Fort Niagara Lighthouse

While there are a couple of webcams in lighthouses around the Great Lakes, Old Fort Niagara Lighthouse is the only one with hi-def live streaming.

For the early settlers of America, the Fort Niagara Lighthouse served to mark the one of the few natural harbors on Lake Ontario and a vital portage route around Niagara Falls. Built in 1872, this beautiful lighthouse had an 1857 fourth-order Fresnel lens installed when it was built from a former lighthouse whose position was deemed “not proper.” Thus, the current Old Fort Niagara Lighthouse was built on the grounds of Old Fort Niagara.
 

The lighthouse was automated in 1983 and then deactivated in 1993. Today, it is owned by the state of New York and managed by the Old Fort Niagara Association, which also manages and maintains Old Fort Niagara. The fort’s visitor center features many displays including the 1857 fourth-order Fresnel lens that was used in the lantern on the French Castle and in the 1872 tower until 1983.
 
While there are a couple of webcams in lighthouses around the Great Lakes, this one has the only one with hi-def live streaming. If you see a ship passing live by the Fort on the webcam, just click that ship on the map below the webcam and you will be able to see where she is from and where she is going. The Fort encourages if you visit the historic lighthouse, to climb to the top say hello so people around the world can hear you through the webcam!
 

The lighthouse is open for free, self-guided tours from noon to 3 p.m. mid-July 13 through mid- October.

 

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