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Location | Horse Island, Sackets Harbor, Jefferson County, US |
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Coordinates | 43°56′35″N 76°08′40″W / 43.9431°N 76.1444°W |
Tower | |
Constructed | 1831 |
Construction | limestone (foundation), brick (tower) |
Automated | 1957 |
Height | 21 m (69 ft) |
Shape | square |
Markings | white (tower), black (lantern) |
Light | |
First lit | 1870 |
Deactivated | 1957 |
Lens | fifth order Fresnel lens |
Active light | |
Constructed | 1957 |
Construction | steel |
Focal height | 57 ft (17 m) |
Range | 5 mi (8.0 km) |
Characteristic | Fl W 2.5s |
Horse Island Light, also known as Sackets Harbor Light, is located on Horse Island in Sackets Harbor, Jefferson County in New York on Lake Ontario. In July 2017 the 24-acre island was acquired for preservation by the Civil War Trust, aided by a grant from the National Park Service. This was the first grant in the United States made for a War of 1812 site under the NPS battlefield grants program. [1] [2] [3]
Horse Island Light is listed on the National Park Service's Maritime Heritage Program as a "Lighthouse to Visit" and as one of New York's Historic Light Stations. [4]
A modern steel skeletal tower replaced the lighthouse as an Aid to Navigation in 1957, [5] and the lighthouse and property were sold. It is now in private hands and not open to the public. The keepers quarters were built in 1870, and consisted of a 1+1⁄2 story Queen Anne/ Italianate brick house. There was also a barn and oil house on the property.
During the War of 1812, the British used Horse Island as a staging area before the Battle of Sackett's Harbor. In July 2017, the 24-acre Horse Island, located near the village, was acquired for preservation by the Civil War Trust, aided by a grant from the National Park Service. It was the site of a War of 1812 engagement. This was the first time in the US that a grant from the American Battlefield Land Grant program has been used to preserve a War of 1812 site. [2]
The lighthouse keeper at one time was Schuyler Shibley Simmons. [6]