The Buffalo Lighthouse

Located in the Erie Basin Marina, the historic Buffalo Lighthouse is one of the areas oldest treasures. It was built in 1833 and has undergone modest renovations through the years to preserve it. It is located on the Coast Guard base and accessible only for special tours/events. The inventory specifics of the lighthouse are available here.

It was at one of these events, the Buffalo Waterfront Festival, that my children and I were able to visit the lighthouse. This was around 1996, when the kids were 4 and 5 years old. We took the Miss Buffalo over from the "mainland".

At that time, the public was able to actually ascend the wide stone stairway all the way to the top. There, an iron ladder went right up into the light compartment. It's the size of a very small room, with cramped space for about 4 adults.

The view was fantastic! The thrill of being up in the lighthouse defies description!

Then came the time to descend the widely-spaced rungs of the ladder. Up was easy. Down was another story. It would have been extremely difficult trying to hold on to the ladder with one kid in front of me. The other kid would have absolutely no part of staying on top for even a minute without me...Thanks to some people below, I was able to lower the kids, one by one, to them. Of course, besides being wonderfully helpful people, their ulterior motive was to get us moving so they could have their turn!

As far as I know, that was the last year people were allowed inside, as it was determined that the interior stone needed stabilizing, with no funds readily available. We're still waiting...

(The photo was taken from across the water, on the open-air patio at The Hatch)