{"nrhp_refnum":"78002397","name":"Erie Land Lighthouse","other_names":["Presque Isle Lighthouse"],"category":"building","location":{"address":"Dunn Blvd., Lighthouse Park","address_restricted":false,"city":"Erie","county":"Erie County","state":"PA","lat":42.14373711200005,"lon":-80.06287467099997,"geom_source":"nps_gis"},"listed_date":"1978-03-30","is_nhl":false,"nhl_designated_date":null,"areas_of_significance":["Transportation","Architecture"],"significance_levels":["national"],"summary":{"what_it_is":"A lighthouse on the mainland east of the Public Docks within Erie city limits, Erie County, Pennsylvania, built in 1867 as the third lighthouse on the site. It is a stone tower with an attached annex, built of Berea sandstone and lined with brick.","why_significant":"The nomination argues the lighthouse was the first built by the federal government on the Great Lakes and played an important role in early Great Lakes shipping. It notes that Pennsylvania is almost entirely landlocked, which it says makes this lighthouse a rare structure and a valuable historical and educational resource.","narrative":"Built in 1867 on the mainland east of Erie's Public Docks, the Erie Land Lighthouse is the third lighthouse to occupy the site. The two earlier structures sank because of unstable ground, so the present tower was set on a foundation about twenty feet deep, with oak timbers, broken limestone and cement beneath eight-foot courses of stone. The tower is built of Berea sandstone and lined with brick, tapering from roughly 19 feet at the base to 14 feet at the top. It originally carried a fixed white light visible for 17 nautical miles, housed in a lantern with a lens made by L. Sauter and Son of Paris. Cast iron stairs of sixty-nine steps rise through the tower to two platforms. The lighthouse was among the first the federal government built on the Great Lakes. It is valued as a rare survivor in a state with almost no coastline, and it is being studied for restoration and educational use within Lighthouse Park.","period_of_significance":"1867","architect_builder":"United States Government","architectural_style":null,"criteria":[],"status_note":"The building and tower are described as in good condition; the cupola has been removed and replaced with a temporary tar paper roof.","vacant_flag":null,"machine_generated":true,"model":"claude-haiku-5-5","prompt_version":"v1.1-2026-10-29","generated_at":"2026-10-29 17:11:29.520203-05","source_pdf":"https://s3.amazonaws.com/NARAprodstorage/lz/electronic-records/rg-079/NPS_PA/78002397.pdf"},"photo":{"url_800":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/78002397/f22c9fa346-800.webp","url_1600":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/78002397/f22c9fa346-1600.webp","licence":"Public domain","author":"T. Maggio","credit_html":"<a href=\"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Erie_Land_Lighthouse.jpg\" rel=\"noopener\">T. Maggio</a>, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons","source_page":"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Erie_Land_Lighthouse.jpg"},"district":null,"sources":{"nps_snapshot_date":"2026-05-22","nara_catalog":"https://catalog.archives.gov/id/71995537","wikipedia":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Erie_Land_Light","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q1353751"},"indexable":true,"url":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/pennsylvania/erie-county/erie-land-lighthouse-78002397/"}