Built in 1839. Listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1979. 13 historic topographic surveys show this location, the earliest from 1898.
From the record
“Esopus Meadows Lighthouse, nicknamed "Maid of the Meadows" and often simply referred to as the Esopus Light or Middle Hudson River Light is an active lighthouse on the Hudson River near Esopus, New York. The lighthouse stands on the west side of the channel, in the river, its granite foundation built atop piles that have been driven into the riverbed, and is accessible only by boat.”
Wikipedia article Esopus Meadows Light, CC BY-SA 4.0.
One of 209 National Register listings published here for Ulster County · listed in 1979 · category: Structure · built in 1839.
National Register reference number.79001638- the number the National Park Service assigned this property when it was listed, and the key its nomination file is catalogued under at the National Archives.
Then and now
1898 to 1993
The ground this property stands on, surveyed
95 years apart. Drag the handle to wipe between them. Both sheets are
United States Geological Survey originals; neither has been altered.
18981993
Fires near this property
259 since 1997
Regional context, not property-specific
evidence. The
federal wildfire occurrence database
lists 259 fires within 5 miles of Esopus Meadows Lighthouse
between 1997 and 2020, burning about 250 acres in total. 13 started naturally. 39 were recorded as arson.
Distance is straight-line from the map coordinates, so a fire counted
here may appear on a neighbouring settlement's page as well.
Reported cause
Fires
Missing data/not specified/undetermined
156
Arson/incendiarism
39
Debris and open burning
18
Smoking
16
Natural
13
Equipment and vehicle use
9
Power generation/transmission/distribution
4
Recreation and ceremony
3
Misuse of fire by a minor
1
The most recent of
them, most recent first, with the day each was reported and the service
that recorded it.
Regional context, not property-specific
evidence. The federal mineral resources record lists
11 workings within 5 miles of Esopus Meadows Lighthouse: 6 past producers, 5 producers.
5 still produce. What was taken out: Sand and Gravel, Construction, Stone, Crushed/Broken, Limestone, General, Bloating Material. Distance is straight-line from the
map coordinates, so a quarry counted here may appear on a neighbouring
settlement's page as well.
Regional context, not property-specific
evidence. The National Weather Service names
Esopus, the town this property stands in, in 20 storm reports between 1995 and 2024: 17 thunderstorm wind, 1 tornado, 1 hail, 1 flood.
No death or injury is recorded in these reports. Each account below is quoted exactly as the forecast office
filed it, from the NOAA Storm Events Database, and each date
opens the federal record of that event.
Golf ball size hail was reported in Esopus during a thunderstorm.||The large hail led to the destruction of tree fruits, berries, and vegetables near Esopus, and across several other locations across Ulster County. Preliminary total damage estimates due to hail in Ulster County was near 16.6 million.
United States Geological Survey topographic
sheets whose coverage includes this point. Matched by taking the coordinate the National Park Service records for this property, then
testing that coordinate against the published boundary of every sheet.
Other National Register properties close
enough to walk or drive between, ordered by distance from this one. Both
positions come from the same geocoding pass that matched these properties
to their map sheets.
Listing record. National Park Service National Register of Historic Places, listed-properties dataset, current to 2026-05-22.
Map join. Address geocoded through the United States Census geocoder, then tested against the published boundary of every sheet in the USGS Historical Topographic Map Collection.
How this page is made. Listing fields come from federal records; map-sheet coverage is a labelled coordinate-to-boundary calculation, not a source-field claim.
Wildfire. Short, Karen C. 2022. Spatial wildfire occurrence data for the United States, 1992-2020 [FPA_FOD_20221014]. 6th Edition. Fort Collins, CO: Forest Service Research Data Archive. https://doi.org/10.2737/RDS-2013-0009.6 Collected with United States Government funding and usable without additional permissions or fees.
Mines and quarries. USGS Mineral Resources Data System (MRDS) https://mrdata.usgs.gov/mrds/ A work of the United States government, no copyright under 17 U.S.C. 105.
Storms. NOAA National Centers for Environmental Information, Storm Events Database https://www.ncei.noaa.gov/stormevents/ A work of the United States government, no copyright under 17 U.S.C. 105. Narratives are quoted verbatim from the National Weather Service report and are not edited or summarised.
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