Man buys island off Long Island's North Fork

The federal government is selling tiny Little Gull Island and its historic lighthouse, located off the North Fork, to a Connecticut businessman.

The General Services Administration conducted an online auction in October for the rocky 1-acre island about eight miles east of Orient Point and its 81-foot-tall lighthouse built in 1869.

Agency spokesman Patrick Sclafani said Thursday that the GSA has accepted the high bid of $381,000 from Connecticut resident Fred Plumb on Oct. 25. “We anticipate closing in the next several weeks,” Sclafani said.

Plumb, owner of Plumb Products machine tool company in Woodbury, told Newsday Thursday in a telephone interview, “I don’t own it” yet. When asked about his plans for the island, he said, “I don’t need any more publicity,” and hung up.

Besides the lighthouse tower, the island has a dilapidated dock and a concrete slab where the former keepers’ quarters used to be located. The granite three-story Second Empire-style structure with mansard roof was destroyed by fire in 1944 and replaced by a modern one-story structure that was removed by the Coast Guard in 2002.

The lighthouse was automated in 1978 but the Coast Guard has maintained the beacon and foghorn and will continue to do that.

The other six bidders included the New London Maritime Society, which owns the New London Harbor Lighthouse.

Above: Passengers get an up-close look at the Little Gull Island Lighthouse. (July 17, 2010)