Horseshoe Reef Lighthouse stands in Lake Erie near Buffalo at the head of the Niagara River, built on a dangerous reef in border waters between the United States and Canada. Its history is unusual because the United Kingdom ceded a one-acre parcel around the reef to the United States in 1850, creating a small American enclave on the Canadian side so the lighthouse could be constructed. Funded in 1851 and finally lit in 1856 with a Fresnel lens, it served navigation until 1919 or 1920. A 1908 treaty later placed it on the U.S. side, and the long-abandoned structure is now a deteriorated ruin and bird habitat.

Buffalo, New York · USA