The United States of America is a federal union of 50 states and a capital district. The northeastern state of New York includes in the southeast the great port and financial center of New York City and Long Island extending to the east of the city; in the west and north it extends to Lakes Erie and Ontario and the lower St. Lawrence River. Rich in waterways, the U.S. state of New York is equally rich in lighthouses. This page includes the lighthouses of central and northern New York, including eastern Lake Ontario, the St. Lawrence River, Lake Champlain, and several inland lakes. There are additional pages for Western New York, New York City and the Hudson River, and Long Island. Navigational aids in the United States are operated by the U.S. Coast Guard but ownership (and sometimes operation) of historic lighthouses has been transferred to local authorities and preservation organizations in many cases. Lighthouses on Lakes Erie and Ontario are operated by the Coast Guard Ninth District in Cleveland, Ohio, and maintained by its Aids to Navigation Team based at Buffalo, New York. Lighthouses on the St. Lawrence River and Lake Champlain are operated by the Coast Guard First District in Boston, Massachusetts, and maintained by its Aids to Navigation Team based at Burlington, Vermont. ARLHS numbers are from the ARLHS World List of Lights. USCG numbers for Lake Champlain lighthouses are from Volume I of the USCG Light List; for the St. Lawrence River and Lakes Erie and Ontario the numbers are from Volume VII. For lights close to the Canadian border CCG numbers are from the Canadian Coast Guard's List of Lights, Buoys and Fog Signals. For lights on the St. Lawrence Seaway Admiralty numbers are from volume H of the Admiralty List of Lights & Fog Signals. For Oneida Lake and Cayuga Lake lighthouses NYSC numbers are from the light list of the New York State Canal System.
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Eastern Lake Ontario Lighthouses
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Oswego Harbor West Pierhead Light, Oswego, May 2022 Flickr public domain photo by Avery Schneider posted by U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Buffalo District |
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Sackets Harbor (Horse Island) Light, Sackets Harbor, 2007 unattributed photo posted by Anderson and on Google Maps |
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St. Lawrence River Lighthouses (see also Southeastern Ontario)
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Crossover Island Light, Chippewa Bay, October 2021 Flickr Creative Commons photo by Duncan Rawlinson |
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Lake Champlain Lighthouses (see also Vermont)
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Point au Roche Light, Beekmantown Town of Beekmantown photo |
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Oneida Lake Lighthouses
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Verona Beach Light, Verona Verona Beach Lighthouse Association photo; used by permission |
Cayuga Lake Lighthouses
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Other Inland Lighthouses
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Information available on lost lighthouses:
Notable faux lighthouses:
Adjoining pages: North: Southeastern Ontario | Northeast: Southern Québec | East: Vermont | South: New York City and Hudson River | West: Western New York
Return to the Lighthouse Directory index
Checked and revised January 24, 2024. Lighthouses: 41. Site copyright 2024 Russ Rowlett and the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.