2013 First-Class Forever Stamp,New England Coastal Lighthouses: New London Harbor, Connecticut

U.S. # 4795
2013 46¢ New London Harbor, Connecticut
New England Coastal Lighthouses

New London, Connecticut, has a deep harbor at the mouth of the Thames River and sits at the entrance of Long Island Sound. In 1761, Connecticut’s first lighthouse was built on the site using funds raised by selling lottery tickets. The stone tower with a wooden lantern was also the first station on Long Island Sound.

During the American Revolution, the harbor became a base of Colonial naval operations. Privateers raided British supply ships, then sailed past the light tower to safety on the Thames River.

In 1801, a new 89-foot stone lighthouse replaced the shorter tower, which had developed a large crack. The nation’s first flashing light signal was also installed to distinguish the lighthouse from the surrounding homes.

The lighthouse was one of the popular attractions for summer visitors who traded the heat of the city for New London’s seaside breezes. Among the seasonal residents was the O’Neill family. The lighthouse had a strong impact on young Eugene O’Neill. He later wrote about it in his award-winning plays Ah, Wilderness! and Long Day’s Journey Into Night. Like O’Neill, memories of the New London Harbor lighthouse remain in the minds of many who have stood in its shadow.

Howard E. Paine and Greg Breeding used Howard Koslow’s original painting for the New London Lighthouse stamp.  Koslow’s paintings, based on modern photographs, have been used for all of the lighthouse stamps since the series began in 1990.  His art has appeared on a number of other U.S. stamps since 1971.

Value: 46¢ 1-ounce first-class letter rate
Issued:  July 13, 2013  
First Day City: New London, CT
Type of Stamp: Commemorative
Printed by: Banknote Corporation of America for Sennett Security Products
Method: Lithograph printing in sheets of 120 in 6 panes of 20
Perforation: Serpentine Die Cut 11 x 10 ¾
Self-Adhesive
Quantity Printed: 16,200,000 stamps

New London Harbor, as well as the other four lighthouses honored on the 2013 stamps, is one of the oldest in the U.S. and is included on the National Register of Historic Places. 

Other issues in the Lighthouse series include:

1990 Lighthouses (U.S. #2470-74)
1995 Great Lakes Lighthouses (U.S. #2969-73)
2003 Southeastern Lighthouses (U.S. #3787-91)
2007 Pacific Lighthouses (U.S. #4146-50)
2009 Gulf Coast Lighthouses (U.S. #4409-13)