U.S. Lighthouse Society member Ted Panayotoff has been researching the lighthouses that have served the Oswego River where it enters Lake Ontario, in Oswego, New York. The current tower on Oswego West Pierhead was built in 1934. The first tower was built at Fort Ontario in 1822. The 1822 tower is long gone but its rubblestone keeper’s dwelling remains. Ted wonders whether this could be the oldest surviving keeper’s dwelling in the Great Lakes?
What is the oldest surviving keeper’s dwelling in the U.S.? Please reply to, or comment on, this post if you have a suggestion, or email Ted directly at <keepertedp@gmail.com>. We will post a summary of our findings at a later date.
Query from Ted Panayotoff, June 14, 2017
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Candace was the US Lighthouse Society historian from 2016 until she passed away in August 2018. For 30 years, her work involved lighthouse history. She worked with the National Park Service and the Council of American Maritime Museums. She was a noted author and was considered the most knowledgable person on lighthouse information at the National Archives. Books by Candace Clifford include: Women who Kept the Lights: a History of Thirty-eight Female Lighthouse Keepers , Mind the Light Katie, and Maine Lighthouses, Documentation of their Past.
Scituate (MA) Light’s keeper’s dwelling is original to the tower construction, 1811.
I think that the Keeper’s house at Marblehead Ohio was built in 1818, but don’t know the exact date.