What's Up

at the

Custom House?

April 20, 2025

#StandUpForScience #Museums4Science

It's SPRING -- the ever astonishing season of rebirth & renewal! Just look at the Palowonia tree, at left. It was cut down a year ago and with reason: the center trunk had rotted out. But look at the new shoots, the buds!

Just inside the fence, Felix Orlando is getting the courtyard ready, below. We have many plans for summer.

The Custom House is Open Thurs.- Fri. 1-5 PM,

Sat. 10 AM-5 PM, Sun. 1-5 PM.

We are closed today, Sunday, April 20.

on view through April

Picturing Us at the Beach: Vintage Photography in the Studio and on the Sand, vintage photography from the collection of Lisa Kereszi. Photo, above.

Lisa Kereszi: Images of nearby Little Gull Island, photos taken when she visited the privately owned island in 2023 with NLMS. Photo, above.

This week at the Custom House

We're taking stock this week at the Custom House.

Like many of our fellow nonprofits, things are growing increasingly weird. But we have much to be grateful for. And with a little help from our friends, we'll get through!

As I write this on Saturday night, it is the anniversary of 'the shot heard round the world'-- marking the commencement of the American Revolution's 250th anniversary.

A similar revolutionary spirit was evident as I drove by the courthouse on my way to work: No king for New London!

Feeling part of the community is especially important in times like these.

Participate! Volunteer with us. Meet your neighbors, make new friends, and do some good. We have many ways for you to get involved, from exhibition construction to docenting to organizing and helping with events. You can make a difference in the world by making a difference in our community first - and have a good time doing it!

Volunteers receive additional perks including 20% off in our fabulous shop. Just send an email and we'll get started.

Photo, above: volunteer Alex Gurgenti recently completed repairs & added a fresnel light to our Latimer Reef lighthouse model and returned it to the Custom House. The model was created by a former Latimer Lighthouse keeper and donated to NLMS by Capt. John of the Sunbeam Fleet.

A recent NLMS acquisition & donation, above, from left: a photo of Harbor Light as seen from Pequot Avenue ca. 1930 (NB: showing the dock off the ledge behind the lighthouse); Sharon Brown donated this fun illuminated disk depicting Ledge Lighthouse! We'll add it to our display of lighthouse souvenirs. --S

Saturdays, Sundays, & by appointment year-round

a popular destination for more than a century.

Visit Inside NL Harbor Pequot Light

Visit Long Island Sound's oldest and tallest lighthouse.

We offer Harbor Light tours every Saturday & Sunday at noon. Climb 116 steps up into the lighthouse lantern. The views are spectacular!​ Tours for up-to five people take approximately 40 minutes. Sign up today. To book a custom tour, send us an email.

Speaking of Harbor Light, last September NLMS was approached about having Harbor Light used as a setting for a segment of a PBS artist-in-residency video.

That video just was published. Take a look here on the WNET link:  https://www.allarts.org/programs/artist-in-residence/soulsigns-ad-cc-ogr1nx/#.

Harbor Lighthouse is at the very very end, just after a segment filmed at The Book Barn! We thank Estlin Davies-Smith for his help with the film crew.

next Sunday, April 27, 6-9 pm

Open Mic at the Museum

Co-hosted by Kenny 'Doc' Frazier and Christina Corcoran, our monthly open mic welcomes music, poetry, prose, stand-up, or just state what is on your mind. Show up at 5:45 and get on the list! Open to all ages and abilities for fun & camaraderie. It's a friendly crowd!



Sponsored by Kozmik Music Services.  Admission is by donation. The evening is available on the Open Mic at the Museum Facebook page. The page also posts many of the individual performances from past sessions. Photo, above: Open Mic at the Museum.

Docent Christina Corcoran sent a photo, right, a visitor from China, who is touring the world and happened to stop by the museum.

Photo, below: a visitor from Hartford.

We thank Gordon Videll, Chief Executive Officer of Sea Services North America, for a great talk at Jibboom on Tuesday.

The NL HarborCam is your 24/7 eye on the harbor, above.

Please share Bluesky our new social media platform so that we can find our people! We post videos (Jennifer Burns talks about her grandfather's USCG post in Alaska), events, and articles of note. @customhouse.bsky.social

Photo, bottom: The center emblem at the basketball court at the new NL Recreation Center.