The Unknown Story of the Horseshoe Reef Lighthouse
Author: Peter Gallivan
Updated: 8:38 AM EST January 19, 2021
BUFFALO, N.Y. — Buffalo's waterfront has been the centerpiece of our redevelopment and resurgence as a city, but more than a century ago, a lighthouse actually reshaped our country. International boundaries were actually redrawn for what is now a crumbling structure that you probably have seen, and never given a second thought
It was around the time of the birth of Buffalo says Buffalo Lighthouse Association President Mike Vogel. "If you think about the harbor back in 1856 there was no break water separating the Black Rock Channel from the river itself ". Buffalo already had a light marking it's harbor, but the booming lumber and milling industry upriver made navigating the tricky maze of shoals at the mouth of the Niagara a priority. And so in 1849 congress approved funding for another lighthouse, with a particular emphasis on being sturdy enough to stand up to the ice flows and current. "It is only about 30 years after the opening of the Erie Canal in this harbor was really bustling" says Vogel.