Today a skeleton tower marks the place where the Stuyvesant Lighthouse stood. Probably the most famous piece of history concerning this lighthouse happened in 1832 when an ice jam which had formed up river broke and washed away the lighthouse and four members of the keeper's family. Legend has that the mother did not heed the warning because she wanted to finish her ironing. As a result four of their children were drowned. They are buried in the old Butler Cemetary in Stuyvesant, except for the youngest whose body was never found. A new lighthouse was completed in 1838. Stuyvesant's lighthouse was rebuilt for a third time in 1868. Once again in 1902 an ice jam developed, this time down river from the lighthouse between the Stuyvesant Lighthouse and the Coxsackie Lighthouse. However the water backed up flooding the lighthouse at Stuyvesant and when the ice jam broke, the old (1838) dwelling was washed away. The present lighthouse had fared better than its predesessors, having sustained only minor damage to the tower and needing some repairs made to the walls. It was fully operational by the summer of that year. This time no one was in the lighthouse when the ice gave way.
The early lighthouses on the upper part of the Hudson River did not fare well due to ice flows and spring flooding and the fact that were not well constructed.
Stuyvesant was established in 1829 and was rebuilt twice, in 1837 and in 1868.
Coxsackie was established in 1830 and was rebuilt in 1868.
Saugerties was established in 1836 and rebuilt in 1869.
Rondout was established in 1837 and was rebuilt in 1867 and in 1915 a third lighthouse was built on the north side of the Rondout Creek.The first two lighthouses were on the south side of the creek.
"TheLightkeeper"