Buffalo (Main) Light is a

lighthouse A lighthouse is a tower, building, or other type of physical structure designed to emit light from a system of lamps and lens (optics), lenses and to serve as a beacon for navigational aid for maritime pilots at sea or on inland waterways. Ligh ...

at the mouth of Buffalo River/

Erie Canal The Erie Canal is a historic canal in upstate New York that runs east–west between the Hudson River and Lake Erie. Completed in 1825, the canal was the first navigability, navigable waterway connecting the Atlantic Ocean to the Great Lakes, ...

, directly across from the Erie Basin Marina in

Buffalo, New York Buffalo is a Administrative divisions of New York (state), city in the U.S. state of New York (state), New York and county seat of Erie County, New York, Erie County. It lies in Western New York at the eastern end of Lake Erie, at the head of ...

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 Limestone is a type of carbonate rock, carbonate sedimentary rock which is the main source of the material Lime (material), lime. It is composed mostly of the minerals calcite and aragonite, which are different Polymorphism (materials science) ...

and

cast iron Cast iron is a class of iron–carbon alloys with a carbon content of more than 2% and silicon content around 1–3%. Its usefulness derives from its relatively low melting temperature. The alloying elements determine the form in which its car ...

. The shape of the tower was octagonal and was high. The lens installed in 1857 was a third order

Fresnel lens A Fresnel lens ( ; ; or ) is a type of composite compact lens (optics), lens which reduces the amount of material required compared to a conventional lens by dividing the lens into a set of concentric annular sections. The simpler Dioptrics, d ...

. The lens was later removed to the

Buffalo History Museum The Buffalo History Museum (founded as the Buffalo Historical Society, and later named the Buffalo and Erie County Historical Society) is located at 1 Museum Court (formerly 25 Nottingham Court) in Buffalo, New York, just east of Elmwood Avenue an ...

. ''Note:'' This includes 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 The United States Coast Guard (USCG) is the maritime security, search and rescue, and Admiralty law, law enforcement military branch, service branch of the armed forces of the United States. It is one of the country's eight Uniformed services ...

Station. It was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1984. In 2010, the Coast Guard announced it would relinquish of its on the point and Congressman

Brian Higgins Brian Michael Higgins (born October 6, 1959) is an American former politician who was the U.S. representative for , from 2005 until 2024. The district, numbered as the 27th district from 2005 to 2013 and as the 26th from 2013 to 2024, included ...

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

External links

Buffalo Main Light - U.S. National Register of Historic Places on Waymarking.com
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* ttps://web.archive.org/web/20090403022825/http://lighthouse.boatnerd.com/gallery/Erie/BuffaloMain.htm Buffalo Main Light, By Colt Edin & Dave Wobserbr>Buffalo Lighthouse, Coast Guard Base across from the Erie Basin Marina - Buffalo as an Architectural Museum websiteBuffalo Light: Guardian of the Harbor, Buffalo History Works websiteBuffalo Main Lighthouse
{{DEFAULTSORT:Buffalo (Main) Light Lighthouses completed in 1833 Transportation buildings and structures in Buffalo, New York Lighthouses on the National Register of Historic Places in New York (state) Historic American Buildings Survey in New York (state) National Register of Historic Places in Buffalo, New York Lighthouses in Erie County, New York 1833 establishments in New York (state)

History

References

Further reading

External links