{"nrhp_refnum":"76001288","name":"Sodus Point Lighthouse","other_names":[],"category":"structure","location":{"address":"Off NY 14 at Lake Ontario","address_restricted":false,"city":"Sodus Point","county":"Wayne County","state":"NY","lat":43.27367297600006,"lon":-76.98628189299995,"geom_source":"nps_gis"},"listed_date":"1976-10-08","is_nhl":false,"nhl_designated_date":null,"areas_of_significance":["Commerce","Transportation","Communications"],"significance_levels":["local"],"summary":{"what_it_is":"A limestone lighthouse with an attached keeper's dwelling on the shore of Lake Ontario at Sodus Point, Wayne County, New York, built in 1871 to replace an 1825 lighthouse on the same site.","why_significant":"It is the second lighthouse on the site since the Sodus light station was established in 1825. The nomination describes it as a typical 'lake-coast' light illustrating one phase in the history of Great Lakes navigation. It guided timber and grain vessels into Sodus Bay and so supported the economic growth of the lake region.","narrative":"Sodus Point Lighthouse is a limestone light tower with an attached keeper's dwelling on the Lake Ontario shore, six-tenths of a mile west of the entrance to Sodus Bay. It was built in 1870-71 to replace a conical stone lighthouse erected in 1825 and demolished in 1870. The forty-five-foot square tower has an iron balustrade, a circular iron stairway and a polygonal iron-framed lantern. The two-and-a-half-story dwelling was extended in 1892 with a frame wing. The light served commercial shipping, guiding timber and grain vessels into Sodus Bay, until 1901, when a stronger fourth-order Fresnel lens at the harbor beacon made the bluff light obsolete. The keeper's house stayed occupied by the tenders of the harbor beacon and now serves as the residence of the local Coast Guard commander. It is one of seven surviving Lake Ontario lighthouses in New York State and a typical example of Great Lakes stone lighthouse design.","period_of_significance":"1871-1901","architect_builder":null,"architectural_style":"Vernacular","criteria":[],"status_note":"The light was discontinued in 1901; the attached dwelling is still used as a residence for the local Coast Guard commander. A 1981 letter notes reported deterioration.","vacant_flag":false,"machine_generated":true,"model":"claude-sonnet-5-5","prompt_version":"v1.0-2026-10-29","generated_at":"2026-10-29 02:50:39.871929-05","source_pdf":"https://s3.amazonaws.com/NARAprodstorage/lz/electronic-records/rg-079/NPS_NY/76001288.pdf"},"photo":{"url_800":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/76001288/7dc146dd07-800.webp","url_1600":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/76001288/7dc146dd07-1600.webp","licence":"CC BY-SA 2.0","author":"Doug Kerr from Albany, NY, United States","credit_html":"<a href=\"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Sodus_Point_Light_Sep_10.jpg\" rel=\"noopener\">Doug Kerr from Albany, NY, United States</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:Sodus_Point_Light_Sep_10.jpg"},"district":null,"sources":{"nps_snapshot_date":"2026-05-22","nara_catalog":"https://catalog.archives.gov/id/75322928","wikipedia":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sodus_Point_Light","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q7553443"},"indexable":true,"url":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/new-york/wayne-county/sodus-point-lighthouse-76001288/"}