Lorain West Breakwater Light

Lorain West Breakwater Light

Lorain Light
Location	Lorain, Ohio, United States
Coordinates	41°28′39.28″N82°11′25.90″W / 41.4775778°N 82.1905278°W / 41.4775778; -82.1905278
Tower
Constructed	1917
Foundation	Concrete Pier [1]
Construction	Concrete with steel reinforcing [1]
Height	51 feet (16 m) [1]
Shape	Square
Markings	White with red trim
Heritage	National Register of Historic Places listed place
Fog signal	Horn [1]
Light
First lit	2001
Deactivated	1965
Focal height	17.5 m (57 ft)
Lens	Fourth order Fresnel [1]
Range	6 nmi (11 km; 6.9 mi)
Characteristic	Fl R 4s
Lorain Lighthouse
U.S. National Register of Historic Places
Area	less than one acre
Built	1909 (1909)
NRHP reference No.	78002108 [2]
Added to NRHP	29 December 1978

The Lorain West Breakwater Light, also called the Lorain Harbor Light, is a lighthouse in Lorain, Ohio, United States. The light was built in 1917 on Lake Erie by the United States Army Corps of Engineers. It was taken out of service in 1965 when it was replaced by an automated light tower on a nearby breakwater. ^[3] The light was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1978. ^[2]

History

The 1917 lighthouse is the fourth lighthouse built to service the City of Lorain's Black River port, with the first being constructed in 1836.

Funding for the fourth lighthouse was appropriated by Congress in 1913 and construction began in 1916. A temporary light was installed in 1917 and the lens was installed in 1918. ^[4]

After an automated light tower was installed in 1965, the 1917 light was decommissioned and marked for demolition. The demolition had to be rescheduled for the following year after the project was delayed by a storm. During that time, the Lorain community was able to mobilize to save the lighthouse as a historical landmark for the City of Lorain. ^[5]

The original lens was a fourth order, Fresnel that was installed in 1918. ^[6] When the lighthouse was decommissioned, the Fresnel lens was put in storage in Cleveland by the Coast Guard. It was loaned to the historical society for the Charlotte-Genesse Lighthouse in New York as part of a renovation campaign in 1984. ^[7] After a dispute over ownership, ^[8] the original Lorain Fresnel lens was returned to Lorain in 2014 and is on display inside the Lorain Port Authority. ^{[9] [10]}

The Lorain Lighthouse has been managed by the Lorain Lighthouse Foundation (formerly Port of Lorain Foundation) since 1990. ^[11] The lighthouse has won "best lighthouse" by Lake Erie Living Magazine in 2013–2024. ^[12]

References

1. "Lorain Light". National Park Service. 7 March 2002. Archived from the original on 1 July 2007. Retrieved 5 July 2008.
2. "National Register Information System". National Register of Historic Places . National Park Service. 2 November 2013.
3. "Lorain's Historic Lighthouse". Lorain Port Authority. Archived from the original on 26 June 2008. Retrieved 8 June 2008.
4. Smith, Valerie (2017). The History of the Lorain Lighthouse: 1917—2017 (PDF). Lorain, Ohio: Lorain Public Library System. pp. 6–7. Retrieved 19 August 2025.
5. Penrose, Laurie (1994). A traveler's guide to 100 eastern Great Lakes lighthouses. Davison, Michigan: Friede Publications. p. 15. ISBN   9780923756093 . Retrieved 30 July 2025– via Internet Archive.
6. "Lorain West Breakwater Light". United States Coast Guard. Retrieved 8 May 2025.
7. "Name: Charlotte-Genesee Light". Lighthouse Explorer. Retrieved 19 August 2025.
8. York, Michelle (25 December 2007). "Two Venerable Lighthouses Compete for One Genuine Lens". New York Times . Retrieved 19 August 2025.
9. Payerchin, Richard (15 July 2021). "Vintage Lorain Lighthouse lens restored, displayed by Lorain Port Authority". The Morning Journal . Retrieved 8 May 2025.
10. Wheeler, T. (2 August 2017). "Fresnel Lens: Lorain Harbor, OH, 4, F". The J. Candace Clifford Lighthouse Research Catalog. Retrieved 19 August 2025.
11. Guerrieri, Vince (May–June 2017). "The Lorain Lighthouse". Lake Erie Living .
12. Editorial Staff (19 April 2025). "Lorain Lighthouse up for magazine's Best Lighthouse in 2025 award". The Morning Journal . Retrieved 8 May 2025.

Further reading

• Oleszewski, Wes. Great Lakes Lighthouses, American and Canadian: A Comprehensive Directory/Guide to Great Lakes Lighthouses, (Gwinn, Michigan: Avery Color Studios, Inc., 1998) ISBN   0-932212-98-0.
• U.S. Coast Guard. Historically Famous Lighthouses (Washington, D.C.: Government Printing Office, 1957).
• Wright, Larry and Wright, Patricia. Great Lakes Lighthouses Encyclopedia Hardback (Erin: Boston Mills Press, 2006) ISBN   1-55046-399-3

External links

Media related to Lorain lighthouse at Wikimedia Commons

• Rowlett, Russ. "Lighthouses of the United States: Ohio". The Lighthouse Directory. University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.
• "Historic Light Station Information and Photography: Ohio". United States Coast Guard Historian's Office. Archived from the original on 1 May 2017.