Weights, Measures, and Esoterica: Lighthouse of the Week, June 10-16, 2018: Fairport Harbor, Ohio, USA

Wednesday, June 13, 2018

Lighthouse of the Week, June 10-16, 2018: Fairport Harbor, Ohio, USA

The lighthouse featured this week, in a return to the USA coast of the Great Lakes, isn't the one that's working. The one that's working is the Fairport Harbor West Lighthouse (http://www.fairportharborwestlighthouse.com/), on the breakwater, which is still an "active aid to navigation" running automatically. According to a recent article on that Web site, the current owner bought the house under the light at auction, and is attempting to make the former lighthouse keeper's home habitable again, as it wasn't inhabited after 1948 when the light went to electric, and therefore automated, operation.

But enough about that. The lighthouse featured here is the old original Fairport Harbor Lighthouse, which is now a marine museum.

(And I'm sure you're asking yourself, where is Fairport Harbor, Ohio? It's on the Lake Erie shore, naturally, northeast of Cleveland. Click here. )

First of all, here's the link to the Fairport Harbor Lighthouse Web site.

http://fairportharborlighthouse.org/

And here's a brief history of this lighthouse, copied from the Web site:

"The original lighthouse was completed in 1825. The tower stood thirty feet high, capped with an octagonal-shaped iron lantern. The lighthouse was accompanied by a two-story keeper's house. Due to deterioration the tower and keeper's house had to be replaced. Rebuilt in 1871, the tower now stands sixty feet high and has a spiral staircase of 69 steps which leads to an observation platform.In 1925 the light in the tower (a third-order Fresnel lens) was discontinued. It was replaced by a combination light and foghorn station which was built on the west breakwater pier head."

The Fresnel lens is in the museum, in case you're wondering, and I grabbed a picture of it. I like Fresnel lenses.