U.S. Coast Guard Certified Lampist Tom Cumella standing next to the Fresnel lensPhoto: Kendall Buhl/WBZ NewsRadio
NEWBURYPORT, Mass. (WBZ NewsRadio) — A piece of maritime history arrived at a Newburyport museum Thursday.
A Fresnel lens that once light up the Coney Island Lighthouse for nearly a century is now on display at the Custom House Maritime Museum.
The lens was made in the late 1800s in Paris and was in use in the U.S. from 1888 until 1986. It has since been retired and been on display at several museums in the country, including the Pomham Rocks Lighthouse in Rhode Island in 2021.
“The French, they’re artist anyways,” U.S Coast Guard Certified Lampist Tom Cumella told WBZ NewsRadio. “They built something to do a job but it’s a work of art.”
The Custom House museum's staff and volunteers, along with crews from the U.S. Coast Guard Station Merrimack River nearby, helped carefully transport the fragile glasswork into its temporary display location.
“There’s some nervous guys carrying this 150-pound history up some granite stairs in here,” Bob Cronin, chairman of the Custom House museum, said. “But [they did it] without a hitch.”
The museum’s Executive Director, James Russell, said they hope to have a complete exhibition of the historical artifact in April. Once finished, “the lens will look like it’s floating in space, which is going to be really fantastic,” he said.
WBZ NewsRadio's Kendall Buhl (@WBZKendall) reports.
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