Buffalo Main Light
| File:BuffaloMainLight.jpg
Buffalo Main Light as seen through a periscope on board the USS Little Rock (CG-4)
|
|
 |
|
| Location | Buffalo River, Buffalo, New York |
|---|---|
| Coordinates | Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found. |
| Year first lit | 1833 |
| Automated | No |
| Foundation | Stone molehead |
| Construction | Limestone and cast iron |
| Tower shape | Octagonal |
| Height | 60 feet (18 m) |
| Focal height | |
|
Buffalo Main Light
|
|
| Area | 0.5 acres (0.20 ha) |
| MPS | U.S. Coast Guard Lighthouses and Light Stations on the Great Lakes TR |
| NRHP Reference # | 84002383[1] |
| Added to NRHP | July 19, 1984 |
| ARLHS number | USA-090 |
Buffalo (Main) Light is a lighthouse at the mouth of Buffalo River/Erie canal, directly across from the Erie basin marina, underneath the skyway in downtown Buffalo, New York.
History
The lighthouse was established and lit in 1833 and was deactivated in 1914. The foundation material was stone molehead and the lighthouse was constructed out of limestone and cast iron. The shape of the tower was octagonal and was 60 feet (18 m) high. The lens installed in 1857 was a third order Fresnel lens. The lens was later removed to the Buffalo History Museum.[2]
This 60-foot-tall, octagonal limestone structure is the oldest still standing in its original location in the city of Buffalo. It replaced the original 1818 light on this site along the Lake Erie shore at the mouth of the Buffalo River. Presently, it is part of an outdoor museum located on the grounds of the United States Coast Guard Station.[2]
It was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1984.[1]
In 2010, the Coast Guard announced it would relinquish 4.6 acres (1.9 ha) of its 31 acres (13 ha) on the point and Congressman Brian Higgins obtained over $6 million to reconfigure the Coast Guard station to allow public access to the lighthouse. In April 2011, Erie Canal Harbor Development Corporation approved a grant of $170,700 to repair and restore the lighthouse in anticipation of public tours. The work was completed in August 2011.
References
Further reading
- Oleszewski, Wes. Great Lakes Lighthouses, American and Canadian: A Comprehensive Directory/Guide to Great Lakes Lighthouses, (Gwinn, Michigan: Avery Color Studios, Inc., 1998) ISBN 0-932212-98-0.
- Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
- U.S. Coast Guard. Historically Famous Lighthouses (Washington, D.C.: Government Printing Office, 1957).
- Wright, Larry and Wright, Patricia. Great Lakes Lighthouses Encyclopedia Hardback (Erin: Boston Mills Press, 2006) ISBN 1-55046-399-3
External links
- Buffalo Main Light - U.S. National Register of Historic Places on Waymarking.com
- Amateur Radio Lighthouse Society website
- Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
- Historic American Buildings Survey (HABS) No. NY-60, "Buffalo Lighthouse, Buffalo Harbor, Buffalo River & Lake Erie, Buffalo, Erie County, NY", 2 photos, 7 measured drawings, 5 data pages, 1 photo caption page
- Inventory of Historic Light Stations--New York--Buffalo (Main) Light
- Buffalo Main Light, By Colt Edin & Dave Wobser
- Buffalo Lighthouse, Coast Guard Base across from the Erie Basin Marina - Buffalo as an Architectural Museum website
- Buffalo Light: Guardian of the Harbor, Buffalo History Works website
- Buffalo Main Lighthouse
