Captain John's Custom Photos & Framing

Ohio Lighthouses - Toledo Harbor Light, Maumee Bay - Lake Erie


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Color Photograph
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Watercolor Print
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Toledo's unique nautical guide was constructed in 1904 eight miles from shore after the U.S. Army Corp. of Engineers dredged a channel from Lake Erie into the Maumee Bay, opening Toledo up for deep water freighter traffic. The Toledo Harbor Light replaced the nearby Turtle Island Light (1831-1904) that had previously marked the river entrance.

Only accessible by boat, the lighthouse is a three story, Romanesque structure with an attached one-story fog signal building on a concrete base. The lens produces two white flashes followed by a red flash, and is 72-feet above normal water level. The Third-and-a-Half Order Fresnel lens, made by Barbier & Benard of Paris, consists of a large bull's-eye of 180 degrees, with a half cylinder of ruby glass, and two smaller bull's-eyes of 60 degrees each. Its alternating red and white beams shine for 16 miles. Toledo Harbor Light remains an active aid to navigation. The light was fully automated in 1965 when its clockwork mechanism was replaced by an electric motor. The site is not open to the public.

In an effort to prevent vandalism in and around the structure, a fully-uniformed mannequin sits in one of the downstairs windows. This was placed there by the Coast Guard sometime during the post-automation period of the lighthouse.


The Crib Lights - Toledo Shipping Channel - from the 1950's

Turtle Island Lighthouse in Maumee Bay / pictures, information & history page

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