB became a commission of GPA. Helander became its first chairman or president for eleven years, subsequently succeeded by Fred Farnsworth (2002–2009), Jeff Heinrich (2009–2016), Eric Emanuelson (2016–2022), and Anthony Coppola (2022–2026).

At Montauk Point Lighthouse on the South Fork of Long Island, New York, kind friends at the Montauk Historical Society introduced the Faulkner’s Light Brigade to their innovative technique of erosion control. Instead of fighting Mother Nature, it harnesses her, with the use of stone toe walls and terraces of vegetation. FLB Board members visited Montauk in June 1991 and experienced first hand how another citizens’ group had saved an endangered lighthouse from the onslaught of the sea. FLB networked with other successful lighthouse preservation groups, including Block Island’s Southeast Lighthouse Foundation.

A “summit conference” of sorts was staged on Faulkner’s Island in September 1991, bringing together the various groups and agencies that had interests in island preservation. First and foremost, representatives from the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, as owners of the island, and representatives from the U.S. Coast Guard, as owners of the lighthouse beacon, were in attendance. Greg Donohue, Montauk’s erosion control contractor, came as a consultant, who concluded that the lighthouse could be saved.  FLB hired Donohue to draft a master plan of preservation for Faulkner’s, based on the Montauk model, which was submitted to federal authorities in 1992. Alas, the plan was first rejected, but one year later, it was accepted.

In 1993, the Faulkner’s Light Brigade invited Senator Christopher Dodd, a blue water sailor, to a conference to address the plight of the island. The Senator issued the real “charge” to the Brigade: that more partnerships must be forged before the federal government could become involved. He announced that Uncle Sam could only serve as partner––not principal––in the campaign of preservation. At last, there was more than a glimmer of hope that Federal money could be obtained. Dodd’s sterling advice led to the formation of the chain of partnerships that eventually fostered an act in U.S. Congress.

An ambitious membership campaign was inaugurated by a full page advertisement in the Shore Line Times in 1994. Notes and letters of encouragement poured in, like the one from Katherine Hepburn of Old Saybrook, urging that all lighthouses be preserved. A senior citizen from Milford, Ruth Revet, pledged five dollars every month for the rest of her life. Elliot Wilcox of Guilford wrote that “for those mariners transiting the Sound, Faulkner’s is the visible, non-ambiguous way point that can be relied upon.” A spring lecture series brought in popular speakers and entertainers, including author Philmore Wass of Maine and Peter Brink, vice-president of the National Trust for Historic Preservation. The Chanteymen of the Connecticut Ancient Mariners even composed a new song, “The Ballad of Faulkner’s Light.” A bird conservation stamp, featuring Faulkner’s Island in the backdrop, was issued by the State Department of Environmental Protection.

Responding to the cry, “Don’t Let the Light Go Out!,” historic preservationists, environmental activists, school groups, recreational boaters, and businesses rallied and joined the effort. What started as a campaign to save a lighthouse grew into a broad-based Connecticut campaign to save both an endangered historic landmark and an endangered species, the roseate tern.

The Town of Guilford responded to Senator Dodd’s charge by joining forces with the Faulkner’s Light Brigade as a municipal partner. Under First Selectman Edward Lynch, the town applied through the Connecticut Department of Transportation for Intermodal Surface Transportation Act (ISTEA) funding in September 1993. This won $250,000 for lighthouse restoration. The town commissioned Sally Richards as chair of its Lighthouse Restoration Committee, responsible for the administration of the funds.

In 1997, Sally’s remarkable committee selected architect Walter Sedovic (Irvington, NY) to prepare design plans and specifications and chose International Chimney Corporation (Buffalo, NY) to perform the restoration work. Sedovic and International Chimney had previously worked together on the move of Block Island’s Southeast Lighthouse. Under the administration of First Selectman Samuel Bartlett, the town entered into a five-year license agreement with the U.S. Coast Guard to become the new lighthouse steward. Lighthouse restoration was accomplished in the fall of 1998 and fall of 1999, rendering the structure weathertight and adding original features such as casement windows, a brownstone lintel, and weathervane.

Acting on the strength of the restoration partnership, Senator Joseph Lieberman co-hosted a meeting in Guilford in the spring of 1994 with U.S. Representative Rosa DeLauro. The Senator lined up commitments from various agencies and subsequently drafted proposed language for a line item in the Water Resources Development Act (WRDA) for erosion control on Faulkner’s. A Bill in the halls of U.S. Congress was now pending!

A Presidential election then brought sweeping changes in Washington.  Turmoil in Congress over budget reconciliation put the WRDA Bill in limbo. Not content to sit around waiting, the Faulkner’s Light Brigade adopted a sub-project to improve safety and public access to the island. The old concrete stairway leading from the wharf up the island’s west embankment was badly deteriorated and needed replacement. Thanks to generous grants from the Woman’s Seamen’s Friend Society and the Norcross Wildlife Foundation ($10,000+), construction of a new entry stairway was completed just in time for the annual open house in September 1995. It is crafted from a dense tropical hardwood, rising 31 feet to the crest of the island.

After a mounting lobby and valuable assistance from the Connecticut Trust for Historic Preservation and the National Trust for Historic Preservation, it was joyfully announced in September 1996 that Congress had appropriated part of the WRDA erosion control funds. The balance of the $4.5 million line item was appropriated in 1998, securing a bright future for little Faulkner’s Island, battered by rain and undercut by tidal surges.

As administrator for the erosion control project, the New England Division of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers spent two years in the research and development of a design plan. Not too unlike the Montauk model on Long Island, it is designed for 50-year storm protection. In 1999, when language technicalities in the Connecticut environmental permitting process delayed the construction project for another whole year, State Representative Pat Widlitz lent a guiding hand.  The preservation of Faulkner’s Island became reality in September 2000 when an armada of heavy construction equipment arrived in barges under the direction of Zenone, Inc., low bidder for the Army Corps’ project.

The erosion control project was completed in March 2001, which now protects the east embankment with a massive stone wall or revetment wrapping the north end of the island and extending south for about 700 linear feet. The wall is constructed from igneous basalt (“traprock”) quarried from the Tilcon Quarry in North Branford and barged to the island. It measures nearly 20 feet high and 50 feet wide, designed to break wave attack and stabilize the embankment. Armor stone in its outer layer contains individual pieces weighing up to three tons. The upper embankment has been re-contoured to a new pitch of 40-50 degrees and is further stabilized with plastic “geo cells” and a cover of hardy vegetation.

A second, major restoration––or re-restoration–– of the light tower was initiated by Faulkner’s Light Brigade in 2010. This project once again retained the professional services of International Chimney Corporation, who repointed and re-painted the entire structure, including window repairs. Funds in the amount of $121,000. were expended.

The Faulkner’s Light Brigade views its campaign as an ongoing one. The Brigade looks forward to future projects such as increased public access, development of an interpretive center, and assisting with maintenance of the light tower.

As an all-volunteer organization, the efforts of the Faulkner’s Light Brigade are primarily supported by member donations. Please consider becoming a member. Don’t let the light go out!