Barber's Point Light (New York)

Summary

Barber's Point Light is an inactive lighthouse on Lake Champlain in New York.[1]

Barber's Point Light
Map
LocationBarber's Point, southeast of Westport, New York on Lake Champlain
Coordinates44°09′15″N 73°24′16″W / 44.1543°N 73.4045°W / 44.1543; -73.4045
Tower
Constructed1873
Foundationlimestone
Constructionlimestone masonry
Height36 feet (11 m)
Shapesquare house with integral tower
MarkingsWhite tower w/Black trim on dwelling
Light
First lit1873
Deactivated1935
LensFifth order Fresnel lens
Range12 nautical miles; 23 kilometres (14 mi)
Characteristicfixed white

History edit

Barber's Point was the site of a ferry operated by Hezekiah Barber, who settled the point beginning in 1785. The Lighthouse Board requested construction of a light in 1868, but construction did not begin until 1872 due to problems acquiring title to the land. The Second Empire design used for the Colchester Reef Light (as well as others in the area) was reused, but executed in blue limestone rather than the more usual granite. Because of the light's isolation the keeper was provided with a barn in which to keep a horse.

In 1935 the light was deactivated, replaced by a much taller steel tower with an automated beacon, placed at lake's edge. The old lighthouse passed into private hands and is used for a residence. A small addition in the mid-1950s left the appearance of the building largely intact, though the roof is now painted white rather than brown.

The lighthouse is on the National Register of Historic Places as part of the Camp Dudley Road Historic District.

Notes edit

  1. ^ ARLHS World List of Lights

References edit

  • "Historic Light Station Information and Photography: New York". United States Coast Guard Historian's Office. Archived from the original on 2017-05-01. Retrieved 2008-10-10.
  • "Barber's Point, NY". lighthousefriends. Archived from the original on 2007-10-13. Retrieved 2008-10-10.
  • Rowlett, Russ. "Lighthouses of the United States: Upstate New York". The Lighthouse Directory. University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. Retrieved 2008-10-10.
  • "Inventory of Historic Light Stations: New York Lighthouses: Barber's Point Light". National Park Service. Retrieved 2008-10-10.

Further reading edit

  • 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.
  • Price, Scott T. "U. S. Coast Guard Aids to Navigation: A Historical Bibliography". United States Coast Guard Historian's Office.
  • U.S. Coast Guard. Historically Famous Lighthouses (Washington, D.C.: Government Printing Office, 1957).
  • Wright, Larry and Wright, Patricia. Great Lakes Lighthouses Encyclopedia Hardback (Erin: Boston Mills Press, 2006) ISBN 1-55046-399-3