Visiting the Little Red Lighthouse

The sixteenth annual Little Red Lighthouse Festival will be held this Saturday, September 20, at the foot of the Great Gray Bridge. Among all New York City’s events for children, this is one not to be missed, and it's happening right in my neck of the woods in upper Manhattan.

In 1942 Hildegarde Swift wrote a picture book, with marvelous illustrations by Lynd Ward, about the lighthouse that sits on Jeffrey’s Hook in New York City, the bank of the Hudson River looking across to the New Jersey Palisades. It was called The Little Red Lighthouse and the Great Gray Bridge, in honor of the massive George Washington Bridge that looms directly overhead. The relationship between these two structures--most lighthouses do not situate underneath bridges--is the subject of the book. It’s not a straightforward history, of course--that can be summarized simply by saying that the lighthouse was built first--but a story about how the lighthouse felt when it was no longer needed and what it did to start feeling important again (even if it involves a bit of deus ex machina). The analogy for children, who are small and unempowered folks in a world of larger-than-life adults, is obvious yet still beneficial: everything and everyone has a purpose in this world.

An actual history of the lighthouse can be found on its Wikipedia page or in the back the book itself. What's not included in the latter is the fact that the lighthouse was scheduled for demolition in 1951, but outcry from fans, largely young ones, of the book eventually led to its ownership passing to the city's parks department, which resulted in the lighthouse's preservation to the present. That a children's book could have such a dramatic effect on public policy is encouraging. It seems, in fact, that the book was correct: even little people can have an effect in this big world.

In 2003 Vantage Books published a new paperback edition that is fairly easy to find. At sixty-four pages it’s quite longer than your typical picture book, but it can be read in one sitting. We read it a few times before going to the festival last year and Loretta, then three, loved it. She was then trying to spot the G.W. Bridge all the time, whether it were it sight (Fort Tryon Park) or not (downtown). For an even longer time she thought it was terrific she had a book about her own neighborhood.

Here are two views from New Jersey:

The lighthouse--obviously--stays in place year round. The park’s open all the time; my wife Carol regularly runs past it along the path down the Hudson, and often over the bridge itself to Fort Lee and back. What the Festival offers is, first and foremost, a chance to go inside. It is a little lighthouse, so there are free tickets distributed for entrance; last year we were too late to get in. While we don’t intend to repeat that mistake this week, there was still plenty of other activities to fill up our day: a hayride (the highlight of the day), face painting, arts and crafts (several stations), games (also several stations), and even playing in the sand by the river. Dr. Ruth made an appearance to read Swift’s book; while this was poetic, Loretta (who, remember, had read the book earlier that week) was more interested in the hands-on activities. Here’s some evidence of how we filled our day:

First things first... (Loretta wouldn't do or play anything until she looked like a kitty cat.)


"Am I as pretty as my shirt?" (That's facing south, midtown Manhattan in the background.)


Playing with Rose.

Learning to row a boat, dry docked.


The festival, which is free, runs from noon to 5pm. There’s information here and here. The actual location is Fort Washington Park, at 178th St. and the Hudson River. Last year there were good walking directions posted all the way from the A train’s 181st St station (with actual people along the way to assist those still confused). This weekend the A train’s down north of 168th St. but I expect the same service from the free shuttle bus, which runs the same route as the train all the way to 207th St.