South Buffalo North Side Light
Posted by: 
Rayman
N 42° 29.590 W 079° 21.204
17T E 635311 N 4705847
The South Buffalo North Side Light, erected in 1903, was one of the two "bottle shaped" beacons located in Buffalo Harbor.
Waymark Code: WMZ4T
Location: New York, United States
Date Posted: 11/19/2006
Views: 27
When in place, this beacon marked the north side of the south entrance to Buffalo Harbor. The original location can be seen
here.
It is constructed of boiler plate varying from 3/8" thick at the base to 1/4" thick at the slender neck of the bottle. The beacon is 29' high and measures 10' in diameter at the base and 27" at the top. It is distinguished by four cast iron port windows and a curved iron door. A 3/8" boiler plate dome forms the roof of the beacon, which is painted white.
The tower originally rested on a circular concrete base on the pierhead, which in turn was supported on a stone-filled crub founded by bedrock. The tower originally featured a 360 degree 6th-order Fresnel lens. The fixed white light was provided by an oil lamp equipped with a 5 day supply of fuel. A cable, pulley, and hoisting winch was used to raise the light to the top of the tower and to lower it for refueling. Oil for the beacon was stored in the basement of the Buffalo South Side Light, located nearby. A battery operated 12 volt lamp with a 300mm green plastic lens was installed in the beacon circa 1960, when a domed roof formerly mounted over the lens was removed.
The beacon was removed in 1985, but was rescued by the local Coast Guard and Buffalo Lighthouse Association and turned over to the Dunkirk Lighthouse and Veterans Park Museum. It stands at the gate of that facility in Dunkirk, NY, south of Buffalo.