Climb Aboard America's Oldest Intact Lighthouse Tender
Step aboard a preserved lighthouse tender at Pier 25, restored by volunteers and still open along its historic decks.
⚓ Step Onto the Deck
The Lilac sits at Pier 25 in Hudson River Park, a retired lighthouse tender built to service the region's lighthouses and buoys. Volunteers now run it as a museum ship. Much of the vessel is mid-restoration, and you see the work in progress rather than a finished exhibit. Walk the open deck, look into the engine room, and climb between levels where the original machinery still sits. Along the hull you can still read the painted number W227, a quiet marker of its Coast Guard years. Weekend afternoons are the window, and flat shoes help on the steel stairs.
