We recently hopped over the state line from Ohio into Pennsylvania and the city of Erie to check out the state park and lighthouses on Presque Isle and learn about Erie's importance in Great Lakes maritime history.
The Presque Isle Lighthouse sits on a beautiful Lake Erie beach, and its square tower makes it a little different from a lot of the round-tower lighthouses I've seen along the Great Lakes primarily in Michigan and Ohio.
French soldiers controlled the area in the 1700s as a strategic military location and named the six-mile-long peninsula, jutting out into Lake Erie, Presque Isle (French for "almost an island"). The British gained control of Erie during the French and Indian War in 1760, and it became part of the state of Pennsylvania in 1792 after the American Revolution.
Erie holds the distinction as being the site one of the first U.S. lighthouses on the Great Lakes, with a tower built on the mainland in 1818 (Buffalo, New York, also established a lighthouse in 1818). Erie gained importance as a shipping port, especially with the opening of the Erie Canal in 1824 and subsequent extensions of the shipping canal network connecting the eastern United States to the western frontier.
Swampy terrain presented problems, and a layer of quicksand far below the original lighthouse caused it to sink into the ground. A sandstone tower replaced the original light in 1867 (deactivated in 1899). Visitors can view the exterior of this tower in a city park, although we weren't able to get there this trip.
Our travels this time took us out along the scenic drive in Presque Isle State Park to visit the Presque Isle Lighthouse.
Placing a lighthouse on the peninsula made sense because it would help mariners safely navigate past the spit of land on an otherwise fairly straight coastline.
Construction began in 1872, but the area terrain again challenged builders.
A scow loaded with 6,000 bricks bound for the construction site was lost at sea. Washouts were another concern with the ever-present threat of separation from the mainland during storms.
Workers constructed a crude road through the swamp between the lighthouse site and the mainland, a road later planked with boards to help make it more passable, and eventually paved with concrete in 1925. That path exists today as a short hiking trail.
Workers completed the lighthouse, at a cost of $15,000, in 1873.
Today Presque Isle is near Erie's busy downtown, but the Presque Isle Lighthouse's first keeper, Charles Waldo, characterized the location as "the loneliest place on earth".
The original 40-foot tower had five layers of brick, to help it withstand the frequent storms, and housed a whale oil light. Workers increased the tower's height to 57 feet in 1896 to increase the light's range, and painted it white in 1898 to increase daytime visibility.
Other changes over the years included: electrification of the light in 1924, construction of a peninsula road in 1927, and automation of the light in 1962. The lighthouse earned a spot on the National Register of Historic Places in 1983.
The Pennsylvania Department of Conservation and Natural Resources took over ownership of the lighthouse in 1998, and the lighthouse with its keepers' dwelling serves as a private residence for Presque Isle State Park management.
Be on the lookout as you drive through the area for special Pennsylvania license plates that picture the Presque Isle Lighthouse, with much of the money generated by sales going to lighthouse preservation and promoting maritime history in Pennsylvania.
I wish we could have climbed the 70-plus iron stairs to the top of the tower, but the lighthouse only rarely opens for public tours. You can see the lighthouse from the park road, or park along the road to take a short walk around the lighthouse and down to the Lake Erie beach for the best views of the tower.
© Dominique King 2009 All rights reserved
As an Erie native, I would also point out you overlooked a not too minor episode in Presque Isle history. The flagship Niagara, used by Oliver Hazard Perry during the War of 1812, is housed here across the bay from P.I., and within sight of the Perry Monument out on the end of P.I.
Posted by: Boston | November 13, 2009 at 10:58 AM
Boston-Thanks for stopping by!
We didn't get out to the Perry monument this trip (my photos of that part of the park are from about eight years ago).
Our purpose during this most recent trip out to Erie was to check out lighthouses along Lake Erie, so most of my articles from this trip stuck strictly with the history that strictly related to the lighthouses themselves.
We're hoping to get back out to Erie one of these days and spend some more time. The Perry Monument, and the history related to that probably deserves its own article, don't you think? :)
Posted by: Dominique | November 13, 2009 at 01:26 PM
Perhaps I am misinformed, but I thought Presque Isle PA was first automated in December, probably 1948. I think I lived in the light March to Dec 48 (could be off a year) when my father, Herman N Barr, BM 1st class, USCG, was the last keeper. My only memory being the light flashing on the fog outside the bedroom window, I've no real first-hand info. Does anyone have any info to fill in gaps or correct my memory? I could have all details wrong.
Posted by: Orville C Barr | August 03, 2012 at 05:44 PM
Thanks for stopping by Orville. Fascinating that you lived in the lighthouse at one time!
I consulted several sources, including the U.S. Coast Guard http://www.uscg.mil/history/weblighthouses/lhpa.asp - and they all have automation coming to the light in 1962.
The last civilian light keeper appears to have left in 1944, after which time enlisted Coast Guard members tended to the light http://www.lighthousefriends.com/light.asp?ID=290
The flashing light you remember may be explained by this site http://www.seathelights.com/pa/presque_isle.html - which says the flashes happened when the lens revolved on a system of ball bearings with red panels attached to the outside of the lens .The lens revolutions were powered by a clockwork mechanism and a chain-and-weight system operated by the light keeper.
Hope this helps!
Posted by: Dominique King | August 03, 2012 at 07:14 PM