We recently posted about the tanker Mary A. Whalen‘s 80th birthday. The historic lighthouse tender Lilac is also celebrating her 85th birthday.
2018 Season Opening — 85th Birthday with Cake
The ex-USCG Cutter Lilac, originally built for the U.S. Lighthouse Service, was launched on May 26, 1933. To celebrate her 85th birthday, birthday cake will be available for all visitors when the ship opens for her 2018 season next Saturday, May 26th on Hudson River Park’s Pier 25 in Manhattan.
In addition to cake, there will be tours of the ship, the opportunity to view the current exhibition, and to see the progress made over the winter in restoring communication systems and getting things looking shipshape. Admission is free (although donations are always appreciated.)
New Hours
Lilac will be open Saturdays and Sundays from 2:00 to 6:00 PM starting next weekend and will be open until mid-October. The ship will also be open for special events.
Artist’s Reception, June 7, 6:00 to 8:30
Lilac‘s first exhibit of the season is Innerspace Microsculptures, a selection of photographs of Hudson River phytoplankton by Andrew Paul Leonard. It will be on view through July 31 and is co-sponsored by the Lilac‘s environmental program partner The River Project. An opening reception on the evening of Thursday, June 7, will include a cash bar with wine and beer.
Lilac is the last surviving steam-propelled lighthouse tender in America and is listed on the National Register of Historic Places. The U. S. Lighthouse Service used such vessels to carry supplies to lighthouses and their keepers as well as for maintaining the buoys and range lights that guide ships and boats into harbors and away from rocks and reefs. Today, the lighthouses on our coastlines and harbors have been automated. The term “lighthouse tender” has been dropped from use, and specialized vessels servicing aids to navigation have the more appropriate designation “buoy tender.” The Lilac became a Coast Guard Cutter when the U. S. Coast Guard and the U. S. Lighthouse Service were combined in 1939.
Lilac is now a museum ship owned and operated by the non-profit Lilac Preservation Project whose goals are to preserve the ship, promote maritime education, provide a venue for history and art, and offer a community-friendly space for meetings and events.
Founded in 2003, the Lilac Preservation Project is a non-profit educational foundation. Its Board of Trustees is made up of mariners, historians, and professionals dedicated to bringing life to America’s last steam-powered lighthouse tender.