Around the State: Bridgeport

 The Department of the Interior selected Beacon Preservation, Inc., as recipient of the Penfield Reef Light, which is being deaccessioned under the National Lighthouse Preservation Act of 2000 (see CPN, November/December 2004).           The lighthouse was built in 1874, at a time when Bridgeport was becoming a major industrial power and improving its harbor. It has been automated since 1971. One of the last offshore masonry lighthouses built before the switch to cast-iron towers, it is listed on the National Register of Historic Places. Beacon Preservation is a private nonprofit organization dedicated to the preservation of lighthouses and their environments for educational, cultural, recreational, and historical preservation purposes. Under the Lighthouse Preservation Act, Beacon must restore and maintain the light, and allow the Coast Guard to continue its use as a navigational guide. The organization is also considering an application to take over the Old Saybrook Breakwater Light, the lighthouse depicted on Connecticut’s “Save the Sound” license plates.