{"nrhp_refnum":"79001568","name":"Point Gratiot Lighthouse Complex","other_names":[],"category":"building","location":{"address":"Sycamore Rd.","address_restricted":false,"city":"Dunkirk","county":"Chautauqua County","state":"NY","lat":42.49378677200008,"lon":-79.35388039599997,"geom_source":"nps_gis"},"listed_date":"1979-12-18","is_nhl":false,"nhl_designated_date":null,"areas_of_significance":["Transportation","Architecture"],"significance_levels":["local"],"summary":{"what_it_is":"A lighthouse complex on Sycamore Road at Point Gratiot on Lake Erie in Dunkirk, Chautauqua County, New York, built in 1875. It has a 61-foot stone tower, a two-story brick keeper's dwelling, a metal oil house, a wooden barn and a lighthouse-shaped gatepost.","why_significant":"The 1875 lighthouse replaced an earlier light of 1826 and was the most conspicuous coastal light on the southern shore of Lake Erie in the nineteenth century. It also guided vessels into Dunkirk harbor, which served the city's industrial and agricultural shipping. The keeper's dwelling is cited as a fine example of vernacular High Victorian Gothic architecture.","narrative":"Point Gratiot Lighthouse Complex occupies a point of high land jutting into Lake Erie at the southwestern end of Dunkirk harbor. Built in 1875, it includes a sixty-one-foot stone tower with a brick core, a two-story brick keeper's dwelling joined to the tower by a passageway, a riveted sheet-iron oil house, a wooden barn and a gatepost shaped like a lighthouse. The dwelling is described as vernacular High Victorian Gothic. Inside the lantern, a third-order Fresnel lens first installed in the earlier tower in 1857 still functions. The site replaced a lighthouse put up in 1826, and was built as Dunkirk's factories and farm shipping increased demands on the harbor. In the nineteenth century its light was the most conspicuous on the southern shore of Lake Erie, serving both coastal traffic and vessels approaching the harbor. The exterior remains nearly unchanged from that period.","period_of_significance":"1800-1899","architect_builder":null,"architectural_style":"Vernacular High Victorian Gothic (keeper's dwelling)","criteria":[],"status_note":"Listed in excellent condition and largely unaltered since the nineteenth century. The light is still functioning, with a part-time light keeper, and the barn is used for storage.","vacant_flag":null,"machine_generated":true,"model":"claude-sonnet-5-5","prompt_version":"v1.0-2026-10-29","generated_at":"2026-10-29 02:50:39.323843-05","source_pdf":"https://s3.amazonaws.com/NARAprodstorage/lz/electronic-records/rg-079/NPS_NY/79001568.pdf"},"photo":{"url_800":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/79001568/6855d1708c-800.webp","url_1600":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/79001568/6855d1708c-1600.webp","licence":"Public domain","author":"Pubdog (talk)","credit_html":"<a href=\"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Point_Gratiot_Light_Nov_10.JPG\" rel=\"noopener\">Pubdog (talk)</a>, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons","source_page":"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Point_Gratiot_Light_Nov_10.JPG"},"district":null,"sources":{"nps_snapshot_date":"2026-05-22","nara_catalog":"https://catalog.archives.gov/id/75316782","wikipedia":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dunkirk_Light","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q5315389"},"indexable":true,"url":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/new-york/chautauqua-county/point-gratiot-lighthouse-complex-79001568/"}