Cleveland West Breakwater Lighthouse

Cleveland, Ohio - 1911 (1831**)

Photo of the Cleveland West Breakwater Lighthouse.
 
 
   

History of the Cleveland West Breakwater Lighthouse

The Cleveland West Breakwater Light stands 67 feet above Lake Erie and once housed a Fourth-Order Fresnel lens. It now houses a modern optic and is visible for about ten miles out into the lake. The attached building once housed a steam driven fog signal that could be heard 12 miles out. The tower is made of cast iron.

This lighthouse is an active Coast Guard station and is therefore closed to the public. The lighthouse sits out into the lake quite A ways and is therefore hard to photograph. It is best photographed from a boat, however, I got this shot from the Port of Cleveland parking lot behind Cleveland Browns Stadium with a 1000mm telephoto lens. The gate was closed to the lot, but the guard kindly opened it so that I could get this picture.

Directions: Get off Route 2 in downtown Cleveland at East 9th Street and head north towards the lake. At Erieside Ave., make a left and head past the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and the Great Lakes Science Center. Just in front of the Cleveland Browns Stadium, Erieside Ave makes a right and continues. Erieside Ave makes a left now and continues behind the stadium. Follow this behind the stadium. It was at this point that I got some distant shots with a 1000mm telephoto lens.

View more Cleveland West Breakwater Lighthouse pictures
Tower Information
Tower Height: 67.00'
Focal Plane: 63'
Active Aid to Navigation: Yes
*Latitude: 41.50900 N
*Longitude: -81.71800 W
See this lighthouse on Google Maps.

 


* Please note that all GPS coordinates are approximated and are meant to put you in the vicinity of the lighthouse, not for navigation purposes.

** This year denotes a station date. This is the year that a lighthouse was first reported in the vicinity or at that location.

All photographs and information on this site is copyright © 2016 Bryan Penberthy unless otherwise specified. No content may be used without written permission. Any questions or comments, please email me.