Pennsylvania Lights - Presque Isle

Presque Isle Lighthouse. 10/5/25 dwm

 More than 50 years after the Erie Land lighthouse was built, a second light was built several miles closer to the lake.

 It's location, on the lake-side of the peninsula that looks like an arc of land from shore, was on the water, it's light is forty feet above the waves.

 Lighthouse Friends describes the lighthouse tower was built with five layers of brick between the outside surface and its interior wall to stand strong against wind, waves, and storms.  The outside of the tower is square, hiding a round tower and the spiral staircase.

PA's 3 lights bring ships into harbor. (Map)

The three lights of Erie are in close proximity, but the way the peninsula juts into the lake means it's a ten mile drive from the Erie Land light (lighthouse emblem lower right on map) to the Presque Isle light (emblem upper left on map). 

Our visit was out of season, so we couldn't go inside the light, instead we walked around it's white fence. 

The light went online July 12, 1873 under first-keeper Charles Waldo. In 1882, the original lamps were upgraded when a fourth-order Fresnel lens was placed in the lantern using alternating red and white lights every ten seconds. The other Erie lights had fixed lights, so locals called the Presque Isle station a "flash light." 

 The light's history cited on the Lighthouse Friends website describes life at the lighthouse as taxing even with a connection to the mainland because during the seven years of service by Waldo and his family, it wasn't walkable. That had to be a bigger deal when their baby was born in 1876.

 Roads on the peninsula weren't built until 1927. Until then, keepers like Waldo thought it was the loneliest place on earth, to reach civilization, families had to walk 1.5 miles along a path through marshland to the boathouse, then row across the bay, with another walk to the store.

 The white fence, best seen in the photo top left, was built in 1894 to protect the station's buildings and garden from sand.

 Another improvement increased the range of the light by increasing the tower's height 17-feet, 4-inches. In 1899, the tower was painted white so ship captains could see it better during the day.

 I walked half-way around the lighthouse compound taking pictures from outside the fence. The sun cooperated but I wasn't able to get shots of the light with Lake Erie in the background. 

The peninsula became a Pennsylvania state park in 1921. It offers hiking trails and plenty of beaches to enjoy. After taking pictures, there was one more light, the North Pierhead lighthouse, which you'll see next week.

The lantern of Presque Isle Lighthouse. 10/5/2025 dwm

10/5/2025 dwm photo

Note the white fence behind the two trees. 10/5/2025 dwm photo