New England Lighthouse Treasures

Yesterday, the Black River Historical Society held a festival of local wineries with wine tasting and tours of the tall ship, “Niagara” at Black River Landing. The U.S. Brig Niagara is a reconstruction of the ship used by Commodore Oliver Hazard Perry to win the Naval Battle of Lake Erie during the War of 1812.

The Taste of History festival included boat tours to the current Lorain Lighthouse constructed in 1917 to replace the earlier Towers built to mark the entrance to Black River for the shipbuilding Port of Lorain near Cleveland, Ohio. Lorain West Breakwater Lighthouse, locally known as Lorain Lighthouse, was First Lit in 1917 exhibiting a 50,000 candlepower Flashing White Light every 10-seconds illuminated by a Fourth-order Fresnel lens 58-feet above Lake Erie visible to a range of 15-miles. In 1965, the Lighthouse was deactivated and replaced by the automated East Breakwater Light by the U.S. Coast Guard.

After years of neglect, the Port of Lorain Foundation bought the Lighthouse for $1.00 in 1990. The non-profit foundation has stabilized the crib foundation and has been restoring the interior of the building for the past 17 years. To date, the restoration project has a $2.5 million price tag, about 72 times the cost to construct the 1917 Lighthouse which was $35,000.

Currently, Lorain Lighthouse is an Active aid to navigation exhibiting a Flashing Red Light every 4-seconds 58-feet above Lake Erie visible to a range of 7 nautical miles as a historic reminder of Lake Erie Shipping and the shipbuilding town that was settled two hundred years ago.

For the Bicentennial Celebration of Lorain, the Lorain Lighthouse Foundation has scheduled two Boat Tours to Lighthouse this year. The past Taste of History event and the upcoming “Black River Bicentennial” event on August 25, 2007 from 3 to 6:30 pm. For Ticket information, please visit the Lorain Lighthouse Foundation web-site.

Map Location:
For Map Directions, please visit the Google Map of Lorain Lighthouse.

For your dining pleasure, the Jackalope Lakeside restaurant has a spectacular lake view of historic Lorain Lighthouse, the Jewel of the Port.

Map Location:
For Map Directions, please visit the Google Map of Jackalope Lakeside.

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Wine tasting, ship and lighthouse tours…

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