The NRHP lists the significance of this site as "Event", so it seems to me that the narrative is more important than the specifications of the lighthouse. Even so, in honor of the lighthouse enthusiasts who might be reading this, I will include those details as well as I try to synthesize the story from the following three sources: NRHP nomination form (
visit link) , Rudy and Alice lighthouse website (
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An early settler named William Hincher first laid claim to the bluff on the west side of the Genesee River in 1792.
In March 1805, Congress established the Port of Genesee, and the first steamboat entered the Port of Genesee in 1817. But the the Genesee River was surrounded by marshland and a sandbar partially blocked the mouth of the river. A Lighthouse was essential.
When William Hincher died in 1822, his widow sold the 3 1/4 acre bluff to the US Government, and William Carrol, a Braddock's Bay resident, built the lighthouse tower and a stone keeper's house of white limestone. The tower was (and is) a 40 foot tall octagonal tower with six foot thick walls. It was originally fitted with wooden stairs. A 12 foot tall lamphouse sits on top, which originally used ten Argand lamps fueled with whale oil.
The beam from the lighthouse was obstructed by forestlands and in 1829 Congress appropriated funds for the improvement of navigation, including the clearing of the woods. In 1934, piers were built to prevent the formation of sandbars at the mouth of the river, but over time, sand built up along the piers. The pier was lengthened, and the beach grew longer. A light was built at the end of the pier in 1838, but it eventually blown down by the wind.
In 1853, the light received a fourth-order Fresnel lens, and the wooden tower steps were replaced with cast iron In 1863, the keeper's residence was replaced with the current brick structure.
A cast-iron tower built on the pier in 1880, and 1881, the lighthouse was removed from service. The lantern room and lens were moved in 1884 to the new west pier light. The Lighthouse Service continued to use the keeper's house until 1940, when the Coast Guard assumed control, and it became the residence of the Coast Guard Commander.
The narrative in the nomination form ends here. The photo of the lighthouse that accompanies the NRHP nomination lacks a lantern room. (
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From other sources (
visit link) : "It was rumored in 1965, that the lighthouse would be torn down, but a letter campaign by students of Charlotte High School saved the lighthouse.
The lighthouse and residence were declared surplus by the U.S. Government in 1981, and the lighthouse was turned over to the Charlotte-Genesee Lighthouse Historical Society. Students from Edison Tech High School built a new lantern room of wood atop the tower, and the Coast Guard loaned a fourth-order Fresnel lens from the Cleveland, Ohio Lighthouse. The tower was relit in June 1984. In 1991, the site was deeded to Monroe County, which leases the lighthouse to the Charlotte-Genesee Lighthouse Historical Society. The keeper's house and garage now house a museum and gift shop."
The museum has it's own website, where the season and hours are updated regularly: (
visit link) A volunteer docent gave us a private last year when they were there putting up holiday lights (museum is not open during the winter months), and virtually every fact discovered online and captured above is part of the narrative provided in the tour.