Lighthouses of Lake Erie – Barcelona Lighthouse Westfield, NY

Lighthouses have always fascinated us. There is just something about them that we are drawn to. Barcelona Lighthouse in Westfield, NY was no exception. Whenever we go to a new campground, I like to research what there is to do in the area. We’re always looking for a great hike, unique museums, lighthouses, great food, or wineries. For this trip, we found a little of it all, but the highlight was definitely the lighthouse.

Latitude 42.341104

Longitude -79.594825

The lighthouse was a short 10 mile drive from our campground. We pulled up and parked at the Barcelona Harbor and Pier which was being dredged at the time. The Harbor itself is beautiful with picnic tables scattered to overlook Lake Erie. We wandered over to the lighthouse and were pleasantly surprised that there was no charge to tour the museum and grounds. The helpful staff explained that they are a relatively new State Park and that 100% of the sale of any of the souvenirs that were offered benefited the reconstruction of the wooden treads of the lighthouse stairs. The park is staffed daily from 10:00 am to 4:00 pm, Memorial Day through Labor Day.

The History

In 1828, $5000. was appropriated to build a lighthouse at Portland Harbor. Built using fieldstone, construction was completed in 1829. This 40 foot lighthouse was the first natural gas lit lighthouse in the country. In order to capture the gas, workers dug into the rock where the largest quantity of gas was found to create a well . A masonry cap was erected over this well, and natural gas was transported by hollow wooden pipes to Portland Harbor Lighthouse. Currently, the light is fueled by natural carbureted hydrogen gas.

In the museum, we learned about the shipwrecks of Lake Erie (there are 103). We also learned that the first lighthouse keeper was hired in May, 1829 for $350. per year. His name was Joshua Lane and he and his family moved into the 32 x 20 lightkeepers cottage, which had two main rooms on the ground floor and a bedroom upstairs. The walls of the cottage were 20 inches thick!

According to Wikipedia “Barcelona Light, also known as Portland Harbor Light, is in the path of totality for the 2024 solar eclipse, with 3 minute and 43 seconds of totality.” We think that is just plain cool!