The sale is preliminary, as the winning bidder has to negotiate a lease.
A famous Connecticut lighthouse featured on some state license plates sold at auction for almost $300,000.
The Hartford Courantreports the federal government's General Services Administration, which oversees lighthouse sales for the Coast Guard, said that Saybrook Breakwater Light went to an unidentified bidder for $290,000 in an online auction.
The sale is preliminary because the winner must negotiate a lease with the state for the submerged lands under the 127-year-old structure.
This negotiation process snarled a previous sale. The 48-foot lighthouse sold in 2013 for $340,000, but the bidder could not negotiate a lease with the state for the land for the submerged lands. Since then, the state legislature enacted a law smoothing the way for negotiating such leases.
The lighthouse is featured on some Connecticut license plates and proceeds going to the Long Island Sound Fund.
This report contains information from The Associated Press.
