1593 UNITED STATES (New York) - Execution Rocks Lighthouse

Located in the middle of Long Island Sound, on the border between  New Rochelle and Sands Point, Execution Rocks Light stands 17m tall, with a white light flashing every 10 seconds, and is cosidered an early example of "wave swept tower" engineering. The granite tower is painted white with a brown band around the middle, and has an attached stone keeper's house, in Gothic Revival style. It is rumored that the lighthouse's site got its name before the American Revolutionary War when British colonial authorities executed people by chaining them to the rocks at low tide, allowing the rising water to drown them. Actually the name was chosen to reflect the dangerous shipping area created by the rocks' exposure during low tides.

On March 3, 1847, the United States Congress appropriated $25,000 for creation of Execution Rocks Lighthouse. Designed by Alexander Parris, construction was completed in 1849, although it was not lit until 1850. Over the years, it has survived both a fire and a shipwreck. A Daboll trumpet was added on Jan 25, 1869. Before being executed for murder, serial killer Carl Panzram claimed in a posthumous autobiography that in the summer of 1920 that he raped and killed a total of ten sailors and dumped their bodies at sea near Execution Rocks Light.

About the stamps
The first stamp, depicting a Navajo jewelry (2c), is part of the definitives series American Design (2002-2007), about which I wrote here. The second belongs to a series featuring 10 images from vintage flower seed packets, about which I wrote here. The last, depicting Spicebush Swallowtail, is part of a definitive series with butterflies, about which I wrote here.

References
Execution Rocks Light - Wikipedia
Execution Rocks, NY - Lighthouses Friends

Sender: Denise
Sent from Greenvale (New York / United States), on 29.01.2014