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Index of abbreviated topics, Selkirk
| Early history
| Origins of the name
| Builders
| Early lighting systems
| Keepers
| Government surplus
| Re-activated!
| Present & future
| Sources, credits
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Collector's Office, District of Genesee, Rochester, New York. September 4, 1837.
PROPOSALS will be received by me at Rochester for a dwelling and Beacon Light on Lake Ontario, at the junction of the Salmon River with said Lake in the village of Port Ontario, in the County of Oswego, in said state . . .
The above mentioned work to be completed in a faithful and workmanlike manner by the first day of August next.
JACOB GOULD
Superintendent of Light Houses on Lake Ontario, New York. September 6, 1837
That's how it actually came to print in the Pulaski Advocate on September 13, 1837.
Index of detailed topics, Selkirk
| ** A Gallery of Pictures **
| Treaty of the French & Indian War
| Action during the War of 1812
| Thomas Douglas, Earl of Selkirk
| Original building specifications
| History of shipbuilding at Selkirk/Port Ontario
| Lighting systems
| Unique qualities and features
| Rehabilitation and restoration plans
| Media coverages |
Index to many other lighthouse interests
| Comprehensive list of ALL KNOWN lighthouses offering guest accommodations |
| ** Gallery II -- Other Lights **
| Seaway Trail lighthouses
| Lighthouse Organizations
| Lighthouse WEB links |
| For the Scholar/Historian |
| WWW Virtual Library: Lighthouses, Lightships & Lifesaving Stations |
 Early history
The site which eventually became home to the Selkirk Lighthouse was visited first by Champlain and the Hurons in October, 1615; the Jesuit Father Simon LeMoine on a mission to the Onondaga Nation in August, 1655; and was the location of a major gathering of Cayuga, Oneida and Onondaga Indian tribes resulting in a treaty with the French Governor-General de la Barre of Quebec in September, 1684, during the French and Indian War. The land north of the Salmon River was purchased from the Oneida, Onondaga and Cayuga tribes by New York's Governor George Clinton in 1788.
The first permanent white settlement was established at the mouth of the Salmon River in 1801, shortly after the area was first surveyed in 1797. Initially, the fantastic Atlantic Salmon fishing of the day was the main economic attraction while some settlers undertook farming nearby. Before long it became a haven for smugglers, particularly during the War of 1812.
A government engineer inspecting breakwall construction in the early 1830's made a determination that the harbor had sufficient depth and breadth to anchor 30 ships safely. His recommendations prompted the development of plans for a lighthouse complete with Customs Office, and dredging of a channel along the South side of the estuary known as Selkirk Lake nearly a mile upriver to today's bridges at NY State Route 3.
Schooners, canal barges, commercial fishing boats, and even pleasure boats were soon being constructed in one or more ship works thought to have been situated in close proximity to the lighthouse; with the largest documented being a 219-ton, 3-masted vessel. Shipping and shipbuilding continued as major local industries through the 1860's, with more than 20 commercial vessels constructed here in all.
How the area was named
While there are two stories about how the hamlet of Selkirk was named, the more colorful one attributes it to a seafarer named Alexander Selkirk, born in 1676 and died in 1723. This fellow was put ashore on a South Sea island for four years as punishment by a captain he had disobeyed. He became the prototype for Daniel Defoe's 'Robinson Crusoe,' and kind of a cult hero among mariners. Legend has it that his followers here thought that naming the community after him would be fitting tribute. The less colorful but more historically accurate story attributes the name to Thomas Douglas, Earl of Selkirk, who purchased almost 4,400 acres on the north side of the river in the late 1790's and made himself a sizable fortune in subsequent real estate sales.
An inveterate explorer in the New World, the Earl subsequently received a land grant from the Hudson's Bay Company and founded a small community on the banks of the Red River in Manitoba, which has grown into the city we know today as Winnipeg.
The Federal government purchased approximately 5,760 square feet of land for the Port Ontario Lighthouse Reservation from Sylvester and Daniel Brown and their families on September 1, 1837, then published in the local Pulaski Advocate and Oswego Palladium its request for quotations to build the lighthouse on September 13th, less than two weeks later. One requirement was that construction had to be complete no later than August 1, 1838. A copy of that publication detailing all specifications for construction type, standards, and materials still survives in our possession. Originally called the Salmon River Light Station, our lighthouse was constructed in 1838 for the princely sum of $3,000.
The local builders
The local contractors who successfully bid the job were Joseph Gibbs and Abner French, although a local stonemason, Jabez Meacham, actually did most of the work. Abner French was elected first president of Pulaski on its incorporation in 1832, and was also the founding father and prime mover in spreading the Masonic movement throughout the eastern basin from Pulaski, where he founded Fellowship Lodge #288 on June 5, 1817. John Box, a blacksmith from Port Ontario constructed the wrought iron railings that both support the lantern structure and secure the platform around its outside.
Lighting systems
From the 1849 Light List, we learned that the original light was to be identical to the one in service at Horse Island Lighthouse, a 14" diameter parabolic reflector/lamp system utilizing eight lamps and reflectors, showing a fixed white light for 14 miles. Four reflectors faced the lake and two were positioned on each side. This apparatus initially burned whale oil from a 24-hour reservoir and utilized a secondary frost lamp in particularly cold weather to warm the main lamp, assisting combustion in temperatures that would thicken fuel standing in the reservoir. The 1858 Light List reports that the lamp system was upgraded during 1855 with replacement of the reflectors by a Hains Mineral Oil fountain lamp, a single burner, and a 270-degree, 6th order Fresnel lens, 18" in height and approximately 12" in diameter. Had the light remained in service, it would have been upgraded between 1858 and 1860 according to the recommendations and specifications set forth in the 1854/1855 Report to the Lighthouse Board, which identified the need for new lanterns to be supplied to numerous lighthouses being given the new Fresnel lens, since ". . . the present lanterns are formed of heavy posts and sash bars with very small panes of glass of an inferior quality . . . " No sign of any of the early lamp apparatus remains today, and we are one of only four lighthouses in existence to still have the original unmodified 'birdcage' lantern structure.
Keepers
- Lewis Conant became Selkirk's first keeper on activation in August, 1838
- Relieved by Lucius B. Cole on July 20, 1849
- Charles M. Lewis assumed command on October 6, 1854
- Relieved by A. H. Weed on March 2, 1857
Operating seasonally during the shipping season, keepers were paid $350 per year for 8-9 months of duty, then returned to their normal homes in Pulaski/Richland for the winter. The lighthouse was officially de-activated in 1858, although Coast Guard records describe its apparent conversion to Lake Ontario's second activated lifesaving station at the beginning of the annual navigation season on April 1, 1877.
Post de-activation
Records after de-activation are few, but it is recorded locally that Lucius B. Cole resided there from 1852 until his death in December, 1890, perhaps with some lapses. Having prior experience as a keeper and having been the first Tax Collector of Pulaski on its incorporation, Cole may have been provided quarters as an honorarium. We speculate that he stayed on after de-activation, perhaps continuing his care of the light in an unofficial capacity. As keeper, he was obliged to maintain three lights: one on each of the long-gone (submerged under more than ten feet of water and sand) wooden piers of the original breakwater at the river's mouth, and the third in the Lighthouse, marking the center of the channel at night. An early issue of the Pulaski Advocate claimed that Cole's mother was Olive Monroe, sister to President James Monroe, but contemporary historical researchers tend to dispute that.
Sale as surplus property
After Cole's death in 1890 and a wholesale resignation of lifesaving service members across the Great Lakes during a depression in 1893, a German émigré and successful hotelier living in Syracuse named Leopold Joh purchased the surplus lighthouse from the government at auction on October 16, 1895, for $155. It became his private residence, then was incorporated into the small but prestigious hotel complex he began building in 1899 after acquiring several adjoining properties. With an exquisite view of the lake, excellent fishing and miles of sand beaches, it became an immediate success with celebrities and vacationers from Syracuse and as far distant as New York and Philadelphia.
Leopold ran the resort until his sudden and unexpected death in August, 1907. Family members tried to operate the complex seasonally for several years afterwards, after which it was purchased by the Heckle family from Joh's estate in 1916. The hotel was doubled in size by the Heckles during 1926 and became famous for its German cuisine (and the constant comings and goings of smugglers during Prohibition). The Selkirk Lighthouse was dedicated as a "Designated Historic Landmark" by the Oswego Heritage Foundation in November, 1976, and elected to the National Register of Historic Places in March, 1979.
Official re-activation
We purchased the compound containing the lighthouse in July, 1987. As the key event during Bicentennial celebrations held here on August 6, 1989, we officially activated a Coast Guard-approved, photocell-actuated lamp with automated bulb-changer and are back on the NOAA charts as a Class II navigation aid with the prospects of being upgraded to a higher status if local mariners recommend it and the Coast Guard concurs. Wayne Wheeler of the US Lighthouse Society in San Francisco was personally instrumental in guiding us through the incredibly convoluted Coast Guard permitting process.
As part of the preparations for the Bicentennial of Lighthouses in America, we were visited in early 1989 by Ross Holland, researching surviving lighthouses for a book which he published later that year. He is an international authority on lighthouses and gained further prominence while serving as project manager for the restoration of the Statue of Liberty. In his own words, the Selkirk Lighthouse is one of the best examples of its kind (of which only four were constructed) and in perhaps the best condition of its kind to be found anywhere.
Present & future
Today we are planning extensive upgrading of the entire compound and rehabilitation of the Selkirk Lighthouse into something that will bring back many wonderful old memories, as well as help to make some new ones. At least one if not more major upgrades are being implemented each year. Presently, the Lighthouse is available for rental to the public by the day, week or month to help develop interest in and to help subsidize its restoration. Additional documentation is available to students of lighthouse history, and is constantly being updated.
Maintained by Bill Smyth
WWW-VL Librarian: Lighthouses, Lightships and Lifesaving Stations
All comments gladly welcomed
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