NEW YORK’S SEAWAY LIGHTHOUSES

New York’s Seaway Lighthouses OPEN

Underwriters: Announcer: New York’s Seaway Lighthouses is made possible by grants from:

The Department of the Interior, National Park Service. Any opinions, findings, and conclusions or recommendations expressed in this material are those of WPBS-TV and do not necessarily reflect the views or policies of the Department of the Interior.

And by Cornell Cooperative Extension of Jefferson County operating Taste NY at the North Country Welcome Center overlooking the 1000 Islands Bridge. Foods and gifts made by local farmers and producers. Breakfast, lunch and dinner available on-site or on-the-go. Online at ccjefferson.org/tasteny

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Narrator: The Seaway Trail stretches nearly 500 miles along the shores of the St. Lawrence River, Lake Ontario, the Niagara River, and Lake Erie. America’s longest designated National Recreational Trail, The Seaway Trail runs from Massena, New York, to Erie, Pennsylvania. It was designated a National Scenic Byway in 1996 and is designed for motorists, boaters, and bicyclers.

Along the shores of the Seaway Trail, from Ogdensburg, New York, to Erie, Pennsylvania, are approximately twenty-five lighthouses. These lighthouses are each unique in architecture and history. Some were built to welcome ships into a busy harbor; others built to warn mariners of rocky shoals or islands. Whether protecting ships from peril or marking the entrance to a port, a lighthouse was always a welcome sight to the sea-weary mariner.

Early lights on the Great Lakes were built mostly of stone materials and housed the Winslow- Lewis lamp. This lamp was a variation of the Argand lamp, developed in Switzerland. It contained a circular wick, a mantle, a spherical reflector, and a green glass lens. The lens and reflector were not very effective, and the powders used to clean them wore the lens out quickly. A new system was desperately needed.

In 1822, in France, Augustin Fresnel developed the Fresnel lens. The light was refracted by prisms at the top and bottom of the lens, creating a single pane of light, which was then magnified many times by a powerful magnifying glass. This method produced a concentrated beam of light visible for several miles. But it took a full thirty years before the United States government decided to convert American lighthouses to the new innovation. The decision was made after realizing that the lens could be paid for in three years with the savings in whale oil, used as fuel for many of the lights.

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A first-order Fresnel lens is about ten feet high and is used mostly in ocean lights. From there, the lenses decreased in size. The fourth order lens is about 3 and a half feet tall. Third and fourth order Fresnel lenses, about midsize, were commonly used in the Seaway Trail lights. Though the lenses on each lighthouse were basically the same, the light emitted was not. Each lighthouse had a certain characteristic in it’s light. It might be on for thirty seconds and off for thirty, or on for fifteen and off for thirty. Those characteristics let a ship’s navigator know exactly what port was nearby.

In 1789, Congress passed, and President George Washington signed, the Lighthouses Act, which established The United States Lighthouse Service. A scandal resulted in a complete revamping of the Lighthouse Service and in 1851, the Lighthouse Board was established. The Lighthouse Board renovated most working lighthouses in the U.S. to house the Fresnel lens and established strict standards for lighthouse keepers.

In 1939, the Coast Guard took over from the Lighthouse Service, assuming responsibility for all aids to navigation

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Ogdensburg Harbor Lighthouse, Ogdensburg, New York

Narrator: The Ogdensburg Harbor Light, constructed in 1870, is the second to occupy this low rocky point where the Oswegatchie River joins the St. Lawrence River. The original lighthouse, which dated to 1834, was demolished in 1871.

DO NOT INCLUDE IN DOCUMENTARY (owner of lighthouse has asked not to mention anything about Fort La Presentation, as he is involved in a fight with them): Lighthouse Point was also the site of Fort La Presentation, established by the French in 1749 to control the passage on the St. Lawrence River between the Great Lakes and Montreal. However, less than a year later, the fort and two vessels anchored offshore were burned by the Mohawk Indians. Later, during the War of 1812, the British captured the city of Ogdensburg.

For about 25 years, Lighthouse Point was an island. Trees and shrubbery had died away as water washed away the soil and cut a channel between the lighthouse and main shore.

An early keeper was Samuel Penfield, who came in 1888 and died in 1914. Later keepers were James Gunn, who was there when electric lights were installed in the 1920’s, and Harold Cook, who lived there until 1942, when the lighthouse was decommissioned.

Narrator: Not everyone was happy to see the old lighthouse torn down and the new one built in 1870. Some did not like the design of the new building. The Ogdensburg Journal in 1870 compared the new structure to the old lighthouse and announced the new lighthouse a “most contemptible structure.” Fortunately, the newer lighthouse is as endearing to the residents of today’s

2 Ogdensburg as the old one was to the residents of 1870. Later, in 1900, the lighthouse’s attached tower was raised to 63 feet to increase its visibility. It was decommissioned in the early 60's.

The lighthouse is now privately owned. The family of the current owner purchased the property at a government auction in 1964.

Blair Roethel, Ogdensburg Harbor Lighthouse: “This was pretty well dilapidated. All the windows were broken, lot of vandalism. € There’s a lot of maintenance with the place. I’ve renovated quite a bit of it, plumbing, wiring, heating, fixed up the structural part of it, made it livable year-round.”

Narrator: The tower still needs refurbishment. In 2011, the Coast Guard placed a light back in the tower, and it is once again a navigational beacon.

Blair Roethel, Ogdensburg Harbor Lighthouse: “My mom and dad always wanted to have it to benefit the city and the surrounding areas for tourism, to help draw people into the community. And so I've tried to help out with that. Property's always open to people. We have weddings. People come down, take their pictures.”

Crossover Island Lighthouse, off Chippewa Bay, New York

Narrator: Crossover Island was so named because at this point, ships traveling the St. Lawrence Seaway crossed from the American Channel to the Canadian channel. Crossover Island Lighthouse was constructed in 1848 of inferior materials and had to be rebuilt in 1882. When the lighthouse was built, the island was practically bare rock with a few trees on it. A solid rock wall was constructed along the southeast part of its waterfront. The keeper’s dwelling was rebuilt in 1882 with the lighthouse. The boathouse was built in 1869 and re-built after a fire destroyed it in 1890. In 1899, the color of the lighthouse was changed from brown to white. Obed Robinson was the light’s first keeper. He was followed by Samuel Whitney in 1851, and E. C. Robeson in 1856

Daniel Hill, a career keeper for the Lighthouse Service, served at the Buffalo Reef, Thirty Mile Point, Ogdensburg, Huron, and Crossover Island Lights. He was keeper of Crossover Island from 1909 to 1931. He kept detailed logs. During his career, he rescued more than 400 stranded mariners, the most dramatic occurring when a small biplane crashed just off the island. As the three passengers were safely brought ashore, the plane exploded and burned.

The keeper’s four children attended a one-room schoolhouse on the mainland, rowed by their father across the three-quarter mile channel in a St. Lawrence River skiff. The ash house doubled as a smoke house where his wife smoked hams, fish, and particularly, eels. The Hill family harvested up to 200 eels nightly.

The light was discontinued on April 10, 1942. In 2013, Don and Kathleen Berg purchased the property, and began substantial renovations.

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Don and Kathleen Berg: Owners, Crossover Island Don Berg: “Well it wasn't something we were actually looking to do. We just sort of stumbled upon it on the internet and called a realtor and they said, "Well why don't you come up and take a look?" We thought, "Well it would be a nice drive and a boat ride" so we came out here and looked and the place needed a lot of work. My wife, Kathy, wasn't too enthused but I was enthused. It's kind of a neat place, I thought. That's how it happened.” Kathleen Berg: “It was a jungle. Crossover was an absolute jungle. The weeds were six to nine feet tall, the paint was peeling, there was not a redeeming quality about it except for the glint in his eye that you just knew that you couldn't say no.” Kathleen Berg: “Also, I think we care about nature and history and this was going into disrepair and although many people had been out to look at it, Don and I were the only ones who really ventured forth to offer to really do it. This is kind of saving history, it's part of this river's history and it's just part of this community. I think that's kind of who Don really is, you know? He looks and sees something and says, "If we don't do something it's not gonna happen."

Narrator: Today, the privately-owned light is no longer in service.

Sisters Island Lighthouse, off Chippewa Bay, New York

Narrator: Constructed in1870, Sisters Island Light was needed to mark a difficult channel on the Canadian side of the island. However, with the commissioning of the lighthouse, the river channel was moved to the American side of the island. As part of this process, the river at that point needed to be deepened, which entailed the blasting of bedrock at the river bottom. This was an extremely hazardous operation. Divers working from a support barge placed the charges into drilled holes. Lightning struck the barge during a summer thunderstorm, and the dynamite on the barge exploded. Nine crew members were killed.

The tower, which housed the light, rises about 60 feet. Sisters Island was originally Three Sisters Islands, or three islands that stood next to each other. The space between the islands was eventually filled in and the islands connected.

Captain William Dodge was wounded in the Civil War and given the post of lighthouse keeper. He was appointed Sisters Island Light’s first keeper in 1870 and served with his wife for 23 years, then passed the position on to his son, who kept the light for 28 years. Between the two, they logged 51 years as keepers of Sisters Island Light. At first, the lightkeeper had to stay at the light year round, even though the light was not operated in the winter. Later, the keeper was allowed to go home for the winter months.

Around 1890, late at night, the Dodges were awakened by a horrible crash. The passenger steamer Ocean had collided with the barge Kent. With a huge gaping hole in her side, the captain of the Ocean drove his vessel full steam ahead for the rocks at Sisters Island Light. He wanted to get into shallow water, knowing that his ship could not float for more than a few minutes. The keeper, Mr. Dodge, was involved in the rescue.

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When the St. Lawrence Seaway opened in 1959, the lighthouse was replaced with a nearby buoy. In 1967, the Wolos family purchased the property.

Edward Wolos, Sisters Island Lighthouse: “It had been vandalized by everybody. Most of the windows were broken. Most of the window frames were damaged. It was dirty. We had to get custom made windows, because it's odd sized frames. We had to replace the glass at the light tower. My dad, when we came here, my dad started with a broom upstairs. He just kept sweeping. By the time he got to the lower level, we had two wheelbarrows full of dirt, literal dirt. Apparently, it was hit by lightning, because there was a hole in the roof. There was a hole in the second floor. There was a hole in the first floor, right down to the ground. My dad and I did what you see here.

It's a family recreation area. Yes. My daughter comes. My son comes. My nephews come. The whole family uses the place, and we have a calendar deciding who gets what week and we just work it out amongst ourselves.”

Narrator: Sisters Island Light is now privately owned and is not operational. The lighthouse cannot be seen from the American mainland.

Sunken Rock Lighthouse, off Alexandria Bay, New York

Narrator: Located on Bush Island, the Sunken Rock Lighthouse marks the east entrance to the narrows between Wellesley Island and the mainland. Constructed in 1848 and refitted in 1855, the lighthouse is 40 feet tall. It was originally built as a brick structure and was 27 feet tall. Still in active service, it is owned by the St. Lawrence Seaway Development Corporation, which converted it to solar energy in 1988.

The lighthouse was constructed to warn mariners of a submerged rock that was extremely dangerous to ships. The lighthouse’s foundation built up the submerged rock into a tiny island. Half of the tiny house was a boathouse; the other half, one-room living quarters.

Michael Howard, Executive Officer, St. Lawrence Seaway: “I would imagine it had to be kind of tough. As you can see, it is a very small structure that we're on right now. There was just behind us there was a small light inn for the lighthouse keeper. But it wasn't large enough to maintain their families, so the main residence for the lighthouse keeper was over in Alexandria Bay. So, they had to continuously take their motor launch out to the island to maintain the light, and then after the inn. The lighthouse keeper's inn or residence was torn down and in place was a boathouse that was put in because they could not maintain a residence out here.”

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Narrator: The narrows immediately upstream from Sunken Rock Lighthouse were the site of one of the most recent and spectacular shipwrecks within the Great Lakes and St. Lawrence Seaway. On November 20, 1974, the 640 foot Roy A. Jodrey struck Pullman Shoal off the village of Alexandria Bay. Laden with more than twenty tons of iron pellets, the ship remained afloat for about four hours. It was towed to the Coast Guard Station on Wellesley Island. Attempts to keep it afloat failed and the ship capsized and slipped below the surface. It rests today in approximately 250 feet of water in front of the Coast Guard station.

Rock Island Lighthouse, off Fisher’s Landing, New York

Narrator: Rock Island Lighthouse was built to mark one of the narrowest and most dangerous points on the St. Lawrence River. The first lighthouse on the island was constructed in 1847 and was a combination keeper’s house and tower. In 1882, the combination building was replaced by two separate structures. A conical iron tower was erected at the center of the island. This lighthouse, in the middle of the island, was sometimes difficult to see. When a three-masted schooner and a large steamboat sank within a year of each other after hitting a shoal off Rock Island, the tower was raised five feet. Eventually, a new lighthouse was constructed in 1903, this time at the end of a pier stretching into the river. The iron lantern room of the old light was moved to the new one.

Richard Denner, Park Supervisor, Rock Island Lighthouse: “The tower is approximately 40 feet from the walkway to the platform. There's three landings, roughly 15 stairs to each landing. There's a spiral staircase. Now, the upper half of the, or the very top of the lighthouse, there is three ... there's a small ladder that has about eight steps on it. They take you up and to the very top. € There's a light still in the tower. It works very much like a streetlight at home. It comes on at dark and goes off during the day.”

Narrator: In 1853, former pirate Bill Johnston was appointed keeper. Johnston was on the losing side during the 1838 Patriot War, an unsuccessful four-day attempt by a group of Canadians and Americans to take over Fort Wellington near Prescott, Ontario, from the British. Johnston led a raiding party that burned the ship Sir Robert Peel just off the shore of Rock Island. As a result, Johnston was convicted, but later pardoned by President Harrison. He kept the light until 1861.

Richard Denner, Park Supervisor, Rock Island Lighthouse: “Not only did The Keeper maintain the lighthouse, which was a full-time job in itself, this was also a buoy station. The buoys are pulled out of the river every year. And we still pull a lot of the buoys out of the river, or they are pulled by The Coast Guard. But the buoys would be brought here. And that was part of The Keeper's duties as he would clean them, repair them, paint them, and prepare them for next season. And they'd be maintained, they'd be stored right here on the island until the following spring when they buoys were picked up again and put back in place.”

Narrator:

6 Rock Island light is the only light on the St. Lawrence Seaway that retains the tower and all of its auxiliary structures. The fieldstone smokehouse is from the 1847 lighthouse period. The generator house was built in 1900, and the boathouse built in 1920. These buildings, along with the carpenter’s shop and the keeper’s house, built in 1882, are an accurate picture of maritime life on the river during the late 19th and early 20th centuries.

The lighthouse was decommissioned in 1955. New York State took ownership of the island in 1977 and, after an intensive restoration project, The Thousand Islands Region of the Office of Parks, Recreation, and Historic Preservation opened the lighthouse to the public as a State Park in June of 2013. The park is open during daylight hours, and docking is available.

Richard Denner, Park Supervisor, Rock Island Lighthouse: “We are open from Memorial Day til mid-September. And when you come visit the lighthouse, you can actually go into the Keeper’s house and see where the people had lived and when they lived here. € And you can actually go into the top of the lighthouse and see what it was like to be in the top of the lighthouse. € I hope to see people visiting my Rock Island. We enjoy it out here and we’d love to have you.”

Narrator: Today, Rock Island Light is still operational, guiding ships along the Seaway.

Tibbetts Point Lighthouse & Cape Vincent Breakwater Lighthouse, Cape Vincent, New York

Narrator: Tibbetts Point marks the entrance into the St. Lawrence River from Lake Ontario. The first lighthouse at Tibbetts Point was erected in 1827. Fueled by whale oil, the light remained in service until 1854, when the present tower was constructed.

The steam-operated fog whistle was added in 1896. In 1927, it was replaced by an air-diaphone powered by a diesel engine with the blasts automatically timed. The air diaphone was later replaced by a radio beacon, which guides ships into the river. The fog whistle still works but is no longer used because residents of Cape Vincent and nearby Wolf Island complained that the noise shook their homes.

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Jerry W. Briggs, Tibbett’s Point Lighthouse: “The original lighthouse keeper, he usually had to go up in the tower a couple times a day, a.m. and p.m., refurbish the amount of fuel oil for the lamp, the light or whatever, so it wouldn't cut out in the middle of the evening and that. He also had to polish the lens, the inside of the lamp room or whatever. His other duties was to keep the properties clean, mowed, painted the buildings, whatever. It was a job where it was like what you would call a job that was 24/7. And it kept him busy. They grew their vegetables, they did everything to be independent.”

7 Narrator: In 1939, the Coast Guard officially took over the operation of the light. In 1981, it was automated.

The lighthouse complex consists of the lighthouse tower, a two-story keeper’s residence built in 1800, a steam-fog signal building with several displays, and an iron oil house. The keeper’s house was a Coast Guard Station up until 1981; it is now an American Youth Hostel, along with the assistant keeper’s house built around the turn of the century. The tower is still an active light maintained by the Coast Guard. It has a fourth order Fresnel lens that can be seen from 16 miles out. At present, the lighthouse has the only classical Fresnel lens still in operation on Lake Ontario. It is the original lens and is over 150 years old.

The Tibbetts Point Lighthouse Society, formed in 1988, has restored the light and constructed a Visitors Center and Lighthouse Museum, complete with gift shop. Between ten and twelve thousand people visit the center and lighthouse every year.

Jerry W. Briggs, Tibbett’s Point Lighthouse: “It's definitely a landmark. Because a lot of these ships' captains, they've been on these freighters and Great Lakes carriers for years and years. Even though they do have all the mechanical information and that available, they still use it as a benchmark for the lakes.”

Narrator: Two additional lighthouses once graced the shores of Cape Vincent. The Cape Vincent Breakwater Lighthouse was one of two lighthouses built on a breakwater. At first, two temporary lights were placed on the breakwater in 1901; they were replaced with two permanent structures in 1904. Both exhibited a fixed red light. The keeper lived on the shore and rowed to and from the light station in a small boat. Despite requests for a dwelling to be built on the breakwater, no keeper’s residence was ever constructed. Instead, a lifeline consisting of 7/8th ‘s inch steel line was placed between the two towers to provide the keeper something to hold on to in the event of heavy seas. The lights were in operation until 1951.

The light now sits at the Town Highway Department on Route 12E

East Charity Shoal Lighthouse, off Cape Vincent, New York

Narrator: In 1929, the 35 foot lighthouse off the waters of Lake Erie, near the shore of Vermilion, Ohio, disappeared. Records showed that it had been sent to Buffalo, perhaps to be sold for scrap. A skeleton tower replaced it.

Vermilion residents searched without success to locate the old Vermilion Lighthouse. In September 1994, Olin M. Stevens of Columbus, Ohio, discovered an old newspaper article that told of his grandfather’s first Lake Ontario assignment as keeper of Tibbett’s Point Light in 1937.

8 Grandfather’s Voice: “Although this is my first duty on Lake Ontario, Charity Shoal light, visible from Tibbetts Point, is an old friend. The tower upholding the gas lamp on Charity formerly was under my charge at Vermilion, near Lorain. Victim of an ice shove, it was salvaged and taken to Buffalo, where it was assigned to Charity.”

The missing lighthouse had been found. It now marks East Charity Shoal, a shipping hazard about 3,000 feet long and at some points covered by just 10 feet of water.

The light still operates as a reference point for ships navigating the St. Lawrence Seaway channel and is located 7 miles off Cape Vincent.

Galloo Island Lighthouse

Narrator: Operational in 1820, the Galloo Island Lighthouse is one of the earliest lighthouses on Lake Ontario. It was placed on the southwest end of Galloo Island to mark the outer edge of a group of islands and shoals hazardous to vesssels en route to the St. Lawrence River or Sackets Harbor. In 1857, a new fourth-order Fresnel lens was installed in the tower. By then, the lighthouse was in need of extensive repairs. A new 60-foot tall tower and dwelling was built in 1867. Gray limestone, quarried on the island, was used to build the new structures.

A redbrick fog signal building was added near the shore in 1897, and two 10-inch steam whistles installed.

Most keepers on Galloo Island stayed for just a few years, with a few exceptions. Keeper F. Byron Johnson was keeper for nearly 30 years, and keeper Robert C. Graves nearly matched him with 27 years.

The light was automated in 1963 and is now privately owned, with no public access. It can best be seen by boat.

Horse Island Lighthouse, Sackets Harbor, New York

Narrator: Horse Island lies at the entrance to Sackets Harbor, the nation’s most important shipbuilding center during the War of 1812. During the war, one-third of the United States Army and a quarter of the Navy were stationed at Sackets Harbor. Horse Island was the site of two battles of the War of 1812, and served as the British staging area during the second on May 29, 1813.

General Jacob Brown expected that attacking British troops would land at the cove formed by Horse Island, almost a mile from the village of Sackets Harbor. Though the intended British landing site was actually on the mainland, British soldiers, under heavy fire from the Americans, sought cover on Horse Island. British troops continued to land at Horse Island and began the

9 rush across the shallow causeway between the island and the mainland, toward the village. The Americans won the battle that ensued.

Horse Island Lighthouse was originally built in 1831 and later rebuilt in 1870. At around 55 feet, the new lighthouse was taller than the old one. The early keepers had cows, goats, chickens, and horses on the island. Mrs. Harriet Simmons, who became keeper after her husband Schuyler died after seven years as keeper, had an entire farm at the lighthouse, including chickens that would perch on her shoulders. The isthmus separating Horse Island from the mainland is often very shallow, and the keeper took his children to school with a horse and buggy across the isthmus when he could. When the lake froze during the winter months, the light was not operational, and the keeper and his family moved to the mainland. The first light was powered by kerosene, and later powered by propane. In 1957, the lighthouse was sold to a private family, who kept the lighthouse as a vacation home until 2017. It is now owned by the New York State and is part of the Sackets Harbor Battlefield State Historic Site. Plans are to eventually open it as a state park.

Stony Point Lighthouse, Henderson Harbor, New York

Narrator: Immediately east of Stony Island lies Stony Point, an anvil-like peninsula that, along with the mainland, shapes Henderson Bay. Stony Point Lighthouse was erected in 1869, with a 73-foot square tower and an attached keepers dwelling. This light replaced an 1830’s lighthouse whose foundation still remains.

Wiley Gilbert Nickles was the first lighthouse keeper at Stony Point Lighthouse. He kept the light for thirty years, despite the loss of both arms. The accident occurred when he was 19 years old, at a Fourth of July celebration at Sackets Harbor. A shot fired from a cannon severed both arms just below the elbow. He then had hooks fastened to his arms. The left one was fixed so that he could feed himself; the right one so a pen could be attached. In this way, he was able to do all the government reports necessary for the keeping of the lighthouse. His daughters and wife performed the daily chores of keeping the light: filling the lanterns with oil, trimming the wicks, and polishing the brass reflectors.

One of the last keepers, Mial E. Eggleston, kept the light for 37 years, until 1942. In 1902, he had received a gold life-saving medal for rescuing four men, a woman, and a dog from a wreck on the lake that December.

The lighthouse was removed from service in 1947, when the Coast Guard built an automated light tower nearby.

In late June of 1966, a fire started in a nearby barn and spread quickly to the lighthouse, causing severe damage to the structure. The lighthouse was privately owned by that time. The current owners purchased the property in 2004. After discovering that the lighthouse wasn’t structurally sound, they undertook extensive renovations to the property, including replacing the entire second floor.

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Selkirk Lighthouse, Port Ontario, New York

Narrator: Selkirk Lighthouse, at the mouth of the Salmon River, is unique in structure and appearance among all the Seaway Trail lights. It’s “birdcage” lantern – a hexagonal dome of small paned glass, wrought iron and copper plate – was built before the advent of the Fresnel lens in American lighthouses. It is one of only four lighthouses in existence to still have the original unmodified “birdcage” lantern structure.

The first permanent settlement of Port Ontario was established at the mouth of the Salmon River in 1801. During the War of 1812, the port of Ontario became a haven for smugglers. On October 12, 1820, the ship Asp sunk right off shore of Selkirk during a terrible storm. That tragedy became a major argument for the building of the lighthouse. In fact, many vessels had met their fate in the waters off Selkirk.

A government engineer determined in the early 1830’s that the harbor had sufficient depth and breadth to anchor 30 ships safely. In anticipation of the creation of a major port, the federal government built the Selkirk Lighthouse in 1838.

Originally called the Salmon River Light Station, the lighthouse was to be identical to the one in service at Horse Island Light. The bird cage lantern was built to house a parabolic reflector / lamp system utilizing 8 lamps and reflectors, visible for 14 miles. The light was fueled by whale oil. The keeper was required to maintain three lights: one on each of the now-long-gone wooden piers at the river’s mouth, and the third in the lighthouse.

The building of the Erie Canal and the advent of a railway through Pulaski averted the anticipated commercial development of Port Ontario. The light was decommissioned in 1858. Lucius B. Cole, who began his duties at the lighthouse in 1849, apparently still lived in the lighthouse and kept the light, although officially extinguished, until his death in 1890. Had the light been kept in official service, its birdcage lantern room would have been re-built to house the modern Fresnel lens.

The light was sold to a hotelier in 1895 and became part of a hotel complex built at the turn of the century. The hotel became famous for both its German cuisine and for the constant comings and goings of smugglers during Prohibition. The hotel, boarded up since an explosion in 1987, was torn down in 2016.

Over the years, sand, surf, and modern development have changed the look of Port Ontario. As a result, the lighthouse is now somewhat removed from the lake but still guides smaller boats into the harbor. On August 6, 1989, the light was re-activated and automated. Privately owned, Selkirk Lighthouse is one of the few lighthouses open to overnight guests.

Abe Ellis, Selkirk Lighthouse: “I think the big attraction is the fact that we can stay in a lighthouse. People who love lighthouses don't often get a chance to stay in the lighthouse and say, "We slept in a real live

11 lighthouse." That's the big attraction. € Our family, all of whom are involved in this, are so very proud to have this opportunity. We didn't buy it to make a million dollars. We didn't buy it because it was a prestigious event that we could do. We bought it because we've loved the place our whole lives and we could tell it needed some love. We love sharing it. We have people that come back to us every single year, whether it's to stay in the lighthouse or just to bring their boat in, or to stay in one of our other cottages. They come back every year and they let us know that they think we're doing a good thing, and that's what it's all about.”

Oswego West Pierhead Lighthouse, Oswego, New York

Narrator: The first lighthouse at Oswego was installed on the grounds of Fort Ontario on the east shore of the Oswego River in 1822 and was active until the mid 1830’s.

Initially, other than a nominal seasonal fur trade, the early harbor of Oswego saw little activity. With the opening of the Erie Canal in 1825 and the completion of the Oswego Canal in 1828, Oswego became a major port on Lake Ontario. The dramatic increase in trade called for the building of a new lighthouse.

The Inner Harbor Light was constructed in 1836 at the end of a wooden pier. With the dawning of the industrial age, the port activity in Oswego took another giant leap in activity in the 1860’s, and in 1869, the lighthouse was raised twenty-five feet and a stronger lens placed at the top, so that it would be visible from a great distance.

In 1880, a second breakwater was constructed, and the Outer Harbor light placed on it. That light operated until the early 1930’s. For a while, both the Inner and Outer Harbor Lights greeted mariners entering the Port of Oswego. But with the building of a grain elevator in the 1920’s, the pier it was on had to be lengthened, and the Inner Harbor Lighthouse was removed. Modernization was the cause of death of the Outer Harbor light. New apparatus had made the light obsolete, and it was decided that, rather than upgrade the light, it would be more efficient to build a new, more modern facility that could more easily keep up with the changes in technology.

In 1934, the new lighthouse was constructed. The harbor had been widened. The two piers had been rebuilt, this time of stone, and a new breakwater connected them. The Oswego Pierhead light was placed at the end of the pier, on the site of the old Outer Harbor Light.

Michael Pittavino, Curator, H. Lee White Maritime Museum: “In addition to maintaining just the Oswego West Pierhead Lighthouse itself, there were several other lights in Oswego, and there still are today, that had to be managed and maintained. They had to manage and maintain all of the equipment in the lighthouse. They had a machine shop, generators, compressed-air fog horn, there was always brass to polish, and maintenance of the lighthouse itself, the actual physical structure was astronomically important. So they were always painting, or chipping ice, or recording the weather. It also served as a weather station for a time, and doing all sorts of other tasks.”

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Narrator: Coast Guardsman Ned Goebricher was one of the last lighthouse keepers at Oswego.

Ned A. Goebricher, Coast Guard and Lighthouse Keeper, Oswego West Pierhead Lighthouse: “You got one day off and two days on. So the two days you were there, basically you worked 12 hours a day. There are two people and you just split the thing down the middle. € Most of the time it was quite boring. But some of the times you're scared to death. € Especially during lightning storms because the lightening always knocked the radio beacon off the air, and you had to scramble to get it back up. € It's about a mile and a half offshore and some days it's a really easy boat ride, and some days it's not. And some days they didn't go at all, and they just left the crew there until the next day when the weather got better.”

Narrator: No one lived at the modern lighthouse. Every day, a Coast Guard keeper made the trip by boat out to light the beacon. During a particularly bad storm in December of 1942, the Coast Guard light keeper was trapped at the light, unable to make it to shore. After three days, the Coast Guard made an attempt to relieve him of his shift, but the storm was still pretty bad, and the boat capsized. Six of the Coast Guard men lost their lives, including the keeper who had been trapped at the light. Shortly thereafter, the Oswego Light was automated and remains in use today.

The Coast Guard removed the rotating fourth order Fresnel lens in 1995 and replaced it with a new “VRB-25 Lantern”. The light is now solar-powered. The old Fresnel lens can now be seen at the H. Lee White Maritime Museum.

The City of Oswego and the Maritime Museum took over ownership of the lighthouse in 2009, and the museum acquired the lease of the lighthouse from the city in 2014. They began a restoration project, using mostly volunteer staff, and have opened the lighthouse for tours.

Robert Gode, Tour Guide, Oswego West Pierhead Lighthouse: “We have tours every Friday and Saturday. € And I like to give them a quick history of the lighthouse, and we just take them around, show them the different rooms, and stress how much restoration has been done. Because the lighthouse was empty for several decades after it'd been automated. So when they finally started the restoration it was in very bad shape. So we're very proud of how much has been done.”

Michael Pittavino, Curator, H. Lee White Maritime Museum: “The lighthouse is designed to be a place for public access, a place for education, a place for access to it as a cultural site. So our goal is to get it completely restored in its 1934 vintage, and then enter into a maintenance cycle, where we maintain the physical structure and continue to provide public access to that site as a destination for travel and for education.”

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Old Sodus Point Lighthouse and Sodus Bay Pier Light, Sodus Point, New York

Narrator: From the time of the first settlers in 1792, Sodus Bay was considered an ideal harbor for exporting farm products and other commodities. Sodus Bay prospered and became known for its lumber, grain, and coal trade, commercial fishing, ice industry, and shipbuilding.

The first lighthouse on Sodus Bay was established in 1825. The original lighthouse was a round tower rising 40 feet. The existing lighthouse replaced it in 1871 when the need for extensive repairs was recognized. The tower was fitted with a fourth order Fresnel lens. The stone for the construction of the new lighthouse was transported across Lake Ontario from Kingston, Ontario. During the 76 years the old and new lighthouses were in service, from 1825 to 1901, fifteen keepers were responsible for the care and operation of the light.

Joseph O'Toole, Director, Sodus Bay Lighthouse Museum: “Our very first keeper, here, his name was Ishmael Hill. He was a veteran of the War of 1812, and was appointed to this position. He was subsequently removed from the position for reason of insanity. However, some of the people who had signed the complaint against him, it's questionable to what the motives were. One of the people signing the complaint was Bennett Fitzhugh, who became our second lighthouse keeper, here.”

Narrator: Silt and sand deposited on the shoreline at Sodus Bay over the years gradually created a large, sandy section of land, pushing the Old Sodus Point Lighthouse back nearly a mile from the harbor. As a result, other lights were needed to mark the entrance to the harbor. A permanent beacon, called the Sodus Outer Light, was installed in 1870 and later replaced by this 45-foot tower, installed in 1938 at the end of an 800-foot concrete pier. After improvements were made to the pier light, the Lighthouse Board determined that this beacon was sufficient and decommissioned the shore light in 1901. The Fresnel lens was removed and placed in the pier light. The keeper’s residence was used from 1901 to 1953 to house personnel maintaining the pier light.

Joseph O'Toole, Director, Sodus Bay Lighthouse Museum: “The great advantage for this building was that the residence was attached to the tower. Once this was decommissioned, the poor keeper now had to go about a mile away to tend to the lights in the middle of the night. [Thunder and lightning] € Our poor keeper ... who had to trudge every two to three hours through the night to tend to the lanterns ... had to go through all sorts of weather.”

Narrator: The light on the pier was fully automated in the late 1940’s so a keeper was no longer needed. The last keeper was Edwin Ward who retired in 1953. In 1984, the U.S. Coast Guard turned the lighthouse and its buildings over to the Town of Sodus Point.

14 Today, the Old Sodus Lighthouse is maintained by the Sodus Bay Historical Society. Here, visitors can climb to the top of the lighthouse. The Fresnel lens was installed in the tower in 1988. This is not the original lens but the one used in the lighthouse on the pier. The museum holds sailing, shipping, and lighthouse artifacts, lighthouse artwork, and photography chronicling the history of Sodus Bay, Maritime Library, and gift shop. During the summer months, the protected and scenic harbor of Sodus Point is a magnet for vacationers and seasonal residents.

Charlotte-Genesee Lighthouse, Rochester, New York

Narrator: In 1805 Congress established the Port of Genesee. The port, however, was dangerous. It was surrounded by marshlands and the river partially blocked by a sandbar. A lighthouse was essential. In 1822, the Charlotte-Genesee Lighthouse was erected on a bluff overlooking the mouth of the Genesee River and the port of Charlotte.

The two-room keeper’s residence, built in 1822 along with the Charlotte-Genesee Lighthouse, was painfully small. The house was replaced in 1863 by the present brick structure.

Frederick Amato, President, Charlotte-Genesee Lighthouse Historical Society: “One of the first keepers in the early times, and one of the longest keepers, was their keeper Smith. And, he was here with his family. The first keeper's house was a lot smaller than we are standing in today, that was basically a one room with a one story, one story to half they might call it. There was a loft in there. And, the rooms were divided by a large fireplace in the center. One of the first keepers here had a family of 12 children. Very, very difficult to live in basically two rooms in one story. Then after that in 1863, many years after that happened, the government said that they had some funds and they wanted to build the second keeper's house here. So, where we are standing today was built in 1863. Many of the things in here date back into 1863, including all the windows and stuff like that. And even though renovations have been done, we try to preserve as much as we could in our renovations here.”

Narrator: The port of Genesee was a busy port. Ships full of grain, pot ash, lumber, and wheat arrived and departed continually. Later, Charlotte was a hub for steamships and the railroad. In the early 1900’s, ferries transported coal to Canada.

Shifting sandbars made it difficult for captains to find a safe entrance to the river; in 1829, the first piers were built to control the problem. A lighthouse was placed at the end of the pier in 1838, but was knocked over by the wind. In 1880, a lighthouse of cast iron was built at the end of the pier and eventually transferred to Cleveland. A third lighthouse was built on the end of the pier in 1884, and that light was taken down in 1930. Various other lights filled in over the years, and the present tower at the end of the pier was installed in 1993. It’s official Coast Guard designation is D-9 Tank Structure Tower, but many residents call it the “Barber Pole.”

15 Wind and wave action redistributed the sandbars of the river, creating a beach at the base of the bluff.

As the years wore on, the piers had to be lengthened and the beach grew, causing the lighthouse to be somewhat removed from the water’s edge. In 1881 the Lighthouse Board removed the light from service and the lantern room was moved to the new lighthouse at the end of the west pier in 1884.

The keeper’s house continued to be used by the lighthouse service personnel to service the pier light, but the tower next to the house was barren and empty. When the outer light was automated in 1940, the keeper’s house then served as the home of the Officer in Charge of the Coast Guard up until 1982, when the Charlotte-Genesee Lighthouse Historical Society took over the lighthouse. A hundred years after the removal of the lantern room, in 1984, students from Edison Technical High School built a new lantern room, and it was placed on top of the tower. A Fresnel lens was also installed in 1984. In 2011, however, the Coast Guard retrieved the lens and returned it to Lorain Lighthouse in Ohio, where it had served for many years. A replica Fresnel lens was installed in the Charlotte Genesee Lighthouse and activated on November 1, 2014, the anniversary of the first lighting in 1822. The old stone tower is one of the oldest standing lighthouses on the American side of the Great Lakes.

The Society maintains a museum and gift shop inside the keeper’s house. Tours are available.

Braddock Point Lighthouse, Hilton, New York

Narrator: The Braddock Point Lighthouse is actually located on Bogus Point, three miles to the west. It was supposed to be erected on Braddock Bay, but Bogus Point stuck out farther. Architect Lt. Col. Jared A. Smith based his design on the 1829 Cleveland Light, which was torn down in 1895. The ornate brass lantern, Fresnel lens, and metal work from the Cleveland Light were used to complete the Braddock Light.

Casey Moulton, Innkeeper, Braddock Point Lighthouse Bed and Breakfast: “They actually took the Cleveland lighthouse, which had been decommissioned, took it apart, sent the stairwell, and the lamp, and the tower, in crates, sent it up to Hilton, New York, because they needed a lighthouse that was tall enough to project 15 miles out into the lake. They found, when they built it, of course, within the first three months, that there were structural problems. Though the tower had been a great success on Lake Erie, which is a much more shallow lake, Lake Ontario was a much more fierce and difficult environment for it. Bricks were falling out hitting people in the head in the first three months. They actually installed the oil system improperly and there was nearly a fire that burned down the lighthouse.”

Narrator: Completed in 1896, the complex included the Victorian keeper’s house and the 110 foot red brick octagonal tower. Keepers of Braddock point climbed the tower’s 118 circular steps at least

16 twice a day to maintain what was considered to be “the brightest light on Lake Ontario”. The lens transmitted a powerful 20,000 candlepower beam visible some eighteen miles out on the Lake, its light guiding passing ships eastward to Rochester or westward toward the upper Great Lakes. There used to be a road out in front of the lighthouse, between the lighthouse and the lake, but in 1972, Lake Ontario overflowed its banks and the road was lost.

The Braddock Point Lighthouse operated for nearly 60 years and was extinguished on January 1, 1954. Shortly thereafter, the U.S. Coast Guard removed the upper two-thirds of the tower due to extensive structural damage. As the property lay vacant, trespassers used and misused the building, knocking out windows and exposing the structure to the harsh elements. Soon, the house was full of debris and in ill-repair.

New owners bought the house in 1986 and restored the house to its original beauty, making every attempt to renovate and furnish the house as it might have appeared in the early 1900’s. The tower was re-built in 1995 to a height of 55 feet. The Coast Guard re-lit the light on February 28, 1996, installing more modern lighting in recent years.

Casey Moulton, Innkeeper, Braddock Point Lighthouse Bed and Breakfast: “It is still a functioning light. It's unusual for an old lighthouse to still be active, but we are one of the few active lighthouses in the United States. It is an $18,000 LED lens that projects about 14 miles out into the lake. It uses low voltage. It doesn't need high voltage. I was concerned with the coast guards were working on it. I wanted to know how long this light was going to last. They told me my grandchildren would see it, which is absolutely incredible. You can see technology has really progressed. We've gone from having a lighthouse that ran on kerosene oil to now using such a minimal amount of electricity, as it can project nearly the same distance. It's quite incredible.”

Narrator: In 2008, the lighthouse was once again sold, and in 2010, the new owners opened the lighthouse as a year-round bed and breakfast.

Casey Moulton, Innkeeper, Braddock Point Lighthouse Bed and Breakfast: “The thing that attracts me to the Braddock Point Lighthouse are the lives that have touched it, the families. You can't compile that in just one structure. So many folks have taken care of and tended to this location that it's inspiring, and it inspires me. People inspire me. Having guests, here at the lighthouse, is something. Seeing their faces light up during the tours has been something that's special to me.”

Thirty Mile Point Lighthouse, Barker, New York

Narrator: Thirty Mile Point Lighthouse was erected in 1875 along Lake Ontario’s shoreline near the mouth of the Golden Hill Creek. The lighthouse derived its name from being located at a point thirty miles east of the Niagara River. The site was selected to warn vessels of a treacherous sandbar and dangerous shoal where several vessels had been shipwrecked in the prior two centuries.

17 Perhaps the largest of the ships was the English naval frigate, the H. M. S. Ontario, which met its fate on Halloween night in 1780. Eighty-eight passengers, including the retired commander of Fort Niagara, lost their lives. An army payroll of $15,000 in gold and silver was also reportedly lost in the disaster, but no gold or silver was ever found.

A number of other ships also shipwrecked near the lighthouse. When the lighthouse was built, ships usually operated within 5 miles of shore, rather than ten or fifteen miles out like they do today.

The gray stones used to construct the lighthouse and attached residence came by ship from Chaumont Bay, near Watertown, New York. Seventy feet high, with a circular steel stairway, the tower offers a panoramic view across the lake to Canada. The beam from its 2000-pound third order Fresnel lens could be seen from a distance of 18 miles. Eventually the keeper’s house was converted to accommodate two families. Each keeper had a busy 24-hour shift.

Barb Larson, Interpretive Staff, New York State Parks: “Life here, when they built the lighthouse, it was built on farmers' fields. The farmers were surrounding the area, so it was just basically two families that lived here. A main keeper and an assistant. They used horses if they needed to. It was very isolated here. € In the morning they would clean the lens, also bring up a five-gallon container of fuel to the top of the tower. Then at night they would be up there every three hours. The tower itself was not lit, so it would be a dark journey up there. € At night they would start at sunset. Then they would light a light. Then every three hours they would be checking on it. In their logs they would put their reports.”

Narrator: The light operated every year until the end of December, or the first part of January, and then would start again after the ice melted in March or April. In 1935 the Coast Guard assumed ownership and maintained the light for several years. With the erosion of the sandbar, however, the need for the light had ended. On December 17, 1958, the light was decommissioned, the Fresnel lens removed, and the lighthouse doors closed.

Today, the lighthouse is the property of New York State and is now part of Golden Hill State Park. The keeper’s house has been extensively renovated and is open to the public. Most of the original buildings on the property still exist. The old horse stable and barn, constructed at the same time as the lighthouse, is now a garage. The lighthouse was isolated and the horses and carriage provided the keeper with an important link to the outside world. In its day, the fog horn building housed a generator that produced power for the tower light and house, along with a separate generator and 60-horsepower electric motor with compressor for the fog horn. The lens was electrified in 1885.

This building is the original outhouse. This building houses a well and pump. The keeper and his family would carry drinking water into the lighthouse in the years before the installation of electric pumps and water lines. This circular red building once stored the kerosene used to power the light.

18 Nearby are campsites, picnic areas, and marina with a boat launch. During the summer months, visitors can tour the grounds and keeper’s dwelling. The lighthouse now operates as a private landmark lighthouse, which means that boaters use the lighthouse to tell where they are. A modern plastic lens with a low-power light was installed in 1998 that reaches approximately two miles out into the lake.

Old Fort Niagara Light, Youngstown, New York

Narrator: The Niagara River, joining Lake Ontario and the Western Great Lakes, has served as an important harbor and military base of operations since the colonial period. With the increase in military and commercial traffic precipitated by the American Revolution, the need for a navigational aid at the river’s mouth became evident. Eventually, four lights, including one on the Canadian shore, would be erected at or near Fort Niagara.

Bob Emerson, Executive Director of the Old Fort Niagara Association: “Probably the most famous shipwreck that involved Fort Niagara was the sinking of the HMS Ontario in 1780. That happened further east from here, but it was taking really a number of personnel from Fort Niagara over to the eastern end of the lake, including the fort's commandant, Colonel Mason Bolton. It got caught in a storm and it went down fairly quickly. It was lost for well over two centuries. A few years ago, it was located, the shipwreck. That's the most, I think, the most famous shipwreck story connected to the fort.”

Narrator: The first Fort Niagara light was established on the roof of the fort or “Castle” in 1781 or 1782. This light is considered to be the first “unofficial” navigational lighthouse on the Great Lakes. It was in use until around 1803 and was removed by 1805.

The federal government re-established a light atop the “French Castle” of Fort Niagara in 1823. With the completion of the Erie Canal in 1825, Niagara River commerce decreased considerably and the port at Niagara lost much of its importance. The ports of the lower river retained some local trade, however, and so a light was still considered necessary.

By the 1860’s, the location of the light was becoming inconvenient and inefficient. Military officers living in the “French Castle” complained that the lighthouse keeper had to walk through the building carrying oil for his lamp.

The existing stone light went into service in 1872. The Fresnel lens was moved from the Castle to the top of the new tower. In 1900 the tower was raised 11 feet in order to increase its visibility, so that the light could be seen from twenty five miles out on Lake Ontario. The light was eventually electrified and maintained as an automated beacon by the Coast Guard. In 1993, the light was decommissioned, and the Fresnel lens was removed for safekeeping in 1995. The lens can be seen at the Fort Niagara Visitor’s Center.

19 Old Fort Niagara, within Fort Niagara State Park, is a National Historic Landmark. Built by the French in 1726 to monitor the fur trade out of the Great Lakes Basin, it was lost to the British during the French and Indian War and stayed in British hands during the American Revolution. After the war, the fort was turned over to the United States, which held the fort till 1813. During the War of 1812, the British launched a surprise night attack on the fort and captured it in about a half-hour. The fort was restored to the U.S. in 1815.

Today, Old Fort Niagara is a museum and historic site that showcases the evolution of a fortress over a period of a couple of hundred years. The Fort contains the most complete collection of 18th century military architecture in the country, along with unique examples of military engineering and important archeological resources. Old Fort Niagara holds several annual historic events during the summer. The fort is open year-round.

Bob Emerson, Executive Director of the Old Fort Niagara Association: “The scenery here is terrific. You can look out only that lake and put yourself back a couple of centuries and think about what it must have been like. Especially, even in the wintertime, you get that sense of isolation that a soldier here must have felt when they were posted here and when they were unlucky enough to be left here over the winter. € People do enjoy getting to go up in the tower because it's a panoramic view of the river and the lake and of course the fort. You can look down into the fort from there.”

Buffalo Main Light, Buffalo, New York

Narrator: In 1805, Congress named the small frontier settlement of Buffalo a port of entry on Lake Erie. At that time, Buffalo Harbor was little more than a sand-clogged creek mouth. In 1811, plans were made to build a lighthouse, but the outbreak of the War of 1812 and subsequent British burning of Buffalo in 1813 put those plans on hold.

After the War ended, marine traffic into Buffalo increased. The port urgently needed a lighthouse and improvements to the harbor.

The first Buffalo lighthouse was lighted in 1818, making it one of the first official lighthouses on the Great Lakes. The New York State legislature also authorized money for improvements to the harbor, and piers were built.

On the night of October 31, 1821, the first steamship on the Great Lakes, the Walk in the Water, was caught by a gale just off Buffalo Harbor and was beached a few yards from the lighthouse. A survivor of the of the wreck told the tale:

Female Survivor’s Voice: “The boat struck a beach in a fortunate spot for the safety of the passengers and crew – near the lighthouse – and all were saved. The warm fireside we gathered around at the lighthouse was comforting to our chilled limbs and our hearts warmed with gratitude to God for deliverance from our peril.” -- Mrs. Alanson W. Welton, survivor of the Walk in the Water

20

Narrator: With the dedication of the Erie Canal in 1825 and the subsequent increase in marine traffic, the original lighthouse was declared inadequate. It was set too far back in the harbor and was often obscured by the smoke of the village. A new light was completed in 1833. The new light rose 68 feet and was erected on the end of a 1400-foot stone pier. It was fitted with a Winslow- Lewis Argand lamp. This lamp now housed at the Buffalo and Erie County Historical Society is the only known Argand lamp still in existence. It is the original lamp used in the Buffalo Main Light. The keeper’s quarters remained more than a thousand feet away, on the land where the original lighthouse had stood.

Michael Vogel, President of the Buffalo Lighthouse Association: “At this lighthouse, all the keepers were men. The first keeper was a man named John Skaats. He quickly drew criticism from some of the shipping interests in the harbor. They called him a man of dissolute morals and singularly obnoxious to the public, which may or may not be true because, back then, there was a lot of competition for lighthouse appointments. € Keeper of this light would have had to visit the light several times during the course of the day and the evening. His duty was to keep the tower in generally good condition, clean, keep up the maintenance on it. He would have had to clean the window glass and the lantern, the storm panes in the lantern, every day inside and out. If you visit the top, you'll see how scary that must have been. They're just basic hand holds, OSHA didn't exist back then, and a very low railing that's just barely ankle high. It would have been that kind of a tough job.

Tending the light, he would have had to lug five-gallon cans of oil up the steps, fill the reservoirs, trim the wicks, make sure the lights were burning brightly in the evening, and he would had to have come back and make sure of that at least once a night.

Getting on and off the Horseshoe Reef Lighthouse was done by rowboat. It could only be done in a flat calm, so quite often the keepers were stranded out there. € It was considered one of the worst duty stations in the lakes. Others were serviced off this point by boat. The third lighthouse was a very substantial brick house with a tower coming up through the middle of it and a fog signal building. Keepers lived out there on that lighthouse. The modern one, the 1961, is completely automated, so that's serviced occasionally. The last keepers in Buffalo Harbor were at the South Buffalo Lighthouse, and they were Coast Guardsmen who were removed in 1962.”

Narrator: Later, in 1854, the light was heightened to 76 feet and fitted with a fourth-order Fresnel lens. But even this wasn’t enough. Commerce in the port of Buffalo was still growing at a rapid pace. It was not unusual for a hundred or more ships to visit the Port of Buffalo everyday. At the turn of the century, this was the seventh busiest port in the world.

Marine traffic in Buffalo harbor continued to increase, and the need for more lights was urgent. Horseshoe Reef light was built in 1856. The lighthouse was actually built on Middle Reef, in Canadian waters. Today, it stands in American waters. The lighthouse never moved – the border did. The British government gave the United States permission to build the lighthouse in

21 Canadian waters. In 1913, an international commission moved Canada 100 feet to the west of Horseshoe Reef Light.

In 1868, a detached 4,000-foot breakwater was constructed over two thousand feet out in front of the lighthouse. The Breakwater Lighthouse was built in 1872. The Breakwater lighthouse was a magnet for ships. It was hit by a tug in 1899, by a barge in 1900, by a freighter in 1909, and by a steamer in 1910. The accidents weakened the structure, and in 1914 the breakwater light was rebuilt. That same year, the Buffalo Main Light went dark. The Breakwater’s bright new beacon was deemed bright enough.

On July 26, 1958, the huge lake freighter Frontenac swung out of the Buffalo River toward open water. A Coast Guard keeper on duty at the Breakwater light noted with alarm that the ship’s swing was much wider than usual. He watched the commotion on the ship as they tried to right the course, but it was too late. The Frontenac rammed the breakwater light with such force it knocked it backward 20 feet and gave it a permanent tilt. In 1961 that light was demolished and this one built to replace it. This modern breakwater light was automated from the start and sits on one of the longest breakwaters in the world.

The Buffalo Intake Crib Light was built in 1871.

The South Buffalo South Side Lighthouse was built in 1903, automated in 1962, and was taken out of service in 1992.

Sometimes, lightships were used to help guide ships into Buffalo harbor. A lightship was simply a ship with a beacon of light that functioned as a lighthouse. The lightship could be moved if needed, and could be placed in areas where it would be extremely difficult to build and man a lighthouse. The lightships were built to withstand all kinds of seas and were anchored solidly in place.

The Light Vessel 82 was one such lightship stationed near the Buffalo Harbor. During a fierce storm in November of 1913, the ship’s beacon, which should have been visible for miles, vanished. It had become a victim of the 80-mile an hour winds, driving snow, and pounding waves of Lake Erie. More than a dozen ships and nearly 250 sailors met their end in that storm. Light Vessel 82 was only the second lightship in the Lighthouse Service’s history to sink on station, and the first to go down with the loss of all hands. Six men died. The lightship was later salvaged from the bottom of Lake Erie, and incredibly, was restored and put back into service again on the Great Lakes.

In the early 1960’s, the Army Corps of Engineers announced plans to widen the river mouth and demolish the Buffalo Main Light. But public protest and a “save the light” campaign resulted in the restoration of the long-neglected tower. The light from 1833 became Buffalo’s oldest building still standing on its original site. In 1985, the Buffalo Lighthouse Association was formed which undertook further improvements to the tower. A new lens was placed in the tower, and it was re-lit to open the first international Friendship Festival in 1987. In August 2013, the fourth-order Fresnel lens, which desperately needed preservation work, was removed from the lighthouse. It was restored and placed on display at the Heritage Discovery Center. In

22 2015, a new replica lens similar to that used from 1856 to 1905 was installed in the Buffalo Main Lighthouse, and lit for the first time in 2016. It is lit now for show only, intentionally kept weak to avoid confusing mariners. The lighthouse can best be viewed from the Erie Basin Marina.

Dunkirk Lighthouse, Dunkirk, New York

Narrator: Situated on a bluff overlooking Lake Erie and Dunkirk Harbor, Dunkirk Lighthouse has historically served the dual role of aiding Great Lakes navigation and guiding vessels through the difficult approach to the harbor. In its day, Dunkirk Harbor was a busy port. But gradually, as the city and port of Buffalo to the north grew, the shipping trade migrated there.

The first lighthouse was built in 1826 and rebuilt in 1857 to house the Fresnel lens. However, because of the eroding coastline, that lighthouse was torn down. The present light was built on the same property, but further back from the coastline in 1875. Bricks from the original keeper’s house were used to construct the foundation for the new keeper’s house. The original tower was moved next to the new keeper’s residence, but it was decided that the old tower’s exterior did not match well with the Victorian style house. So the construction crew built a square brick tower around the original round one. Inside the tower, visitors today can climb the ornate, circular cast-iron stairway up to the light. At the top of the tower sits the original Fresnel lens installed in 1857.

In addition to the lighthouse on land, there were several lighthouses placed on a pier that jutted out into Lake Erie. The first and second ones collapsed under the weight of the ice that would coat it in winter. The third one was torn down in 1939 and taken to Buffalo.

The lightkeeper and his family lived at the lighthouse year-round.

David Briska, Events Coordinator and Treasurer, Dunkirk Historical Lighthouse and Veterans Park Museum: “Life here at this lighthouse was actually quite a nice place to live. Most of our lighthouse keepers were here 20, 30, or 40 years because we are inside the city limits of the city of Dunkirk. So they had schools for their children to go to, they had church that they could go to, they had places that they could buy supplies and visit with friends, there was a hospital and doctors here. So this was a very nice lighthouse to live in. € In 1897, they actually had running water and sewers put into the property.

Once the light was lit at dusk, the lighthouse keeper had to go up and down the tower stairs at least every four hours because there was a mechanism at the top of the tower that they had to wind every four hours in order to keep the light going around in a circle. It was called a lens clock mechanism that they had. Plus, they had to regulate the air flow in the tower so that there wasn't too much air going in because that would burn the oil too quickly. And if there was not enough air going into the tower, it would burn too slowly and produce black smoke, which of course would get all over the lens and windows and then they had to go up and clean. So it was an all-night job and if it was storming during the day, they had to also be up in the lighthouse during the day because the light has to be lit from dusk to dawn and anytime it is stormy out.

23 Here at the Dunkirk Lighthouse, we have a dumbwaiter inside the tower because we have the round tower on the inside and the square tower on the outside. They have a dumbwaiter so they would pull all of their supplies up using a bucket with a rope and a pulley to carry everything up and down the 55 steps that they would have to go. They kept about a week’s supply of oil in the tower itself, in both towers, because they didn't want to keep the full supply of oil there in case it caught on fire. It wouldn't affect the house and tower, it was kept in a separate oil building.”

Narrator: The lighthouse is now the site of the Veterans Park Museum, maintained by the Dunkirk Historical Lighthouse and Veterans Park Museum Association. The complex includes several buildings. The keeper’s residence commemorates the life of the lighthouse keeper. A museum building houses displays of the Coast Guard, Submarine Services, sunken ships, and lake freighters.

The light itself is automated and maintained by the Coast Guard. It operates year-round. The lighthouse and grounds are open to the public most days from April to November each year.

Barcelona Lighthouse, Barcelona, New York

Narrator: In 1828 Congress appropriated $5000 for building a lighthouse on the bluff overlooking Portland Harbor, now Barcelona. The year before, Congress had declared Portland Harbor an official “Port of Entry” and established a post office. The name of the town and harbor was officially changed to Barcelona on September 9, 1836. The lighthouse was erected with the expectation that Barcelona would become an important commercial city. Those expectations were never realized.

John Paul Wolfe, Curator, McClurg Museum, Chautauqua County Historical Society: “Barcelona became a major entity in the 1830s and 40s, after the Erie Canal opened up. People were coming, there was a major boom with real estate prices. That's when it was established to be called Barcelona. € It was a booming town, and the real estate soared. They laid out the village of Barcelona with streets, and everybody thought they were going to get money, big money, and everything was fine in the 1830s and the 1840s.

Then a couple of disasters hit for Barcelona. Number one, in 1844, there was a major storm, and the federal government had put in a 1,200 foot barrier of breakwater over to the west, to protect the wharves and everything going on down here in Barcelona. The storm took out the breakwater completely, and destroyed all of the wharves and warehouses and everything. Everything was just wiped out. They had to rebuild. That happened in '44.

At the same time, the very same period of time, Erie, which has a better harbor, Erie, Pennsylvania, they opened up a canal that connected to the Ohio River system. It was a better place to go. Also at the same time, by 1852, trains came through. You take all those together, and it wiped out the whole concept of Barcelona becoming a major port.”

24 Narrator: By 1859, the Lighthouse Board had decided that the Barcelona Lighthouse was no longer needed, and the light was decommissioned, a mere thirty years after it was built.

The harbor, however, did see a lot of activity before the advent of the railway. Its spacious docks were often filled with goods ready for transport on wagon trains headed over the hills to the waterways of the south and west. Barcelona’s commercial fishing trade was started in 1852 and grew rapidly because of the railroad. A report in the local paper in 1863 states that there were 162 sailing vessels counted off Barcelona Harbor that morning.

Upon the lighthouse’s completion in 1829, Joshua Lane, a local clergyman who was deaf, was selected as its first keeper. He was light keeper at Barcelona for nearly 20 years and was followed by three other keepers. At first, whale oil kept the light burning, but with the discovery of a nearby creek containing natural gas, in 1831, the Barcelona Lighthouse became the first lighthouse in the world to be illuminated with natural gas. Two miles of hollowed wooden pipes carried the gas to the lighthouse. The wooden pipes would occasionally fill with water, making it necessary to use oil for a short time.

Barcelona, like other ports on the Great Lakes, was subject to immense storms that could seemingly pop up out of nowhere.

Marla Connelly, Park Manager-2, Midway, Long Point, and Lake Erie State Parks: “There actually are a lot of shipwrecks all over this end of Lake Erie. It has to do with the prevailing winds and the lake getting massive change in depth from the West to the East end. Ships coming from Buffalo West have a very difficult time getting around Long Point. In 1883, there was a really neat wreck, actually, the New Connecticut. And when it went down, it capsized, the crew made it safely to shore but the captain's aunt, Mrs. Applebee, was declared lost. The ship didn't actually sink, it stayed capsized and they were able to tow it in. They brought it in to Portland Harbor here. And when they righted it, out stumbled Mrs. Applebee from her cabin. Five days later. She had a small air pocket and survived. That was a very happy ending to that shipwreck.”

Narrator: The lighthouse on the site now is still the original, built in 1829, and as such is one of the oldest lighthouses on the chain of Great Lakes. The original lantern room is long gone, however. It was probably a “birdcage” lantern room. In 1872, the lighthouse and keeper’s residence were sold, and remained in private hands for almost 150 years. Over the years, rooms have been added to the original four-room keeper’s cottage.

In 2008, the State of New York purchased the property.

Marla Connelly, Park Manager-2, Midway, Long Point, and Lake Erie State Parks: “When Parks first took it over, it was just to preserve it. There was no plan, there was no ‘Here's what we're going to do with it,’ so it sat dormant for a few years while a plan was worked on. In 2015, we were approached by the Westfield Visitors Center at the town of Westfield, looking for

25 a new home. Could we move it to the lighthouse cottage? So, we did enter into a partnership with them. They currently maintain a visitors’ center in what was the dining room here.”

Narrator: The lighthouse is now a state park, and restoration efforts continue. The light in the tower is decorative, and an agreement exists with the town of Westfield and the gas company to keep it perpetually lit.

John Paul Wolfe, Curator, McClurg Museum, Chautauqua County Historical Society: “It's been the symbol of Chautauqua County, and Westfield, and Barcelona for as long as anybody remembers. I mean it is so important. It is literally the logo on the town of Westfield's logo for advertising. It has been the symbol of Westfield/Barcelona for 100 years.”

(Dip to black) Music and aerial montage

Narrator: Today, the lighthouses along New York’s Seaway Trail stand as proud reminders of our maritime heritage. Each lighthouse has a history as unique as its architecture. Their stories are filled with folklore, legends of shipwrecks, heroic rescues, and romance. The lighthouses stand as witness to the many selfless people who lived in the lighthouse and kept the lights burning, and to the countless number of lives saved because that light never wavered. As the years have worn on, our society has begun to recognize the need to preserve these sentinels of safety.

Michael Pittavino, Curator, H. Lee White Maritime Museum: “They're more than just a kind of physical structure. They represent a very large part of American culture and maritime culture and maritime history. So, it's very easy to create kind of a personal connection with a lighthouse.”

Joseph O'Toole, Director, Sodus Bay Lighthouse Museum: “Well, I love the lighthouse. I think it's intriguing to people because it no longer exists. Everyone's using GPS. There's only one official lighthouse keeper in the country. I think it's one of those things that people are very nostalgic about. Lighthouses are located at very beautiful locations. Everyone likes to be on the water, and that's where they're located. So, I think they're just a fascination for people in general.”

Marla Connelly, Park Manager-2, Midway, Long Point, and Lake Erie State Parks: “Well, for me, it's more about communication. Back in the day of the lighthouse, the lighthouses were the points, the known points in a largely unknown world. Now, we've got satellites, GPS, all these ways to know exactly where you're at in the dark, in the fog, where the different shoals are on land, in the water. It's fascinating to me how more ships didn't wreck.”

David Briska, Events Coordinator and Treasurer, Dunkirk Historical Lighthouse and Veterans Park Museum: “I think people enjoy coming to lighthouses because lighthouses are a very prominent part of the American history. They protect people, they serve the public, they make sure all the freight gets to where it needs to go, they're the first responders to any kind of

26 navigational difficulty that there is. Shipwrecks, drownings, things like that. But they guide all the ships, they guide the people to safety, and I think that's the big draw. The fact that you can climb to the top of the tower and look out over water is another huge draw for people. But lighthouses are one of the huge visitors’ bureau interests that we have around the country.”

Frederick Amato, President, Charlotte-Genesee Lighthouse Historical Society: “It's just something that when we have a visitor come here, and we start talking to them, and we show them what's here, and we see their eyes light up at some of the things that they're doing, when we take somebody up to the top of the tower, and they look out, and they look, and they're amazed. You can see it in their face. And then they come down the ladder and they thank you for being here, for doing this, and for preserving it. It just gives you the good feeling in your heart you're doing something for this community, and you're doing something to preserve the history of this community.”

Underwriters: Announcer: New York’s Seaway Lighthouses is made possible by grants from:

The Department of the Interior, National Park Service. Any opinions, findings, and conclusions or recommendations expressed in this material are those of WPBS-TV and do not necessarily reflect the views or policies of the Department of the Interior.

And by Cornell Cooperative Extension of Jefferson County operating Taste NY at the North Country Welcome Center overlooking the 1000 Islands Bridge. Foods and gifts made by local farmers and producers. Breakfast, lunch and dinner available on-site or on-the-go. Online at ccjefferson.org/tasteny

CREDITS

Executive Producer Tracy DuFlo

Narrator Joseph L. Brosk

Producer Tracy DuFlo

Camera Tracy DuFlo Ryan Proven Kane Grant Daniel DuFlo

Production Assistants Ryan Proven

27 Danielle Dillon Kelsey McLean

Additional Voices: Tracy DuFlo Mark Cernero

Animations and Graphics Andy Lackey

Scripting and Editing Tracy DuFlo

Special Thanks To:

LighthouseFriends.com RockIslandLighthouse.org National Archives United States Coast Guard Boatnerd.com Jack Harrison Detroit Publishing Co. Erie Canal Museum Monroe County Library System Rochester Museum and Science Center Buffalo and Erie County Historical Society Henderson Historical Society

Blair Roethel Ogdensburg Harbor Lighthouse

Don and Kathleen Berg Crossover Island Lighthouse

Edward and Elizabeth Wolos Sister Island Lighthouse

St. Lawrence Seaway Development Corporation Michael Howard Sunken Rock Lighthouse

Richard Denner Rock Island Lighthouse

Mark Wentling

28 RockIslandLighthouse.org

Jerry Briggs John Tucker Tibbett’s Point Lighthouse

Bill Saiff Charters

Josh Payette 1000 Islands State Parks

Constance Barone Sackets Harbor Battlefield State Historic Site

Captain Brett Kessler Sail Ontario

John and Sherry Faust Christopher Faust Brayden Faust Stony Point Lighthouse

Abe Ellis Salmon River Lighthouse and Marina

Mercedes Neiss Michael Pittavino Robert Gode Ned A. Goebricher H. Lee White Maritime Museum

Joseph O’Toole Sodus Bay Lighthouse Museum

Frederick Amato Charlotte-Genesee Lighthouse Historical Society

Donald and Nandy Town Casey and Larissa Moulton Braddock Point Lighthouse Bed and Breakfast

Renee Campbell Angela Berti Barb Larson Golden Hill State Park

29 Robert Emerson Old Fort Niagara Association

Mike and Stacey Vogel Buffalo Lighthouse Association

Captain Chuck Dickhut Captain Cory Bowen Bill Zimmermann Seven Seas Sailing School

David Briska Dunkirk Lighthouse and Veterans Park Museum

John Paul Wolfe Chautauqua County Historical Society

Marla Connelly Long Point State Park

Westfield, New York, Visitors’ Center

Merrill Hesch New York State Office of Parks, Recreation, and Historic Preservation

Music: Digital Juice Pond 5

Corporate Support: Mark Cernero Colin Burns Marc Muglia

Programming: Kraig Everard Joline Furgison

Marketing: Andy Lackey Lauren Umstead Emily Filley

Engineering : Mike Ortiz Ross Ney

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A Production of WPBS-TV, Watertown, New York Mark Prasuhn, President and General Manager www.wpbstv.org

© 2019 St. Lawrence Valley E. T. V. Council, Inc.

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