8. Traces of the First Lighthouse on North Brother Island Still Remain

In 1868, after failed attempts to establish a lighthouse in 1829 and 1848 (the landowners refused to sell), a piece of land on the southern tip was acquired in 1868 by the federal government. The lighthouse built here was the first long-term structure built on the island. According to Randall Mason in North Brother Island, The Last Unknown Place in New York Citythe small lighthouse built had a mansard roof and octagonal tower. Today, Mason rates, “traces of the lighthouse and federal owned property remain.”