Lighthouse Point Park

At Lighthouse Point Park in Buffalo, villagers built a harbor that helped build the city. The parkland, promenade, and restored lighthouse were once key elements of the old Port of Buffalo. Early in the 19th century, the city's earliest lighthouse, one of the first on the Great Lakes, was built here. The promenade follows what was once a narrow stone pier projecting into Lake Erie, and the restored 1833 lighthouse occupied a stone mound, or molehead, added to the pier's end. Here, the stream of immigrants settling America's heartlands reached the end of the Erie Canal. Some stayed to help build Buffalo, while others continued beyond this pier and lighthouse onto the inland seas. Schooners and steamships passed inbound to the docks and wharves of the harbor and canal, carrying the commerce of a growing America. The pier eventually became a peninsula as landfill was added to support lighthouse and lifeboat services for a port that expanded along the river and lake shores. That tradition continues today on the Coast Guard base that occupies the site.

Buffalo, New York · United States