- Dunkirk Light
-
Dunkirk Light Location Point Gratiot on Lake Erie Year first constructed 1826 Year first lit 1875 Automated 1960 Foundation Dressed Stone Construction Rubblestone encased in brick Tower shape Square Markings / pattern Upper 2/3 White, lower 1/3 natural, Red Lantern Focal height 82 ft (25 m) Original lens Third Order Fresnel lens Characteristic Occulting White 4 seconds ARLHS number USA-248 USCG number 7-3410 Point Gratiot Lighthouse ComplexPoint Gratiot Light, November 2010Location: Sycamore Rd., Dunkirk, New York Coordinates: 42°29′38″N 79°21′14″W / 42.49389°N 79.35389°WCoordinates: 42°29′38″N 79°21′14″W / 42.49389°N 79.35389°W Area: 3.9 acres (1.6 ha) Built: 1875 Architectural style: Gothic, High Victorian Gothic Governing body: U.S. Coast Guard NRHP Reference#: 79001568
[4]Added to NRHP: December 18, 1979 Dunkirk Light, also known as Point Gratiot Light, is an active lighthouse located at Point Gratiot on Lake Erie in New York state.
The lighthouse was established in 1826 and the current tower was first lit in 1875. The lighthouse was automated in 1960 and is still operational. The foundation is made out of dressed stone and the lighthouse is made out of rubblestone encased in brick. The tower is a square shaped tower. The upper two thirds is white and the lower one third is natural and the lantern housing is red. The original lens is a third order Fresnel lens installed in 1857 and is still in operation. Its being still in use makes it a rarity. Only 70 such lenses are operational in the United States, 16 being on the Great Lakes of which two are in New York.[5] At the entrance to the park property is the South Buffalo North Side Light, formerly located in Buffalo Harbor. It was added to the National Register of Historic Places as Point Gratiot Lighthouse Complex in 1979.
Contents
Cultural
The Dunkirk Lighthouse is open daily except Sunday. Guided tours include climb to the top of the lighthouse, Veteran museums and gift shop.[6]
The Archives Center at the Smithsonian National Museum of American History has a collection (#1055) of souvenir postcards of lighthouses and has digitized 272 of these and made them available online. These include postcards of Dunkirk (Point Gratiot) Light [7] with links to customized nautical charts provided by National Oceanographic and Atmospheric Administration.
See also
References
- ^ "Historic Light Station Information and Photography: New York". United States Coast Guard Historian's Office. 2009-08-08. http://www.uscg.mil/history/weblighthouses/LHNY.asp.
- ^ (PDF) Light List, Volume VII, Great Lakes. Light List. United States Coast Guard. 2009. p. 38. http://www.navcen.uscg.gov/pdf/lightLists/LightList%20V7.pdf.
- ^ "ARLHS World List of Lights". http://wlol.arlhs.com/lighthouse/USA248.html.
- ^ "National Register Information System". National Register of Historic Places. National Park Service. 2009-03-13. http://nrhp.focus.nps.gov/natreg/docs/All_Data.html.
- ^ "Fresnel Lenses Still in Operation". USCG. 2009-11-14. http://www.uscg.mil/history/docs/CG_Classical_Lens_in_Operation.pdf.
- ^ Dunkirk Lighthouse Official Site
- ^ Smithsonian lighthouse postcards
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.
- Wright, Larry and Wright, Patricia. Great Lakes Lighthouses Encyclopedia Hardback (Erin: Boston Mills Press, 2006) ISBN 1550463993
External links
- Dunkirk Lighthouse and Veteran's Park Museum - official site
Lighthouses of New York Ambrose Tower Light · Aunt Phebe Rock Light · Barber's Point Light · Barcelona (Portland Harbor) Light · Blackwell Island Light · Bluff Point Light · Braddock Point Light · Buffalo Light · Buffalo Harbor North and South entrance Lights · Buffalo Harbor South Entrance Light · Buffalo North breakwater East end Light · Buffalo North Breakwater South End Light · Cape Vincent Light · Carleton Island Light · Cedar Island Light · Cold Spring Harbor Light · Coney Island Light · Coxsackie Light · Crossover Island Light · Crown Point Light · Cumberland Head Light · Dunkirk Light · East Charity Shoal Light · Eatons Neck · Elm Tree Beacon Light · Esopus Meadows Light · Execution Rocks Light · Fair Haven Light · Fire Island Light · Fort Niagara Light · Fort Lafayette Light · Fort Tompkins Light · Fort Wadsworth Light · Galloo Island Light · Gardiners Point Island · Horse Island Light · Horton Point Light · Hudson-Athens Light · Huntington Harbor (Lloyd Harbor) Light · Kings Point Light · Latimer Reef Light · Little Gull Island Light · Little Red Lighthouse (Jeffrey's Hook) · Montauk Point Light · Moriches Light · New Dorp Light · North Brother Island Light · North Dumpling Light · Oak Orchard Light · Old Field Point Light · Old Orchard Shoal Light · Ogdensburg Harbor Light · Orient Long Beach Bar Light · Orient Point Light · Oswego Harbor West Pierhead Light · Plattsburgh Beacon Light · Plum Island Light · Point Aux Roches Light · Princes Bay Light · Race Rock Light · Rock Island Light · Romer Shoal Light · Rondout Light · Sands Point Light · Saugerties Light · Selkirk Light · Shinnecock Light · Sodus Outer Light · Sodus Point Light · South Brother Island Channel Range Light · South Buffalo North Side Light · Split Rock Point Light · Staten Island Light · Statue of Liberty · Stepping Stones Light · Stony Point (Henderson) Light · Stony Point Light · Strawberry Island Upper Cut Range Light · Stuyvesant Light · Sunken Meadows Light · Sunken Rock Light · Tarrytown (Sleepy Hollow) Light · Thirty Mile Point Light · (Three) Sisters Island Light · Throgs Neck Light · Tibbetts Point Light · Turkey Point (NY) Light · Watervliet Light · West Point Light · West Bank Light · Whitehall Narrows Light · Whitestone Point LightCategories:- Lighthouses on the National Register of Historic Places in New York
- Queen Anne architecture in New York
- Buildings and structures completed in 1875
- Museums in Chautauqua County, New York
- Lighthouse museums in New York
- Military and war museums in New York
Wikimedia Foundation. 2010.