Buffalo's Waterfront ^^^

BWF ScuddleButt

Keeping it Afloat

  07/03/2008 - July 4th Celebration: Buffalo's Official Fourth of July Celebration

 

  07/02/2008 - Erie Canal Harbor Officially Opens to Public

 

  06/19/2008 - Winds of Change Blow into Lackawanna

 

  06/07/2008 - Healthy Lakes, Healthy Lives Boat Tour, See one of the fastest sailing vessels on the
Great Lakes

 

  05/26/2008 - Memorial Day Draws Large Crowd to the Erie Canal Terminus

 

  Outer Harbor Parkway to be completed by 2010 - is it the RIGHT plan
04/19/2008

 

  Bright Future of Buffalo's Waterfront Threatened by State Plans to Expand Freeway Infrastructure
03/26/2008

 

  Clearing The Way for New Development - ECHDC Announces Additional Waterfront Progress
03/21/2008

 

  Condominium & Hotel Combination Slated for the Freezer Queen Site.
03/15/2008

 

Waterfront Place  Waterfront Place Condominium & Townhomes
03/10/2008


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Buffalo Snow 2001
Buffalo LightHouses
Buffalo Waterfront Maps & Directions

Need Directions to Buffalo's Waterfront

Directions to Buffalo Waterfront's events and developments, if you need direction to a particular spot on Buffalo's Waterfront please contact us with your request.
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Map to Buffalo Light Houses

From South Towns RT 5 to Erie Canal Terminus

Route 5
Buffalo Skyway/RT-5 E/Skyway

  1. Head north Skyway/RT-5 E/Skyway
  2. Take the Seneca St exit 0.1 mi
  3. Turn right at Pearl St 0.2 mi 1 min
  4. Turn right at Marine Dr
 

China Light




Click Images to View Larger
Buffalo Main Light
L
ocated on the Coast Guard base across from the Erie Basin Marina, the lighthouse is a conspicuous symbol of Buffalo's past and present. Built in 1833, it is the oldest building on Buffalo's waterfront and one of the oldest lighthouses on the Great Lakes. It is the second of four lighthouses to serve as Buffalo's light. The base, up to the cornice, dates from 1833, while everything above it dates from 1857.

The light stands near the end of a long stone pier which can be called the foundation of Buffalo, originally having been laid down by Samuel Wilkeson in 1820. (The first Buffalo light stood at the shore end of the pier.) It created a sheltered harbor along the previously untamed shore.

The lighthouse is constructed of ashlar limestone and bluestone, and is one year younger than Buffalo itself (chartered as a city in 1832). The tower is 68 feet tall and tapers from a 20-foot diameter at the base, where the walls are four feet thick, to a 12-foot diameter at the top, where the walls are two feet thick.

In 1914 the lens was taken from this tower to one built just behind the outer harbor breakwater. The breakwater light then became the principal, or third, Buffalo light. A fourth light, a 71-foot white tower on the breakwater itself, has been the main light since 1963.

Unused and deteriorating, the 1833 light was almost demolished in the late 1950's. After a proper hue and cry it was saved and restored by 1961. Further restoration in the late 1980's resulted in floodlighting of the tower's shaft and illumination of the cupola.

The lighthouse cannot be reached by public transportation, but can be seen from the Erie Basin Marina on the north bank of the Buffalo River. A pedestrian path along the south bank from the head of Fuhrmann Boulevard ends at the light and affords a nice view of the skyline. The Coast Guard station itself is occasionally opened to the public for special events.

Buffalo Breakwater (Old BottleLight):
1903 Status: Inactive, now sits on display near the Buffalo Main Light (in background) on the grounds of the Coast Guard Station at the end of Fuhrman Blvd. (Buffalo Waterfront)

Old Bottle Light

Buffalo Breakwater:
1961 Status: Active, sits out in Buffalo Harbor, stands 71 feet tall, and was built to replace the old breakwater light that was knocked off its foundation in 1958.

Breakwater

   

Horseshoe Reef Light:
1856 Status: Inactive, sits out in the Buffalo Harbor. The Intake Crib Light made this light redundant. The winds and lake-effect snowstorms ripped this old tower to pieces. All that remains is the steel skeleton.

Horseshoe Reef

Intake Crib Light:
1997 Sits out in Buffalo Harbor

Intake Crab

 

South Buffalo Southside:

1903 Status: Inactive, it is located on a breakwater near the south harbor entrance. The tower has a focal plane of 40', and is made of cast iron. It was automated in 1935.

It is very hard to get near this tower since the breakwater is on industrial grounds. Access would either be boat or a telephoto lens. I used a 500mm lens and got permission to enter the marina that sits across from it
South Buffalo

     
 
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