(This is the first in a series of posts Niagara At Large will carry on treasured heritage sites in our binational region)
By Paul Kassay
At the far end of lake Erie near the Niagara river on the south shore, sits an historic lighthouse, Point Abino juts out into lake Erie and is less than 15 miles from Buffalo NY which is visible most times.
Point Abino Lighthouse on Lake Erie
The Abino light station as it is known has been decommisioned since 1995. The Town of Fort Erie now owns the historic light, thanks to the perserverence of a group of local historians.
From Crystal Beach where we live we can still see the structure, but alas, getting to it is not a simple undertaking.. The road leading to the light is owned by an association of wealthy summer residents, mostly from the USA.. Visitors can access the point via a trolley in the summertime maintained and operated by PALPS through a special arrangement with the Town of Fort Erie who pays the assocication some $4,000.00 anually for the privilege.
The really big problem here is that the Lighthouse proper is considered to be on the Doomsday List by some. It is literally deteriorating. In an effort to get enough money to save the light, the Town has decided to sell off the Lightkeeper’s dwelling, in order to pay for the restoration. And many, like me, are outraged.
I remember in my younger days as teenagers we could drive out to the point on foggy days and park the car just to listen to the BEE OHH, of the fog horn and count the revolutions of the beacon. On a dare, some of us would walk out in front of the light tower to really get an earful. Our young folks today driving their boom-box car radios think they are loud, too bad they didn’t experience really Loud. But alas, those days are gone forever, the light is extinguished, the horn is silenced forever. So how and why is the station there ? 
It took a tragedy to bring it about. In 1913, from the 11th to the 13th of November, a gale of hurricaine proportions caused an American Lightship guarding, the Point to capsize, with the loss of all seamen aboard . Six seamen perished in the 80 MPH gale. Scores or ships went down in the great lakes, hundreds of seamen perished that year.
The government of Canada was pressured to erect a lighthouse. In 1917 the Point Abino light became a reality. It took the Light Vessel # 82’s demise to make it happen. Visiting the lighthouse was a real experience for me and climbing the tower is something that only a few have experienced.. Light-keeper, Lewis Anderson, the last of the keepers was my guide on more than one occaison when I was still doing stories for the newspapers, what a view and what a thrill to see accross the lake, and to see the workings of the huge diaphone fog-horn and the Fresnel Lens with the single lightbulb that could cast a beam 20 miles accross the lake Visitors are not allowed to the top any longer.
I am told that the lens is valued at a half-million dollars and is the only Order 3 lens on the Great Lakes. For me, the experience of knowing Point Abino Light personally, is enlightening for those who cannot see it close up, perhaps someday you will, The Town of Fort Erie has attached a historic building designation to the Keeper’s dwelling, which means it cannot be altered in the event that it should get sold. Perhaps one day, an easier passage to the station will come about, and the the site will be free to all.
This article was previously published in Our Canada Magazine. Please visit Our Canada Magazine and enjoy what it has to offer at www.ourcanada.ca.
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Doug: I too have a great admiration for the Pt. Abino Lighthouse, and, like you, I have toured it and was guided by Lou Anderson. This was a number of years ago and at that time I encouraged him to write about his experiences at the lighthouse; he told me about the storm you speak of and the loss of so many of his records. The lighthouse is also a National Historic Site. There are only 8 scheduled summer tour days with 4 hours each day – tours being from June to September. From June 21st to Labour Day there is daily visiting by bicycle or walking. Pedestrian and special visits go to the site only, not inside the lighthouse. Access to the lighthouse has been a big problem as the road to the area is privately owned. Both the lighthouse and the Keeper’s dwelling have been vacant and neglected since 1995. Maintenance has been reactive, that is, repairs to damage from storms or vandals. The restoration estimate is $1.4 million and I understand there could be some grant money because of its designation as a National Historic Site. The Keeper’s dwelling is not included under the NHS designation. This is such a unique lighthouse that ways must be found to preserve it. It is interesting to note that lighthouses are appreciated and valued in the U.S. Many of those along the California coast have been converted to Bed and Breakfast facilities and are great tourist attractions.
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The Town did in fact receive a $400,000 grant from the feds to repair the lighthouse. The approval was what prompted the Town to decide to sell the dwelling to make up the difference.
In the same breath, the Town also designated the dwelling as a historic building.
The whole situation involving the Point Abino property owners’ association has been a source of controversy forever, pitting a group of Buffalo financial elite against the rest of the community.
There has been a court decision in favour of the association regarding access to the lighthouse and ownership of the road. But it seems to me that there is something unknown or just unsaid that prevents the Town from doing a full-court press on the matter. Maybe the legal agreements in place from the days of the first development out there are simply ironclad.
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Thanks for a great article Paul, I recall fondly when I was a child the plaintive mourn of the fog horn. I wonder if anyone has a recording of its sound? When we were children we would walk the length of Crystal Beach with a brown bag lunch and eat our peanut butter sandwich on the steps. Sometimes the keeper would let us peek inside. I’ve always felt that lighthouses were magical places and certainly ours is a treasure that we should seek to preserve. I have taken the tour at least once a year since they started it, just to take some photos and support the effort. I encourage any local residents who have never seen it up close to take the tour someday, or get a permit from the gatekeeper to take a bike ride up there. It’s a beautiful spot that will always hold a special place in my heart, even without the sound that still makes foggy days in Crystal Beach echo in my mind.
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Hi:
I am not a resident of Crystal Beach or even a resident of Fort Erie, but as a child my parents used to bring me to the area for to visit the Crystal Beach Park. I think it is about time that the Town Of Fort Erie and the Region of Niagara, remind the American elite and their families that this is Canadian soil that they reside on and that they do not own every part of Fort Erie. I recently heard some Americans having a conversation about one of their relatives taking a trip up to Canada and they were standing in a Fort Erie business. Do they consider this Canada when in Fort Erie? The answer to this is NO! They consider this America.
The Point Abino Lighthouse is a Canadian Historic Building and should be preserved and access to the location needs to be deeded back to the Town of Fort Erie. They need to expropriate the access, and tell the Americans that they will get a $1.00 a year rebate on their taxes. It’s time that they need to be put in their place. If this was the U.S.A. I am sure they would just take it and say suck it up, it’s our land, but they think they have the right to take what ever they like , where ever it is in the world, because they are Americans.
I will make an effort this summer to visit this Historic site in Niagara.
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We Canadians are to nice, and the Town Of Fort Erie are not interested in preserving what they have, but bring in more US enterprises to take over control in their town. Wake up everyone, make your polititions acoutable to YOU, not the Americans.
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Good article Paul and a bone of contention for years. As I mentioned in comments on the beach access article, I have taken a vacation solely to tour lighthouses of the great lakes. Almost every town with one, Point Clark, Presqu’ile, Tobermorey, Kincardine have made them focal points of the town or of parks, with access, much to the benefit of the towns. This is certainly true in the US as well. No Canadian property owners would DARE tell Americans they can’t see their own lighthouses! Ones like Cape Croker on the Bruce Peninsula are very remote but still accessible over dirt roads and, you know what – people actually go out of there way to see them. What else of our heritage can we sell off or watch die? When will Erie Beach be completely paved over and its history gone like Crystal Beach? It’s well on its way. When will the lighthouse collapse into the lake? I too remember as a kid the sound of the fog horn on dreary nights – eerie – and cool! As I also said in the other article, the public can even stroll along the ocean in front of the Kennedy compound but we can’t walk to our own bloody lighthouse. What are we going to do, peak in the Americans’ windows? Give me a break. I live on a public/ accessible road and people don’t go frolicking through my front yard! Even if the gates were closed and everyone had to be out by dark that would insure their privacy and freedom from troublemakers. Why couldn’t their miserly gate keeper enforce that and earn his/her pay? I once asked if a friend from out of town (the US in fact) could walk down to see the light. We were told to get out! Damn us 50 year old wild vandals! Why don’t we Canadians just all move to Nunavut and get the hell out of the Americans’ way ? We’re such a trivial inconvenience in our own country! I’m not dissing all Americans, just the ones who deny us our heritage. I am dissing our gutless politicians on all levels who let this happen – spineless!
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I was very happy to find this information about Point Abino Lighthouse. My parents lived in Ridgeway, Ontario and many years ago, as I explored the area, I came upon this lighthouse. Neither my parents or my brother knew anything about it. We took a picture of it, and later, I did a painting of it. That painting hangs in my home today as a reminder of our great times on the shores of Lake Erie near Ridgeway, Ontario
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Hurricanes can take a building quick as a blink,every one of the lighthouses I have visited have a history and special things about it. So why does everything have to be so difficult to preserve something so spectacular? Please do something before it crumbles away. A Light House Lover, Sharon Manning,Pa.
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I recently have been traveling to visit the Lighthouses.i have problems with my knees but I want to see the whole view.So I climb to the top of the lights when I can.I truely hope they can find a way to keep the Light and preserve it.it will be a great lose to loose any of the Lights. There is so much history in the keeping of the Lights. We need to preserve it for future generations.
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