History
The original white granite structure was dismantled in 1883. Crews took the structure down block by block, replacing it with a brick and cast-iron station, a “spark plug” tower, with five stories standing forty-eight feet tall. The original circular foundation, or caisson, is constructed of rusticated granite blocks. It measures forty-five feet in diameter, and rises above the high tide level to twelve feet. The promenade deck, which until 1966 had a porch, surrounds the tower.
The first floor interior is a single room which was used as the kitchen and includes an entry door; a door that leads to the cellar; and a door to the windowed stairway to the second and the third floor rooms. At the fourth floor a landing opens onto two rooms illuminated by six port lights and a steel ladder leading to the Watch Gallery. It opens onto the balcony outside. Its ceiling is comprised of eight twelve-inch round windows which shed light down to the Watch Gallery. The keeper would sit in the light-filled, round room, mind the light through the night, and read, write, rest, or go outside onto the balcony. Access to the light, which for many years was kerosene powered, was at hand. A steel ladder leads from the Watch Gallery to the Light Gallery; it has eight 2’ x 3’ windows and opens onto a narrow catwalk
Looking up through the watch gallery floor.
Photo: Erin Urban, 2016
The lighthouse’s first keeper, Isaac Johnson, first lit the lamps in 1839. Late in 1885 Civil War veteran John Walker was appointed keeper, and with his wife Katherine, their daughter Mae, who was born shortly after their arrival, and Kate’s son Jacob, he moved to the light, where Kate made a beautifully-appointed home. But five years later John died, and Kate, a diminutive figure standing 4’10,” was named keeper because no one else wanted the job. She watched over the Harbor for thirty-three years, witnessing and reporting shipwrecks and disappearances, rescuing people and their vessels, and maintaining the eight lamps, siren, and foghorn. When snow or ice obscured the light gallery windows, she climbed out to the narrow deck around it to clear them.
The Walker Family with their friend Esther Olsson on the Promenade deck, circa 1910.Top from left, Alberta, Mae, and Catherine, and,bottom from left, Jacob, Jr., Loretta, Lucille, Esther Olsson, and Kate Walker, lighthouse keeper from 1895-1919.
(Walker Family Collection)
Captain John Walker (1832-90) and Katherine Walker (1848-1931).
Though lighthouses did have single woman keepers, Kate was the only woman in this country managing one surrounded by water, at the time when, as John A. Noble said, “New York was the busiest harbor in the world.” Equipped with lanterns, Kate, alone in her 15’ dory rigged at the top of the cassion, lowered it, and rowed off to rescue people and save stranded vessels.
In good weather Kate rowed her children to and from school on Staten Island. In addition to parenting and the lighthouse schedule and duties, she kept her home, corresponded, reported her activities, listened to music on her phonograph under the canopy in her rocking chair, and read books delivered periodically from the “library ship.” Between periods of solitude, she looked forward to visits from her friends on Staten Island. Gatherings out at the light brought conversation, laughter, and news—to contrast with her quiet vigil and give it balance.
Kate reading in her rocker, circa 1910
(Walker Family Collection)
After Kate retired, lighthouse keepers, some with families, took over, and later Coast Guard crews of three lived there until 1966, when they sealed the windows with plywood and sheet metal, powered the light with solar energy, and began regular visits to check on the tower. In 2010, the government de-excessioned the lighthouse and offered it to Not-for-Profit groups and the Noble Maritime Museum bought the lighthouse for $1. In 2021 the Noble Maritime Collection passed the lighthouse onto the newly formed Robbins Reef Lighthouse Foundation which continues to own it to this day and is in the process of restoring the lighthouse.
One day soon, this little gem of New York Harbor will be open for visitors.
The cast-iron tower at Robbins Reef, constructed in 1883, and seen here circa 1910. (Walker Family Collection)
Jacob, Jr. watches as his grandmother, Kate Walker, hoists the flag at Robbins Reef, circa 1915. (Walker Family Collection)
Kate retires and leaves the lighthouse. February 28th, 1919. (Walker Family Collection)
Jacob Walker was appointed keeper of Robbins Reef when his mother retired in 1919. In this photograph, he is wearing the uniform issued by the US Lighthouse Service. (Walker Family Collection)
The interior of the lighthouse kitchen, circa 1950 (The Noble Maritime Collection)
Kate's granddaughter, Lucille Walker Payne, returns to the lighthouse in 1974. (Staten Island Advance)