Lighthouse restorations keep Cape Vincent tourism beacon shining

Kara Dry, Watertown Daily Times, N.Y.
·2 min read

Aug. 5—CAPE VINCENT — Not unlike a fog horn across the lake, the drone of construction work echoing from the base of the Tibbetts Point Lighthouse draws visitors to inquire about access to the top.

"We'll get knocks on the door and just have to turn people away," said Cale S. Churchill, owner of Churchill & Son Contracting.

As part of the Tibbetts Point Lighthouse Historical Society's efforts to maintain the grounds, the lighthouse tower is undergoing a full interior restoration, last completed in 2007 by the same contractor, Churchill & Son, which also restored the tower exterior last fall.

But all this allure of activity begs the question, "Can we go to the top?"

To which the answer has always been and — hopefully — always will be "no."

"The best way to appreciate the history of the lighthouse is to look up and see that light glowing at the top," said Michael Cougler, president of the Tibbetts Point Lighthouse Historical Society.

This season, Tibbetts Point has already welcomed 4,165 visitors since opening Memorial Day weekend, and that's just counting those who signed the catalog in the gift shop.

The lighthouse, built in 1827, serves as a key tourism spot for the village of Cape Vincent, and it remains fully operational for navigation across Lake Ontario to the St. Lawrence River with its lightbulbs and Fresnel lens maintained by the U.S. Coast Guard. The agency vacated the property and automated the light in 1981.

The Coast Guard's Aids to Navigation Team, or ANT, made its annual trip from its Buffalo station to Tibbetts Point in early May to check on the lamp's integrity. In between visits, the four-sided automatic lamp changer ensures the beacon is never dimmed.

"If the current lightbulbs are no longer available and it's replaced with an LED, the Fresnel lens would be taken down and placed in the gift shop as a museum piece. It would be a shame," Mr. Cougler said.

Apart from that light glowing at the top, the historical society and the town of Cape Vincent are responsible for funding all other maintenance of the tower, grounds and surrounding historical buildings.

Being on the National Register of Historic Places, it all must be maintained in a historically accurate way. The same materials and methods must be applied as they would have in the year the building was constructed, which makes maintenance very costly; specialized labor must be found and historically accurate materials must be used to make repairs.

But just as restoration work is meant to maintain history in the present day, protecting that lamp is just as key to keeping Tibbetts' place in history — shining brightly where the lake and river meet.