Talk:Erie Land Light

Bates History Chapter XVI - Lake Navigation

Samuel P Bates (refer to heading Light-Houses and Their Keepers) distinguishes between the lighthouse on Presque Isle Bay built on the North Pier at Erie around 1830, and the first lighthouse on Lake Erie, built in 1818 at the entrance to the harbor at Erie, Pennsylvania. The two lights apparently co-existed until 1858, when both were remodeled, possibly in response to increased Congressional funding of the United States Life-Saving Service et al after the Great Carolina Hurricane of 1854. According to Bates:

• The 1818 lighthouse renovation was a failure and had to be redone in 1866 at a cost of $20,000. In 1881, the 1818 lighthouse and its land was inexplicably auctioned off and the edifice demolished.
• The circa 1830 lighthouse was provided five lights and a 1,200 pound fog bell from the Meneely bell foundry, as well as a watchman's residence.

This information seems to conflict with the National Park Service website, which tends to blend the two lighthouses into one. The NPS is more recent, but Bates is more detailed. Pat 15:41, 24 May 2007 (UTC)

I'm confused. Bates says that:

For some unexplained reason, and against the protests of all the lake men at Erie, the officer in charge of light houses upon the lakes concluded to abandon it; the buildings and grounds were sold at public auction on the 1st of March, 1881, and the light-house was demolished.

I'm pretty sure their talking about the Erie Land Light. If what Bates said was true, why is the Erie Land Light still standing. Is it a reconstruction? Or is their another lighthouse? --​​​​Dtbohrer​​​​^{talk•contribs} 18:53, 24 May 2007 (UTC)

I think the circa 1830 lighthouse is the Land Light. The 1818 lighthouse would have been out by the USCG station at the channel to the bay. But I'd be more comfortable having another source or two. Hard to imagine the park service has it wrong. Pat 19:13, 24 May 2007 (UTC)

I think its the other way around. The 1818 lighthouse was replaced with one made out of brick, which was replaced again by one made of stone (consistent with the park service info on the Land Light). The 1830 lighthouse was originally a mostly wooden structure which was replaced by an wrought iron structure (sounds like the North Pier Light) --​​​​Dtbohrer​​​​^{talk•contribs} 19:35, 24 May 2007 (UTC)

Further down the page, Bates lists three lights and the timespan of each of their keepers. I combined the details to provide the following time line: the Land Light (1818-1881), Beacon Light(1830-1861-present(1884)), and the Flash Light (1873-present (1884)). Per Bates, Land was abandoned after 1871, and Beacon and Flash were still operational at the time of publication.

Flash was described as being on the north side of the peninsula, which makes it the Presque Isle Light. The other two lights were described as being at the entrance to the harbor, Land on a bluff, and Beacon on the North Pier.

Bates could be wrong about whether Beacon or Land survived, but with some difficulty we can say Bates thought the Land Light was sold and demolished in 1881. Pat 20:45, 24 May 2007 (UTC)