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Buffalo Harbor Light (Outer Breakwater)

42.8706° N, 78.9026° W · New York · built 1961[1]

  • View from a boat
  • Last verified 2026-10

Fl G 2.5s · 71 ft[1]
As listed in the USCG Light List, Vol. VII, weekly edition of September 30, 2026

Buffalo's working harbour light is a plain white 71-foot tower at the south end of the detached outer breakwater. It replaced an older lighthouse that a freighter wrecked in 1958, and its green flash and fog horn still guide ships toward the mouth of the Buffalo River.

History

As Buffalo's harbour grew in the late nineteenth century, a long breakwater was built offshore to shelter it, and a light has marked the outer breakwater's south end since 1872.[2] By the early twentieth century the main navigational job had moved out here from the old stone tower at the river mouth, which was switched off in 1914.[3]

The Lighthouse Directory describes the outer light that served from 1914 as similar in style to the Lorain lighthouse in Ohio. It also notes that the third-order Chance Brothers Fresnel lens that had lit the Buffalo Main Lighthouse was moved here and used until 1958.[2] That year the freighter Frontenac collided with the station and damaged it so badly that it was demolished.[2] The lens survived and is now displayed at the Buffalo History Museum.[2]

The replacement, completed in 1961, is an unadorned white octagonal tower about 71 feet tall with a modern navigation light on top and no traditional lantern room.[2] It is a working aid, not a museum piece. The September 2026 Light List gives it a green flash every 2.5 seconds from 71 feet above the water, with a horn that sounds two blasts every 30 seconds when mariners switch it on by radio.[1] The Coast Pilot describes it as a white tower on the south end of the detached west breakwater, on the north side of the harbour entrance.[4]

The breakwater does not connect to land, and the station is closed; the Lighthouse Directory points visitors to harbour tours for a close look.[2]

How to see it

View from a boat Offshore or on a closed breakwater; seen from the water.

Best public viewpoint
From the water or a harbour tour; the tower stands at the south end of the detached outer breakwater off the mouth of the Buffalo River.[2]
Tower climbs
No public tower climbs have been offered, as far as our sources show.
Operator
U.S. Coast Guard
Last verified
Last verified 2026-10

Access details last verified 2026-10. Hours, tours and ownership change. Check the operator before you go. Pier and breakwater lights can be dangerous in wind and waves; obey posted closures and never enter private or Coast Guard property.

Questions people ask

Is the Buffalo Harbor Light the same as the Buffalo Lighthouse?

No. The 1833 stone Buffalo Main Lighthouse at the river mouth was retired in 1914. The working Buffalo Harbor Light is the 1961 tower on the outer breakwater.

Can you visit the outer breakwater light?

No. The breakwater is detached from shore and the tower is closed. Harbour tours pass nearby.

What happened to the earlier outer light?

The freighter Frontenac collided with it in 1958, and the damaged station was demolished. The current tower dates from 1961.

Nearby lighthouses

Nearby shipwrecks

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Sources

  1. Light List Volume 7 (Great Lakes District), weekly edition of 09/30/2026, U.S. Coast Guard Navigation Center. Accessed .
  2. Lighthouses of the U.S.: Western New York, Russ Rowlett, The Lighthouse Directory (University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill). Accessed .
  3. Buffalo Main Light, Wikipedia. Accessed .
  4. United States Coast Pilot 6, Chapter 6: Lake Erie, NOAA Office of Coast Survey. Accessed .

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