Falkner Island is a 4.5 acre (18,000 m²) crescent-shaped island located in Long Island Sound

Long Island Sound

Long Island Sound is an estuary of the Atlantic Ocean, located in the United States between Connecticut to the north and Long Island, New York to the south. The mouth of the Connecticut River at Old Saybrook, Connecticut, empties into the sound. On its western end the sound is bounded by the Bronx...

 3 miles (5 km) off the coast of Guilford

Guilford, Connecticut

Guilford is a town in New Haven County, Connecticut, United States, that borders Madison, Branford, North Branford and Durham, and is situated on I-95 and the coast. The population was 21,398 at the 2000 census...

, Connecticut

Connecticut

Connecticut is a state in the New England region of the northeastern United States. It is bordered by Rhode Island to the east, Massachusetts to the north, and the state of New York to the west and the south .Connecticut is named for the Connecticut River, the major U.S. river that approximately...

, USA

United States

The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...

.

The island is part of the Stewart B. McKinney National Wildlife Refuge

Stewart B. McKinney National Wildlife Refuge

The Stewart B. McKinney National Wildlife Refuge is a National Wildlife Refuge in ten units across the U.S. state of Connecticut. Located in the Atlantic Flyway, the refuge spans of Connecticut coastline and provides important resting, feeding, and nesting habitat for many species of wading...

 and has the fifth-largest colony of nesting roseate tern

Roseate Tern

The Roseate Tern is a seabird of the tern family Sternidae. This bird has a number of geographical races, differing mainly in bill colour and minor plumage details....

s in the northeastern United States. Originally called Falcon Island until around 1795, today it is known as Falkner Island on most charts and maps.
The local population calls it Faulkner's Island.

A lighthouse

Lighthouse

A lighthouse is a tower, building, or other type of structure designed to emit light from a system of lamps and lenses or, in older times, from a fire, and used as an aid to navigation for maritime pilots at sea or on inland waterways....

 was constructed in 1802 and commissioned by President Thomas Jefferson

Thomas Jefferson

Thomas Jefferson was the principal author of the United States Declaration of Independence and the Statute of Virginia for Religious Freedom , the third President of the United States and founder of the University of Virginia...

, warning of dangerous shoals and shallows in the area. This lighthouse is the second oldest in Connecticut (after New London

New London, Connecticut

New London is a seaport city and a port of entry on the northeast coast of the United States.It is located at the mouth of the Thames River in New London County, southeastern Connecticut....

) and is listed on the National Register of Historic Places

National Register of Historic Places

The National Register of Historic Places is the United States government's official list of districts, sites, buildings, structures, and objects deemed worthy of preservation...

. It is 46 feet (14 m) tall, octagonal in cross-section and built of brownstone lined with brick. The United States Coast Guard

United States Coast Guard

The United States Coast Guard is a branch of the United States Armed Forces and one of the seven U.S. uniformed services. The Coast Guard is a maritime, military, multi-mission service unique among the military branches for having a maritime law enforcement mission and a federal regulatory agency...

 built a three-story home at the lighthouse tower in 1871, but it was destroyed by fire on March 15, 1976. The lighthouse was automated in 1978, and continues to operate as a navigational aid to the nearby Intracoastal Waterway

Intracoastal Waterway

The Intracoastal Waterway is a 3,000-mile waterway along the Atlantic and Gulf coasts of the United States. Some lengths consist of natural inlets, salt-water rivers, bays, and sounds; others are artificial canals...

.

Much of the island's land mass has been lost to erosion

Erosion

Erosion is when materials are removed from the surface and changed into something else. It only works by hydraulic actions and transport of solids in the natural environment, and leads to the deposition of these materials elsewhere...

, down to about 2.87 acres (11,614.5 m²) from its original 4.5 acres (18,210.9 m²). The United States Army Corps of Engineers

United States Army Corps of Engineers

The United States Army Corps of Engineers is a federal agency and a major Army command made up of some 38,000 civilian and military personnel, making it the world's largest public engineering, design and construction management agency...

recently reinforced the Eastern boundary to slow the advancing deterioration.