Ashtabula Harbor Light

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Ashtabula Harbor Light in front of the breakwater widening.

Ashtabula Harbor Light or also known as Ashtabula Light is a lighthouse built in 1905 on Lake Erie in Ashtabula , Ohio . The structure was entered on August 8, 1983 on the National Register of Historic Places .

Building

The current structure is a rectangular building with a central cylindrical tower, the height of which is 12.2 m. The lighthouse has a range of almost 15 km. The optics are located 15.5 m above the water level.

history

The first beacon to mark the location of the port of Ashtabula was built in 1836. It was a low wooden hexagonal tower that stood on a wooden frame directly in front of the eastern pier. This structure was equipped with oil lamps and was in operation until a pyramidal tower was built on the western pier. The then new building was necessary because the port was being redesigned. The new beacon was equipped with a four-stage Fresnel lens that emitted a red light. The lighthouse keepers lived in a house in town. The tower was moved in 1882 but remained in operation.

When the mouth of the Ashtabula River was widened in 1905 and breakwaters were built, this made it necessary to build a third structure in Ashtabula. The beacon was originally located around 530 m south-southeast of the current location, but was relocated and enlarged in 1915 on a concrete framework at the end of the northern breakwater. The new structure was constructed from steel and iron plates and had living quarters for the operating staff. At the same time, a new lens was installed in the tower. The old beacon was left in place, about twenty yards from the bank.

The new, exposed position of the lighthouse makes it prone to incidents. In 1927 a steamer collided with the structure and shifted the tower 15 cm on its foundation. The following year, an ice storm completely frozen the facility, trapping the lighthouse keepers inside. Only after two days did they succeed in thawing the door so that it could be opened - only to then scratch a tunnel through a little more than 150 cm thick ice to escape.

The beacon was only automated in 1973 and the lighthouse was the last manned facility on one of the Great Lakes . The building for the guards was donated to the city at the time, but they returned it to the federal authorities in 1976 because they did not have the financial means to finance the conversion into a museum. In 1982 the structure was privatized again and opened in 1984 as the Ashtabula Marine Museum . The lighthouse itself remained in operation, although the breakwaters were lengthened. The optics were replaced by a modern spotlight with yellow flashing light and handed over to the museum in 1995.

In 2003 a company was formed to own the structure under the National Historic Lighthouse Preservation Act , and when the acquisition was offered the following year, the company applied. In 2007, control of the structure was obtained and restoration work began to allow the public to visit the lighthouse. In May 2008, funding was allocated to allow the construction of a new floating jetty, as the only access to the lighthouse is via the water.

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ a b c d e f Ashtabula Lighthouse . lighthousefriends.com. Retrieved July 15, 2008.
  2. ↑ a b c d History of the Ashtabula Lighthouse . Ashtabula Lighthouse Restoration and Preservation Society. Archived from the original on November 5, 2010. Retrieved July 15, 2008.
  3. ↑ a b ASHTABULA HARBOR LIGHT ( Memento from October 26, 2012 in the Internet Archive )
  4. ^ Historic Light Station Information & Photography: Ohio . United States Coast Guard . Retrieved July 15, 2008.
  5. ↑ Not taken lightly ( Memento from July 4, 2010 in the Internet Archive )
  6. ↑ Shelley Terry: Ashtabula Lighthouse gets a grant for floating dock . In: Star Beacon , May 15, 2008. Archived from the original on February 3, 2013. Retrieved July 15, 2008. 

Coordinates: 41 ° 55 ′ 7 "  N , 80 ° 47 ′ 45.2"  W.