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Ashtabula Harbor Light

Coordinates: 41°55′07″N 80°47′45″W / 41.9186°N 80.7959°W / 41.9186; -80.7959
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Ashtabula Harbor Light
Ashtabula Harbor Light before extension of breakwater
Map
LocationAshtabula Harbor, Lake Erie, Ashtabula, Ohio
Coordinates41°55′07″N 80°47′45″W / 41.9186°N 80.7959°W / 41.9186; -80.7959
Tower
FoundationConcrete crib
ConstructionSteel/Iron plate
Automated1973
Height40 feet (12 m)
Shaperectangular house with central cylindrical tower
Markingswhite, red roof & parapet, green trim
HeritageNational Register of Historic Places listed place Edit this on Wikidata
Light
First lit1905
Focal height51 feet (16 m)
LensFourth Fresnel lens
Range7.8 nautical miles; 14 kilometres (9 mi)
Characteristic6 sec Yellow flashing[1]
Ashtabula Harbor Light
MPSU.S. Coast Guard Lighthouses and Light Stations on the Great Lakes TR
NRHP reference No.83001943[2]
Added to NRHP1983-08-04[2]

Ashtabula Harbor Light (also known as Ashtabula Light) is a lighthouse in Ashtabula, Ohio.[3][4] It was listed in the National Register on August 8, 1983.

History

The first light marking Ashtabula's harbor was built in 1836, a short hexagonal wooden tower standing on a wooden crib just off the eastern pier.[5] This used the oil lamps typical of the time and remained in service until replaced by a new tower on the west pier, a pyramidal tower with clapboard sides.[6][7] This change was prompted by changes in the harbor configuration. The new light was equipped with a fourth-order Fresnel lens, exhibiting a red light. Keepers lived in a frame house in town. This tower was moved in 1882 but remained in service.[7]

In 1905 the Ashtabula River mouth was widened and breakwater constructed, prompting construction of the third light, the structure that exists today.[6] This building was originally placed 1750 feet SSE of its present location, but was moved and enlarged in 1915, placed on a concrete crib at the end of the north breakwater. The new house, built of steel and iron plate, afforded living quarters for the keepers. At the same time a new fourth-order lens was mounted in the tower.[5] The old light was by this time left standing by itself, sixty feet from shore.[6]

The new light's exposed position made it vulnerable to various assaults. In 1927 it was struck by a steamship, shifting it six inches off its base.[5] The following year, however, a more famous incident occurred. An ice storm completely encased the light, trapping the keepers inside. After two days they managed to thaw the front door sufficiently to get it open, only to have to tunnel to through some five feet of ice in order to escape.[5][8]

The light was the last Great Lakes light to be manned, and was finally automated in 1973.[6] The original keeper's house was deeded to the city in the same year, but returned to federal ownership in 1976 due to a lack of funds to complete a plan to convert the building to a museum. In 1982 the building again passed into private hands and was opened in 1984 as the Ashtabula Marine Museum.[9] The lighthouse itself continued in service, even as the breakwater was extended past it.[5] The Fresnel lens was replaced with a modern beacon and given to the museum in 1995.

Cleveland resident Jim Woodward, one of only four men in the U.S. who can properly be called “lampists,” (one who is qualified to repair and restore the classical Fresnel lighthouse lenses) restored the lens. He is the only one of the four who apprenticed under a lampist in the old United States Lighthouse Service.[10]

In 2003 a society was formed to take possession of the light under the National Historic Lighthouse Preservation Act, and they applied for the light when it was offered in the following year.[5] They assumed control of the light in 2007 and began a program of restoration with the intent of making the lighthouse available for public tours.[11] In May 2008 they received a grant to allow them to construct a floating dock, necessary since all access to the light is by water.[12] The Society has in fact acquired the light.[13]

References

  1. ^ Light List, Volume VII, Great Lakes (PDF). Light List. United States Coast Guard.
  2. ^ a b "National Register Information System". National Register of Historic Places. National Park Service. June 30, 2007.
  3. ^ Amateur Radio Lighthouse Society list of lights.
  4. ^ Rowlett, Russ. "Lighthouses of the United States: Ohio". The Lighthouse Directory. University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.
  5. ^ a b c d e f "Ashtabula Lighthouse". Anderson, Kraig, lighthousefriends.com. Retrieved 2008-07-15.
  6. ^ a b c d "History of the Ashtabula Lighthouse". Ashtabula Lighthouse Restoration and Preservation Society. Archived from the original on 2010-11-05. Retrieved 2008-07-15.
  7. ^ a b "Inventory of Historic Light Stations: Ohio Lighthouses: Ashtabula Harbor Light". National Park Service. Archived from the original on 25 July 2008. Retrieved 2008-07-15.
  8. ^ "Historic Light Station Information and Photography: Ohio". United States Coast Guard Historian's Office. Archived from the original on 2017-05-01. Retrieved 2008-07-15.
  9. ^ "Ashtabula Marine Museum". Archived from the original on 2009-02-02. Retrieved 2017-09-25.
  10. ^ D'Entremont, Jeremy (03/2006) 109-year-old Ashtabula Lens Restored by Lampist Jim Woodward. Archived 2011-06-14 at the Wayback Machine Lighthouse Digest.
  11. ^ Page, Margie Trax (May 8, 2007). "Not taken lightly: Preservation society takes over ownership of Ashtabula Lighthouse". Star Beacon. Archived from the original on October 6, 2008. Retrieved 2008-07-15.
  12. ^ Terry, Shelley (May 15, 2008). "Ashtabula Lighthouse gets grant for floating dock". Star Beacon. Archived from the original on February 3, 2013. Retrieved 2008-07-15.
  13. ^ Ashtabula Lighthouse Preservation and Restoration Society.

Further reading

  • 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.
  • 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
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