North Dumpling Island
| 270px
Dean Kamen's home on North Dumpling Island
|
|
| Geography | |
|---|---|
| Location | Fishers Island Sound, Southold, New York |
| Coordinates | Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found. |
| Country | |
North Dumpling Island is the northernmost of two islands in Fishers Island Sound, located about 0.3 nautical miles (550 m) north of South Dumpling Island.[1] The two-acre (8,000 m²) island is privately owned by Dean Kamen, inventor of the Segway Human Transporter and founder of FIRST, and is home to the North Dumpling Lighthouse. It is a mile (1.6 km) off the coast of Connecticut, south of Groton, Connecticut, but is within the territory of the town of Southold in New York State.
History
The island was bought by John Winthrop, son of the governor of the Massachusetts Bay Colony, and owned by the Winthrop family until 1847, when it was sold to the federal government to be the site of a lighthouse. In 1959, the beacon was automated and the lighthouse and grounds were sold to a private party. In 1986, Kamen bought it.[2]
After he was initially denied permission to build a wind turbine on the island, Kamen joked that he was seceding from the United States.[3][4] Recently, with the help of Fritz Morgan, Chief Technology Officer of Philips Color Kinetics, the island's electrical system was converted to a combination of wind and solar power, operating independently of the regional electrical grid. This was accomplished by replacing all lighting on the island with LEDs, which resulted in a 70% reduction in in-house energy consumption.[5][6] Kamen says that solar panels on every building, a 10 kW wind turbine and a "little" Stirling engine for backup power, means that the island is carbon neutral.[7]
Though its secession is not legally recognized, Kamen refers to the island as the "Kingdom of North Dumpling", and has established a constitution, flag, currency, national anthem, and a navy consisting of a single amphibious vehicle. The people of North Dumpling are called "Dumplonians",[8] and Kamen is said to refer to himself as "Lord Dumpling" or "Lord Dumpling II". In addition to North Dumpling Lighthouse, the island features a replica of Stonehenge.[3][4]
References
- ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found. Graphic
- ↑ Lighthouse Friends history of N. Dumpling Island
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
- ↑ 4.0 4.1 Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
- ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
- ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
- ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
- ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
