Fort Niagara Lighthouse
Niagara River
Youngstown, Niagara County
by David E. Cook
An excerpt from the book:
With eight light towers and at least seven Keeper's quarters serving an area ruled by four different nations - not counting Native Americans - it's no wonder authors have had difficulty clearly telling the story of the lower Niagara River lighthouses in just a few paragraphs.
The French started the first European settlement in 1678 and built the first fort in 1679. In 1726, they erected the building now known as "the Castle," still the heart of Fort Niagara; but lost control of the area to the British in 1759, during the Seven Years War (French and Indian War). The British built military and trade fleets on both Lake Ontario and Lake Erie, using Fort Niagara as the controlling link to all.
They erected the first formal aid-to-navigation on the Great Lakes in 1781, a short tower on the roof of the Castle. The lantern had some 150 panes of glass. The Keeper was apparently part of the fort establishment. It took the British more than 12 years from the conclusion of the Revolution before they vacated the fort (1796). The Americans, when they took over, maintained the roof beacon until sometime between 1803 and 1806.
It's unknown whether the British built the Newark Light in 1804 next to Fort George on their side of the river because the Americans discontinued their light at Fort Niagara, or if the cause and effect was reversed. At any rate, the British tower operated until 1814 when they tore it down to make way for Fort Mississauga, which still stands today as a public museum. Ironically, both sides made sure the Newark Light stayed operational throughout the War of 1812, as both used it to guide their ships out on Lake Ontario.
In 1823, the Americans rebuilt a small rooftop tower on the Castle. It was totally remodeled in 1859 to make way for a new 4th order Fresnel lens (some sources count this as the third tower on site).
From 1823-1830, the Keeper lived in a house where the current USCG Station stands, but moved in 1830 to a small stone cottage that was located where the large two-story wood frame house now stands next to the stone light tower outside the fort.
Keepers occupied the upper stone cottage until it was torn down and replaced with the current house in 1896. That remained the Keeper's home until 1993, when it became housing for park management personnel and responsibility for the light moved to the CG crew at the riverbank barracks.
In 1871, a new octagonal limestone block tower was erected outside the fort (lit in 1872), just south of the stone Keeper's cottage. In 1900, the pagoda-like brick watch room was added to the top of the tower, and a brick-lined, cast-iron oil house was erected near the base. The workroom attached to the tower now serves as a gift shop and mini-museum for the lighthouse.
In 1912, a pair of range towers, which still function today, were erected on the Canadian side of the river. The USCG maintains the river buoys.
By the late 1900's, trees had obscured the stone tower beacon from both the river and the lake. Rather than tear down the trees and spend money on tower upkeep, the CG erected a skeleton tower (1993) on the grounds of the riverside CG station, deactivated the old tower (but left the 4th order lens in place), and turned it over to the Old Fort Niagara Association. For safety purposes, the lens has since been removed and is displayed in the fort.
The second revision of the book is due to be published in the fall of 2010.
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REPRODUCTION IN ANY FORMAT STRICTLY PROHIBITED WITHOUT PRIOR WRITTEN PERMISSION OF DreamChase Enterprises
About the Author...
David E. Cook grew up in a family of journalists and local history authors. He intended to be a writer who illustrated his own works. He was a syndicated columnist in a chain of weekly newspapers before graduating from high school, news editor at a western Pennsylvania weekly and sports editor at a southern New Hampshire daily paper before turning 21.
Besides the traditional college courses in journalism and fine arts, he studied fine arts at the Carnegie Museum School of Arts, commercial art through the Washington School of Art and photography for two years of weekends at Yosemite Valley with Dana Clark Morgensen. Three Columbia Journalism Awards and numerous local art show awards help round out his resume. His nature and travel photography is owned by collectors in 39 American states and over 11 foreign countries. His large 2'x3' prints have been part of corporate collections at firms such as IBM, Scheering-Plough, National Semiconductor and Interleaf.
For the past 30 years he has been studying, photographing, painting and drawing almost 800 American light towers. Candace Clifford acknowledged the help of his extensive files in compiling her nationwide survey for the National Maritime Initiative in 1994. While involved in many non-profit arts organizations, local and regional historic preservation groups and efforts to utilize cultural tourism as an economic development catalyst, he has continued to write, lecture and lead group tours of maritime historical sites, concentrating primarily on New York. In 2006, he finally began publishing some of that work in a series of pamphlets and booklets under the "umbrella" title of Lighthouses of the Empire State.
Directions: The lighthouse sits on the grounds of Fort Niagara State Park. Follow the Robert Moses State Parkway out of Niagara Falls towards Youngstown, NY. The parkway will split, you will follow the split towards Fort Niagara State Park. There is a charge to enter the park and the light is visible from the parking area before you enter the fort itself.
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Lighthouse Rating: 5.46
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