.jpg) Aerial view after Hurricane Sandy | |
  Falkner Island | |
| Geography | |
|---|---|
| Location | Long Island Sound |
| Coordinates | 41°12′39″N 72°39′11″W / 41.210880°N 72.653190°W |
| Area | 2.87 acres (1.16 ha) |
| Administration | |
United States | |
| State | Connecticut |
| County | New Haven |
| City | Guilford |
| Demographics | |
| Population | 0 |
Falkner Island (also called Faulkner's Island) is a 2.87-acre (1.16 ha) crescent-shaped island located in Long Island Sound 3 miles (5 km) off Guilford, Connecticut, United States. The island has been visited by the Native Americans for thousands of years. Its Quinnipiac name is "Massancummock", meaning "the place of the great fish hawks". In 1641, Henry Whitfield and the founders of Guilford purchased the island from the Mohegan tribe's sachem, Uncas, as part of a transaction for the land east of East River. Purchased by the Stone family in 1715, it remained in the family until it was sold to the government in 1801.
The Falkner Island Light was constructed in 1802 and commissioned by President Thomas Jefferson. The light is the second oldest in Connecticut and is listed on the National Register of Historic Places. The lighthouse was automated in 1978, and continues to operate as a navigational aid to the nearby Intracoastal Waterway. The island is part of the Stewart B. McKinney National Wildlife Refuge and has the fifth-largest colony of nesting roseate terns in the northeastern United States. Much of the island's land mass has been lost to erosion, down to about 2.87 acres (11,600 m2) from its original 4.5 acres (18,000 m2). The United States Army Corps of Engineers reinforced the eastern boundary to slow the advancing deterioration.