Lighthouse of the Week, December 18-24: Thirty Mile Point Lighthouse, New York

I jumped over to the other of the small Great Lakes, Lake Ontario, for this Lighthouse of the Week.  I actually found this one via a picture, and I didn't know that it was less than 50 miles (direct distance) from the Point Abino lighthouse that was my Lighthouse of the Week last week.   The Thirty Mile Point Lighthouse has more history, as does Thirty Mile Point, as learned from Lighthouse Friends.

Thirty Mile Point, New York

Here's the history part:

"Prior to the establishment of the lighthouse, at least four ships had sunk near Thirty Mile Point, including one belonging to the French explorer LaSalle in 1678. The most tragic loss appears to be the eighty-foot schooner H.M.S. Ontario. Built in 1780 during the Revolutionary War, the vessel was the largest British warship on the Great Lakes at the time. Just a few months after its launch, the Ontario departed Fort Niagara for Montreal, carrying eighty-eight passengers, including Lt. Colonel Bolton former commander of the fort, and an army payroll of $15,000 in gold and silver. The Ontario foundered off Thirty Mile Point in a Halloween blizzard. There were no survivors."

From the page about the light, it appears to have started operation in April 1876.  So it celebrated its centennial when the USA celebrated its Bicentennial.

It's made of limestone.

The lighthouse is now located within Golden Hill State Park,  Thirty Mile Lighthouse has been on U.S. Postage stamps featuring lighthouses of the Great Lakes.

And, according to Lighthouse Friends, the second story is available for rental; people can stay there for a week in the summer or shorter periods during the year, and find out what it was like to live like a lighthouse keeper.  (It's true, go here.)

Might be fun.

Below are three pictures;  from land, from the water, and in winter, so the last one is pretty much what it looks like now (i.e. in late December).