Ohio Lights - Celina

Celina Lighthouse. 10/4/25 dwm

 In 1986, the Celina Rotary club decided to build a lighthouse on the west shore of Grand Lake to serve aa an aid to navigation. 

 The 13,000 acre lake doesn't seem like a place that needs a lighthouse, let alone three, but the recreational boaters and anglers like the reassurance provided by the lights. 

 The light also serves as an observation tower, although it wasn't open for the public to climb on the day we visited.

An afternoon sun lights the light. 10/4/25 dwm

While I was getting shots of the Celina light, I noticed a couple of pontoon boats tied up to the public docks. It became apparent the boaters decided to cross the water instead of driving for a a trip to town. (Photo below shows the boat.)

Grand Lake was made in the 19th century to provide water for the Erie to Ohio Canal from 1825 to 1845. Fifty years later, oil was discovered under the water and the first offshore oil well was in business.

That's quite a trivia question; "where was the world's first offshore oil well?" The Gulf of Mexico and waterways in the Middle East come to mind, but not a lake in Ohio.

Boat docks for visitors. 10/4/25 dwm