Little Gull Island Light stands on a tiny rocky islet in Long Island Sound at The Race, the main entrance to the Sound between Little Gull Island and Fishers Island. Because of this strategic position, the site has long been important to navigation. A lighthouse was first established there in 1806, and the present conical granite tower replaced it in 1869. The light was automated in 1978 but remains active. Its exposed setting also linked it to conflict and maritime danger, including a Royal Marines raid during the War of 1812 and the 1881 grounding of the Galatea, which led to an investigation of the fog signal.