• New London Connecticut Holiday Ornament, Ledge Lighthouse, View 1
  • New London Connecticut Holiday Ornament, Ledge Lighthouse, View 2
  • New London Connecticut Holiday Ornament, Ledge Lighthouse, View 3
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New London Connecticut Holiday Ornament - Ledge Lighthouse

New London Connecticut Holiday Ornament - Ledge Lighthouse

$28.00 USD
$28.00 USD
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Ledge Lighthouse. It is a brick mansion. In the middle of the water. With a lighthouse on the roof.

New London Ledge Light was completed in 1909, and its improbable shape has a very human explanation: the wealthy families whose houses lined the shore objected to a plain iron tower spoiling their view, so the government built them something that matched the neighborhood. French Second Empire, red brick, mansard roof, at the mouth of the Thames River. Keepers lived on it until it was automated in 1987, and generations of them passed down the story of Ernie, the keeper said to haunt it.

Every lighthouse is a compromise between what the sea requires and what people can build. This one is a compromise between what the sea requires and what the neighbors would tolerate - which makes it both the most absurd light on the coast and the most revealing.

For the submariner's family, the ferry rider, anyone who has passed it going out of the harbor and done a double take.

Below are excerpts from our New London history page. The New London town logo and the full town story are available through the collection link above.

Printed on a three-inch faceted crystal glass round, white-backed so the warm brick and the cold water hold against each other and the wreath catches tree light. The faceted edge throws light from every angle. Arrives boxed - white or gold gift box, your choice at checkout.

3-inch (76 mm) round crystal glass ornament · faceted gem-cut edge · white-backed print for crisp contrast · red ribbon hanger · your choice of white or gold gift box, included · free U.S. shipping.


QUICK FACTS — NEW LONDON CT CRYSTAL ORNAMENT — LEDGE LIGHTHOUSE

Town: New London, Connecticut

Founded: 1646

Known for: Second-busiest whaling port in the world; the Coast Guard Academy; Eugene O’Neill’s Monte Cristo Cottage; the Thames harbor

Art: Ledge Lighthouse, original Merlin Classics engraving

Blank: 3-inch (76 mm) round clear crystal glass ornament, faceted gem-cut edge

Print: white-backed for contrast; red ribbon hanger

Packaging: white or gold gift box, chosen at checkout

Made to order in the USA



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Wear Local. Feed Local. Stay Classic.

Product FAQs

How does your sizing work?

Every item is made to order, so please check the size chart on this page before you buy. Women's fitted tees run small; size up for a looser fit. Caps are one size with an adjustable strap.

How are items made and when will they arrive?

We make each item to order using premium blanks, embroidery and soft-hand prints. Production takes 2-5 business days (weekends and holidays excluded), then 4-10 days in transit via USPS, UPS or FedEx to U.S. addresses; most orders arrive within 6-15 business days. You'll get a tracking link the moment it ships. Any current shipping offer is shown in the bar at the top of every page and applies automatically at checkout, no code needed.

How do I send a gift?

Enter the recipient's address as the shipping address and your own as the billing address at checkout. Nothing ships with a price; the package includes a plain packing slip. Tracking goes to your email, not theirs. For birthdays and holidays, order two weeks ahead to be safe.

What's the return policy?

Made-to-order items can't be returned or exchanged for size or color, so please use the size chart and photos before ordering. If anything arrives defective, misprinted or damaged, send a photo and your order number within 30 days and we'll replace it or refund you.

How do I care for my item?

Apparel: wash cold, inside out, with like colors; no bleach; tumble dry low or hang dry. Embroidered pieces: iron inside out to protect the stitching. Caps: spot clean. Printed glasses and water bottles: hand wash only, no dishwasher, so the artwork lasts. Mugs and engraved glasses are dishwasher safe. Any item-specific care notes are in the description above.

Who makes this?

Merlin Classics is a small Connecticut brand making original retro designs for the towns people love. Every piece is printed, embroidered or engraved to order in the USA, and the business supports hunger relief in the communities our collections celebrate.

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The Whaling City on the Thames — a deep-water port that once sent more whaleships to sea than almost anywhere, and today trains the officers of the U.S. Coast Guard. New London sits at the mouth of the Thames River where it opens into Long Island Sound, on one of the deepest harbors on the Atlantic coast. The Pequot lived and fished on this water long before John Winthrop the Younger founded the town in 1646; by the mid-1800s it had grown into the second-busiest whaling port in the world, and in the next century it became the home of the U.S. Coast Guard Academy and its tall ship, the Eagle. Whaling wealth, Revolutionary fire, and the Coast Guard — this page tells the story.

The water came first. The Pequot people lived and fished at the mouth of the Thames, and the settlement John Winthrop the Younger began here in 1646 was called Pequot until it was renamed New London in 1658 — for the city in England, on a river the colonists renamed the Thames to match. With one of the best deep-water harbors on the coast, New London became a shipbuilding and shipping town, and in the Revolution a base for privateers who captured hundreds of British vessels. That made it a target: on September 6, 1781, a British force led by the turncoat Benedict Arnold — born just up the river in Norwich — burned much of the city and stormed Fort Griswold across the Thames in Groton. New London rebuilt; chartered as a city in 1784, it turned back to the sea.

Why People Visit New London Connecticut

People come to New London for its deep maritime history and its working-harbor life — the whaling heritage, the Coast Guard Academy, the lighthouses and ferries, the literary thread of Eugene O'Neill. It is a real seaport, not a recreated one: a small Connecticut city with a great harbor and a long view down the Thames toward the Sound.

New London Connecticut Merlin Classics retro vintage logo featuring the Connecticut oyster shell over 1636