Barbers Point Lighthouse
by Ben Prepelka
Title
Barbers Point Lighthouse
Artist
Ben Prepelka
Medium
Photograph
Description
Like so many New Englanders who headed west after the Revolutionary War, Major Hezekiah Barber left his Litchfield County home in Connecticut to settle on the New York shores of Lake Champlain. Now known as Barber's Point, Hezekiah and his brother-in-law, Levi Frisbie, lived in a bark shanty while they cleared the land and erected a log cabin. By 1787, Barber's young wife and child journeyed from Harrington, Connecticut, on horseback to join her husband and live on Lake Champlain.
Near the southern end of Lake Champlain, the distance across the lake from New York to Vermont averages only a few miles. Not only was this a convenient crossing for Barber's Ferry, but the point also attracted the attention of the Lighthouse Board.
Following the design of other Lake Champlain lighthouses, such as Colchester Reef Lighthouse, the Barbers Point Light Station was built in the Second Empire Cottage style, integrating the tower into the keeper's quarters structure. Built of blue limestone and wood, the 36 foot light station tower was equipped with a 5th order Fresnel lens. Completed in 1873, the lighthouse continued service until 1935 when duties were passed on to a much taller steel skeletal tower.
Today, the Barbers Point Lighthouse is now a Westport private residence, appearing much as it had at the turn of the century. The keeper's barn now substitutes as a garage, and the lighthouse has been placed on the National Register of Historic Places.
Uploaded
March 17th, 2024
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