| Buffalo Waterfront Pictures |
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Buffalo Waterfront Pictures of Event, Development & More |
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Buffalo Main Light
Located on the Coast Guard base across from the Erie Basin Marina, the lighthouse is a conspicuous symbol of Buffalo's past and present. Built in 1833, it is the oldest building on Buffalo's waterfront and one of the oldest lighthouses on the Great Lakes. It is the second of four lighthouses to serve as Buffalo's light. The base, up to the cornice, dates from 1833, while everything above it dates from 1857.
The light stands near the end of a long stone pier which can be called the foundation of Buffalo, originally having been laid down by Samuel Wilkeson in 1820. (The first Buffalo light stood at the shore end of the pier.) It created a sheltered harbor along the previously untamed shore.
The lighthouse is constructed of ashlar limestone and bluestone, and is one year younger than Buffalo itself (chartered as a city in 1832). The tower is 68 feet tall and tapers from a 20-foot diameter at the base, where the walls are four feet thick, to a 12-foot diameter at the top, where the walls are two feet thick.
In 1914 the lens was taken from this tower to one built just behind the outer harbor breakwater. The breakwater light then became the principal, or third, Buffalo light. A fourth light, a 71-foot white tower on the breakwater itself, has been the main light since 1963.
Unused and deteriorating, the 1833 light was almost demolished in the late 1950's. After a proper hue and cry it was saved and restored by 1961. Further restoration in the late 1980's resulted in floodlighting of the tower's shaft and illumination of the cupola.
The lighthouse cannot be reached by public transportation, but can be seen from the Erie Basin Marina on the north bank of the Buffalo River. A pedestrian path along the south bank from the head of Fuhrmann Boulevard ends at the light and affords a nice view of the skyline. The Coast Guard station itself is occasionally opened to the public for special events. |
Buffalo Breakwater (Old BottleLight):
1903 Status: Inactive, now sits on display near the
Buffalo Main Light (in background) on the grounds of the Coast Guard
Station at the end of Fuhrman Blvd. (Buffalo Waterfront)
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Buffalo Breakwater:
1961 Status: Active, sits out in Buffalo Harbor,
stands 71 feet tall, and was built to replace the old breakwater
light that was knocked off its foundation in 1958.
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Horseshoe Reef Light:
1856 Status: Inactive, sits out in the Buffalo
Harbor. The Intake Crib Light made this light redundant. The winds
and lake-effect snowstorms ripped this old tower to pieces. All that
remains is the steel skeleton.
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Intake Crib Light:
1997 Sits out in Buffalo Harbor
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South Buffalo Southside:
1903 Status: Inactive, it is located on a
breakwater near the south harbor entrance. The tower has a focal
plane of 40', and is made of cast iron. It was automated in 1935.
It is very hard to get near this tower since the
breakwater is on industrial grounds. Access would either be boat
or a telephoto lens. I used a 500mm lens and got permission to
enter the marina that sits across from it
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