Scenic USA - New York

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Barber's Point Lighthouse

Photo by Ben Prepelka

     Like so many New Englanders that headed west after the Revolutionary War, Major Hezekiah Barber left his Litchfield County home in Connecticut to settle on the New York shores of Lake Champlain. Now known as Barber's Point, Barber and his brother-in-law, Levi Frisbie, lived in a bark shanty while they cleared the land and erected a log cabin. By 1787, Barber's young wife and child journeyed from Harrington, Connecticut, on horseback to join her husband and live on Barber's Point.
     Near the southern end of Lake Champlain, the distance across the lake from New York to Vermont averages only a few miles. Not only was this a convenient crossing for Barber's Ferry, but the point also attracted the attention of the Lighthouse Board.
     Following the design of other Lake Champlain lighthouses, such as Colchester Reef Lighthouse, the Barber's Point Light Station was built in the Second Empire Cottage style, integrating the tower into the keeper's quarters structure. The light station was built of blue limestone and wood, and the 36 foot tower was equipped with a 5th order Fresnel lens. Completed in 1873, the lighthouse continued service until 1935 when duties were passed on to a much taller steel skeletal tower.
     Today, the Barber's Point Lighthouse is now a private residence, appearing much as it had at the turn of the century. The keeper's barn now substitutes as a garage, and the lighthouse has been placed on the National Register of Historic Places. Here in Essex County, New York, the lighthouse is one of 131 buildings and properties that are part of the Camp Dudley National Historic District. Nearby Camp Dudley is noted as the oldest continuing boy's camp, founded in 1885.