Pennsylvania Lights - Erie Land

The Erie Land lighthouse. 10/4/2025 dwm

 Lake Erie is the fourth Great Lake we've visited to see many of the lighthouses dotting its shoreline. 

 There are 21 in Ohio, and that's where we centered our attention until two weeks before the trip. That's when I noticed Pennsylvania was home to three lighthouses in the city of Erie, which was less than an hour from where we stayed.

 In the early days of the United States it was unlikely the Keystone State would ever see lighthouses on Erie's shoreline because there wasn't any. Shoreline, that is. 

In 1792, Pennsylvania paid $151,640 for a triangular shaped piece of land that gave the state 45-miles of shoreline. Part of that land was called Presque Isle, which means 'almost an island' in French arches into the lake forming a natural harbor that's five miles long and a mile wide. 

Late afternoon in Erie, PA. 10/4/25 dwm

In 1810, Congress approved funding for two lighthouses on the Great Lakes, one in Buffalo, New York, and one on a bluff overlooking that almost island which became known as the Erie Land Lighthouse. The two were the first lighthouses on the Great Lakes.

An interesting part of the story is the lighthouse. The light went online in 1818 with 20-foot stone tower. 

An inspection in 1838 found the station in good shape, but, because of settling, the light needed to be replaced in 1857. The second Erie Land light was twice as tall and replaced lamps with a third degree Fresnel lens. 

A new keeper's house was built nearby, but in less than ten years, the tower was cracked and found to be built on quicksand. For the third light, they moved it away from the edge of the bluff, then crews dug 20-feet deep to secure the foundation with eight layers of oak lumber, then filled with layers of stone and cement.

A restored lantern dedicated in 2004. 10/4/25 dwm

 The base was 19-feet wide for the third lighthouse's 49-foot tall tower. It was completed in 1867. A second light was built on the peninsula sticking into Lake Erie which made the Erie Land light less critical. In 1880, the Lighthouse Board decided it could be discontinued. 

 The locals didn't like the decision, and by 1884, Congress approved $7,000 to re-establish the Erie Land light. In 1899, the lantern room was removed from the top of lighthouse and sent to Marblehead in Ohio. (You'll see that light down the road.)

For ninety years, the light didn't look right, but that was fixed in 1990 with a new wooden lantern room. It was fully-restored with brick masonry and re-dedicated in June 2004. 

The area where it stands is known as Lighthouse Park. The lighthouse is operated by the same organization that runs the Presque Isle light, but since our visit was out of season, we couldn't see the keeper's house or the tower. It may be the fourth version of the pioneering lighthouse, but it's nice to see even a reproduction of the light standing above Lake Erie from its perch on the northwest corner of Pennsylvania.

The keeper's house is beyond the white picket fence. 10/4/2025 dwm 

 

 

A better view of the keeper's house. 10/4/2025 dwm

 

 

 

The Erie Land Lighthouse. 10/4/2025 dwm photo