Notes:
(1) The Twelfth Lighthouse established in Colonial America.
      Fort Niagara Light was built to guide Great Lake shipping from Lake Ontario entering the Niagra River.  During the colonial period, the mouth of the Niagara River was a important harbor and strategic location for a military fort.

      In 1679, Fort Conti was constructed by the French for defense and trading goods.  In 1726, a permanent fortification was erected and called the “French Castle.”  During the French and Indian War, the British seized control of the Fort Niagara on July 25, 1759.

      In 1782, the British erected a Light Tower on the roof of the Fort to guide shipping entering the river.  Shipping and trading continued and increased despite the War for American Independence.  Interestingly, the earliest lighthouse on the Great Lakes was built in the Colony of New York yet the British controlled both the Fort and Light during the Revolutionary War.  In 1796, The Jay Treaty forced the British to surrender the Fort to the United States under the terms of the Treaty of Paris (1783).

      In 1823, a wood lighthouse was erected on the mess house of Fort Niagara to replace the deteriorating original tower.  Commercial shipping through the Niagara River was greatly reduced when the Welland Canal (1829) opened a direct channel between Lake Erie and Lake Ontario to bypass the portage at Niagara Falls.

      The second Light was in service to the end of the Civil War.  After the war, the deteriorating Lighthouse was demolished when the mess house was converted to officers’ quarters and the Lighthouse Board authorized a stone tower.

      In 1872, a 50-feet high Limestone Octagonal Tower with an attached Keeper’s Work room was erected south of the fort on the bank of the Niagara River.  A Keeper’s House and Oil house was built to the north of the Tower.

      In 1900, the Tower was raised 11-feet using buff-colored brick for a Keeper’s Watch room and to increase the visible range of the Light.  The rebuilt Tower exhibited a occulting white light 91-feet above lake level.

(2) Fort Niagara Light was decommissioned and replaced by a modern Beacon in order to save the Trees obstructing the Lantern.  Ironically, the new Tower is listed as Fort Niagara Light in the U.S. Coast Guard Light List.

 
(3) In 1900, the Characteristic was changed to Occulting White (the period of light exceeds the period of darkness at recurring intervals).

(4) The first documented American Keeper.

(5) Directions:
     From Niagara Falls, USA, Travel Route 18F (Robert Moses Parkway), 18 miles north of Niagara Falls to Fort Niagara State Park.

From Niagara Falls, Canada, cross over the Rainbow or Queenston Bridge and drive North on the Robert Moses Parkway (18F).

From the NYS Thruway, take Exit 50, travel I-290 West to I-190. Take I-190 North to Exit 25B, and drive North on the Robert Moses Parkway.

Old Fort Niagara is open daily year round and the Lighthouse is open daily from July 1 to Labor Day.