Vermilion Lighthouse

History

Vermilion's first lighthouse was a wooden structure paid for with a $3,000 federal grant in 1847.^[2] Storms and ice kept damaging it, and the Lighthouse Directory counts replacements in 1854, 1859 and 1877.^[3] The 1877 version was an octagonal iron tower cast in three tapering sections at Buffalo, with a fifth-order Fresnel lens.^[2] Local history holds that its iron came from obsolete Civil War cannon; that account is reported on Wikipedia, quoting a Vermilion historian.^[2]

By 1929 the iron tower was leaning after winter ice damage, and it was removed and replaced by a plain steel tower.^[2,3] It was not scrapped. Repaired at the lighthouse depot in Buffalo, it was set up in 1935 as East Charity Shoal Light in Lake Ontario.^[2,3]

For more than sixty years Vermilion, which calls itself a town of sea captains, had no lighthouse of its own.^[4] A fundraising campaign led by local historian Theodore Wakefield changed that. The Great Lakes Historical Society built a replica with $55,000 in public donations; ground was broken in July 1991, the tower went up that October, and it was dedicated on June 6, 1992.^[2] It stood outside the society's Inland Seas Maritime Museum until the museum moved to Toledo, and in 2012 ownership passed to the city.^[3] A 2016 campaign paid for a replica fifth-order Fresnel lens, lit that September.^[3]

The replica tower is about 16 feet tall.^[3,4] It is a private aid to navigation, listed by the Coast Guard as a fixed white light with a focal height of 35 feet.^[1] Main Street Vermilion's Lighthouse Preservation Committee helps look after it.^[5]

How to see it

Grounds open You can walk to or around the lighthouse; the tower itself is closed.

Best public viewpoint

Main Street Beach at the foot of Main Street in downtown Vermilion, where the replica stands on the lakefront lawn.^[5]

Tower climbs

No public tower climbs have been offered, as far as our sources show.

Operator

City of Vermilion, with Main Street Vermilion's Lighthouse Preservation Committee

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 Vermilion Lighthouse the original?

No. It is a 1992 replica of the 1877 iron lighthouse. The original was removed in 1929 and reinstalled in 1935 as East Charity Shoal Light in Lake Ontario.

Where is the Vermilion Lighthouse?

At Main Street Beach, at the foot of Main Street in downtown Vermilion, Ohio. The grounds are open, but the tower is closed.

Does the Vermilion Lighthouse still shine?

Yes. It is a private aid to navigation; the USCG Light List shows a fixed white light at a focal height of 35 feet.