South Buffalo North Side Light (relocated to Dunkirk)
42.4939° N, 79.3539° W · New York · built 1903[1]
- Grounds open
- National Register 1983
- Last verified 2026-10
Not an active aid to navigation.
This 29-foot 'bottle' beacon once marked the north side of Buffalo Harbor's south entrance. Retired in the 1980s, it was carried down the shore to Dunkirk, where it now welcomes visitors at the gate of the Point Gratiot lighthouse museum.
History
The South Buffalo North Side Light is one of a matched pair of iron beacons built for Buffalo Harbor's new entrances in 1903. Made of riveted boiler plate and shaped like a tall bottle, it stands 29 feet high, tapering from about ten feet across at the base to just over two feet at the top, and it has a curved iron door and four cast-iron portholes.[2]
It was first lit on September 1, 1903, with a sixth-order Fresnel lens under a domed roof, and it marked the north side of the south entrance into the harbour.[2,3] Around 1960 the dome was removed and a battery-powered lamp with a green plastic lens took over.[2] The beacon was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1983, while it was still in service.[4]
In the 1980s it was retired; Wikipedia says it was removed in 1985, while the Lighthouse Directory lists it as inactive from 1988.[2,3] Instead of being scrapped, it was taken to Dunkirk and set up at the entrance to the grounds of the Point Gratiot lighthouse, now the Dunkirk Lighthouse and Veterans Park Museum.[5,3] There it joins other relocated harbour lights, buoys and maritime equipment displayed around the 1875 tower.[3]
Its twin, the bottle beacon from the south end of Buffalo's north breakwater, went the other way: it stayed in Buffalo and is displayed beside the 1833 Buffalo Main Lighthouse.[2,6] Seeing both makes a natural pairing for a drive along the New York shore. At Dunkirk the beacon stands on the museum grounds; the bottle itself is not entered.[3]
How to see it
Grounds open You can walk to or around the lighthouse; the tower itself is closed.
- Best public viewpoint
- At the gate of the Dunkirk Lighthouse and Veterans Park Museum on Lighthouse Point Drive, Dunkirk.[3]
- Tower climbs
- No public tower climbs have been offered, as far as our sources show.
- Operator
- Dunkirk Lighthouse and Veterans Park Museum
- 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
Where is the South Buffalo North Side Light now?
At the entrance to the Dunkirk Lighthouse and Veterans Park Museum on Point Gratiot in Dunkirk, New York, where it was moved after leaving Buffalo Harbor.
Is there another bottle light like it?
Yes. Its twin from Buffalo's north breakwater is displayed beside the Buffalo Main Lighthouse.
Nearby lighthouses
- Dunkirk Lighthouse (Point Gratiot) Tower climbs
- Barcelona Lighthouse Tower climbs
- Mohawk Island Lighthouse (ruin) Ruin or relocated
- Port Colborne Lighthouses (Inner and Outer) View from shore
- Point Abino Lighthouse No public access
Nearby shipwrecks
Nearby · Sponsored
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Sources
- Light List Volume 7 (Great Lakes District), weekly edition of 09/30/2026, U.S. Coast Guard Navigation Center. Accessed .
- South Buffalo North Side Light, Wikipedia. Accessed .
- Lighthouses of the U.S.: Western New York, Russ Rowlett, The Lighthouse Directory (University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill). Accessed .
- National Register of Historic Places record 83001673: South Buffalo North Side Light, U.S. National Park Service (NPGallery). Accessed .
- Dunkirk Light, Wikipedia. Accessed .
- Buffalo Main Light, Wikipedia. Accessed .
- Dunkirk Lighthouse, dunkirklighthouse.com. Accessed .
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