In 1828, Congress appropriated five thousand dollars to construct a lighthouse in Barcelona Harbor on Lake Erie in New York. The harbor had just been designated an official port of entry when the lighthouse was built. In the early 1800s, lumber, salt, flour, and fish were shipped to and from the port. The lighthouse is a conical stone tower, 40 feet tall. It’s believed to be the very first natural gas-powered lighthouse in the world.
The light was discontinued as an aid to navigation in 1859, and the property was transferred to New York State Parks in 2007. There’s a museum in the keeper’s house, and currently there’s a major project in progress that includes the rehabilitation of the lighthouse tower. Our guest is Marla Bingham-Melcher, the manager of the five state parks in Chautauqua County, including Barcelona Lighthouse. This episode is co-hosted by Averie Shaughnessy-Comfort, executive director of Lake Erie Lights of Pennsylvania.
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U.S. Lighthouse Society Historian Jeremy D’Entremont is the author of 24 books and hundreds of articles on lighthouses and maritime history. He is a past president of the American Lighthouse Foundation and founder of Friends of Portsmouth Harbor Lighthouses, and he has lectured and narrated cruises throughout the Northeast and in other regions. He is also the producer and host of the U.S. Lighthouse Society’s weekly podcast, “Light Hearted.” He can be emailed at Jeremy@uslhs.org