{"nrhp_refnum":"71000642","name":"Fairport Marine Museum","other_names":["Fairport Harbor Coast Guard Light Station Reservation"],"category":"structure","location":{"address":"129 2nd St.","address_restricted":false,"city":"Fairport Harbor","county":"Lake County","state":"OH","lat":41.756855151000025,"lon":-81.27744760299998,"geom_source":"nps_gis"},"listed_date":"1971-11-05","is_nhl":false,"nhl_designated_date":null,"areas_of_significance":["Commerce","Engineering"],"significance_levels":["local"],"summary":{"what_it_is":"A lighthouse and adjoining keeper's dwelling at 129 Second Street in Fairport Harbor, Lake County, Ohio, built in 1871 on a hill overlooking the mouth of the Grand River and Lake Erie. The site, a former Coast Guard light station, now houses a marine museum.","why_significant":"The 1871 lighthouse and dwelling replaced an 1825 lighthouse and dwelling designed by Jonathan Goldsmith, and guided Lake Erie shipping until 1925. The nomination ties its importance to Fairport Harbor's role as a gateway to the Western Reserve and a fueling and supply port, and to its reputed role as a northern terminal of the Underground Railroad. It also calls the tower a fine engineering achievement, and describes the museum as the first and only Great Lakes lighthouse marine museum in the United States.","narrative":"Overlooking the mouth of the Grand River and Lake Erie, this lighthouse and keeper's dwelling in Fairport Harbor, Ohio, date from 1871. They replaced an 1825 brick lighthouse and frame dwelling designed by Jonathan Goldsmith. The tower is a truncated cone of Berea sandstone blocks with a spiral staircase of 69 steps, a lens room, and a copper dome. Its fixed white third-order light was visible for 18.5 miles. The keeper's dwelling is a 1.5-story brick building with a gable roof and a five-bay facade. The light served Lake Erie mariners until 1925 and helped make Fairport a gateway for settlers reaching the Western Reserve by water, as well as a fueling and supply harbor. The nomination also links the site to the Underground Railroad. The Fairport Harbor Historical Society founded the marine museum here in 1945, and the village has owned the property since 1953. Exhibits include the original lens and a freighter model.","period_of_significance":null,"architect_builder":null,"architectural_style":null,"criteria":[],"status_note":"Operated as a museum by the Fairport Harbor Historical Society on village-owned property; the lighthouse was decommissioned in 1925, and visitors may climb the tower.","vacant_flag":false,"machine_generated":true,"model":"claude-sonnet-5-5","prompt_version":"v1.0-2026-10-29","generated_at":"2026-10-29 02:53:10.194224-05","source_pdf":"https://s3.amazonaws.com/NARAprodstorage/lz/electronic-records/rg-079/NPS_OH/71000642.pdf"},"photo":{"url_800":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/71000642/79b4cab2ca-800.webp","url_1600":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/71000642/79b4cab2ca-1600.webp","licence":"CC BY-SA 2.0","author":"Rona Proudfoot (ronnie44052)","credit_html":"<a href=\"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Fairport_Marine_Museum_and_lighthouse.jpg\" rel=\"noopener\">Rona Proudfoot (ronnie44052)</a>, <a href=\"https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/2.0\" rel=\"license noopener\">CC BY-SA 2.0</a>, via Wikimedia Commons","source_page":"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Fairport_Marine_Museum_and_lighthouse.jpg"},"district":null,"sources":{"nps_snapshot_date":"2026-05-22","nara_catalog":"https://catalog.archives.gov/id/71989611","wikipedia":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fairport_Harbor_Light","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q5595034"},"indexable":true,"url":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/ohio/lake-county/fairport-marine-museum-71000642/"}