Dunkirk Light

Dunkirk Light
Location	Sycamore Rd., Dunkirk, New York, Point Gratiot on Lake Erie
Coordinates	42°29′38″N 79°21′14″W / 42.49389°N 79.35389°WCoordinates: 42°29′38″N 79°21′14″W / 42.49389°N 79.35389°W
Tower
Constructed	1826
Foundation	Dressed Stone
Construction	Rubblestone encased in brick
Height	18.5 m (61 ft)
Shape	Square
Markings	Upper 2/3 White, lower 1/3 natural, Red Lantern
Heritage	National Register of Historic Places listed place
Light
First lit	1875
Automated	1960
Focal height	82 feet (25 m)
Lens	Third Order Fresnel lens
Range	13 nmi (24 km; 15 mi)
Characteristic	Occulting White 4 seconds
	Point Gratiot Lighthouse Complex
	U.S. National Register of Historic Places
	Point Gratiot Light, November 2010
Area	3.9 acres (1.6 ha)
Built	1875
Architectural style	Gothic, High Victorian Gothic
NRHP reference No.	79001568
Added to NRHP	December 18, 1979

Dunkirk Light, also known as Point Gratiot Light, is an active lighthouse located at on Lake Erie in New York state.^[2]^[3]^[4]

The lighthouse was established in 1826 and the current tower was first lit in 1875. The lighthouse was automated in 1960 and is still operational. The foundation is made out of dressed stone and the lighthouse is made out of rubblestone encased in brick. The tower is square-shaped with the upper two thirds in white and the lower third left natural and the lantern housing in red. The original lens is a third order Fresnel lens installed in 1857 and is still in operation. Its being still in use makes it a rarity. Only 70 such lenses are operational in the United States, 16 being on the Great Lakes of which two are in New York.^[5] At the entrance to the park property is the South Buffalo North Side Light, formerly located in Buffalo Harbor. It was added to the National Register of Historic Places as Point Gratiot Lighthouse Complex in 1979.

Cultural[]

The Dunkirk Lighthouse is open daily except Sunday. Guided tours include climb to the top of the lighthouse, Veteran museums and gift shop.^[6]

The Archives Center at the Smithsonian National Museum of American History has a collection (#1055) of souvenir postcards of lighthouses and has digitized 272 of these and made them available online. These include postcards of Dunkirk (Point Gratiot) Light ^[7] with links to customized nautical charts provided by National Oceanographic and Atmospheric Administration.

References[]

^ "National Register Information System". National Register of Historic Places. National Park Service. March 13, 2009.
^ "Historic Light Station Information and Photography: New York". United States Coast Guard Historian's Office. August 8, 2009. Archived from the original on May 1, 2017.
^ Light List, Volume VII, Great Lakes (PDF). Light List. United States Coast Guard. 2009. p. 38.
^ "ARLHS World List of Lights". Archived from the original on February 24, 2012. Retrieved February 7, 2009.
^ "Fresnel Lenses Still in Operation" (PDF). USCG. November 14, 2009. Archived (PDF) from the original on March 25, 2009. Retrieved January 10, 2009.
^ "Dunkirk Lighthouse Official Site". Archived from the original on July 29, 2010. Retrieved September 24, 2010.
^ "Smithsonian lighthouse postcards". Archived from the original on March 11, 2010. Retrieved January 10, 2009.

External links[]

Dunkirk Light in Lighthouse Digest's Lighthouse Explorer Database
Dunkirk Lighthouse and Veteran's Park Museum – official site
US-Lighthouses.com

Media related to Dunkirk Light at Wikimedia Commons

[nris-1] "National Register Information System". National Register of Historic Places. National Park Service. March 13, 2009.

[cghist-2] "Historic Light Station Information and Photography: New York". United States Coast Guard Historian's Office. August 8, 2009. Archived from the original on May 1, 2017.

[cgll-3] Light List, Volume VII, Great Lakes (PDF). Light List. United States Coast Guard. 2009. p. 38.

[ARLHS-4] "ARLHS World List of Lights". Archived from the original on February 24, 2012. Retrieved February 7, 2009.

[uscgfl-5] "Fresnel Lenses Still in Operation" (PDF). USCG. November 14, 2009. Archived (PDF) from the original on March 25, 2009. Retrieved January 10, 2009.

[6] "Dunkirk Lighthouse Official Site". Archived from the original on July 29, 2010. Retrieved September 24, 2010.

[postcard-7] "Smithsonian lighthouse postcards". Archived from the original on March 11, 2010. Retrieved January 10, 2009.

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Dunkirk Light

Contents

Cultural[]

References[]

Further reading[]

External links[]

v t Lighthouses of New York
Main: List of lighthouses in the United States
Ambrose Tower Barber's Point Barcelona Blackwell Island Bluff Point Braddock Point Buffalo Light Buffalo Harbor North and South entrance Lights Buffalo Harbor South Entrance Light Buffalo North breakwater East end Light Buffalo North Breakwater South End Light Cape Vincent Cedar Island Charlotte–Genesee Cold Spring Harbor Coney Island Coxsackie Crossover Island Crown Point Cumberland Head Dunkirk East Charity Shoal Eatons Neck Elm Tree Beacon Esopus Meadows Execution Rocks Fire Island Fort Niagara Fort Tompkins Fort Wadsworth Frenchman Island Galloo Island Horse Island Horton Point Hudson-Athens Huntington Harbor Kings Point Latimer Reef Little Gull Island Little Red Montauk Point New Dorp North Brother Island North Dumpling Oak Orchard Old Field Point Old Orchard Shoal Ogdensburg Harbor Orient Long Beach Bar Orient Point Oswego Harbor West Pierhead Plum Island Point Aux Roches Prince's Bay Race Rock Rock Island Romer Shoal Rondout Sands Point Saugerties Selkirk Shinnecock Sodus Outer Sodus Point South Buffalo North Side Staten Island Statue of Liberty Stepping Stones Stony Point (Henderson) Stony Point (Hudson) Stuyvesant Sunken Rock Tarrytown Thirty Mile Point Throgs Neck Tibbetts Point West Point West Bank Whitestone Point