Lighthouse Lecture: “The Sinking of the Steamboat Lexington”

Southold Historical Museum is pleased to once again offer the Lighthouse Lecture Series at Horton Point Lighthouse at 2pm, Saturday, July 8.

Rain date: July 9 at 2pm.

The first lecture is titled “The Sinking of the Steamboat Lexington: Long Island’s Worst Maritime Disaster” and will be presented by Bill Bleyer. The 1840 fire and sinking of the Lexington in Long Island Sound claimed the lives of all but four of the up to 150 people on board. The survivors escaped by using cotton bales as life rafts with one drifting for 40 hours in subfreezing weather before landing in Riverhead. The disaster became a milestone in journalism history because young lithographer Nathaniel Currier rushed to make an image of the fire for the New York Sun, which put out extra editions using the illustration, one of the first times a daily newspaper had an illustration with a breaking news story. The loss of the Lexington also led to an important Supreme Court decision and helped lead to tougher safety regulations for steamboats.

As you can imagine, fans of Long Island maritime history, and those less familiar, will not want to miss Bill Bleyer’s talk as he leaves audiences with a wealth of stories and facts to share with others. The Horton Point Lighthouse lawn offers an intimate and inspiring setting for visitors to come and relax, listen, and learn.

Bill Bleyer was a prizewinning staff writer for Newsday for 33 years specializing in history and maritime issues before retiring in 2014 to write books and freelance for the newspaper and magazines. He is co-author, with Harrison Hunt, of Long Island and the Civil War (The History Press, 2015). He is the author of Sagamore Hill: Theodore Roosevelt’s Summer White House (The History Press, 2016); Fire Island Lighthouse: Long Island’s Welcoming Beacon (The History Press, 2017), and Long Island and the Sea: A Maritime History, (The History Press 2019); George Washington’s Long Island Spy Ring: A History and Tour Guide (The History Press, 2021), and The Sinking of the Steamboat Lexington on Long Island Sound (History Press, May 2023). The Hofstra University graduate has taught economics and journalism there and history at Webb Institute, the naval architecture college in Glen Cove.

Southold Historical Museum is proud to offer the Lighthouse Lectures Series free of charge. Attendees are asked to bring their own lawn chair. Donations are gladly accepted. For those without a parking permit, there is a $5 fee to park in the Southold Park District lot.

**And mark your calendars for Aug. 5 at 2pm, when Ray Nofi presents "History of the Holland Submarine," the second in our Summer Lecture series. Ray has a keen interest in the Holland submarine, which was tested in the waters of New Suffolk.

More at: https://www.southoldhistorical.org/upcoming