Digest>Archives> June 2007

Oak Orchard Harbor Lighthouse: The Dream Is Almost a Reality

By Bill Edwards

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The Oak Orchard Harbor Lighthouse project — an effort to reconstruct an 1871 lighthouse on Lake Ontario at Point Breeze (Carlton), New York — is making great progress, with the recent hiring of Chatfield Engineers. The Oak Orchard Harbor Light Committee met with Chatfield, representatives of the New York Office of Parks and Recreation, and representatives of Orleans County this past spring to firm up the agreement. Chatfield will engineer, design, and assist with the construction of the replica lighthouse that will be built at a state-owned, county-leased park at the northeast tip of Oak Orchard Harbor in Point Breeze. The not-for-profit group is hoping to have construction underway by the end of 2007.

Along with bringing more tourism to the area, the Oak Orchard Lighthouse Museum, chartered under the New York State Education Department, will promote and preserve the rich local maritime history through educational programming opportunities. It is hoped the project will tie into the Erie Canal and Seaway Trail to create a unique tourist destination. (For more on the beginning of this undertaking, see Rebuilding the Past in the January-February 2005 issue of Lighthouse Digest.)

Successful fundraising through dinner dances, sales of lighthouse related items, donations and memberships has brought the grassroots community effort almost to fruition...almost! About $95,000 is still needed to complete the project.

Memberships in the Oak Orchard Lighthouse Museum range from $10 for senior/students to $500 for a lifetime membership. If you’d like more information the project,

or want to know how you can help, see the website

at: www.oakorchardlighthouse.org. Or write to: Oak Orchard Lighthouse Museum, 1180 Point Breeze Rd, Kent NY

1477-9755, or call (585) 682-4552.

This story appeared in the June 2007 edition of Lighthouse Digest Magazine. The print edition contains more stories than our internet edition, and each story generally contains more photographs - often many more - in the print edition. For subscription information about the print edition, click here.

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