Port Burwell Marine Museum and Historic Lighthouse

Port Burwell Marine Museum and Historic Lighthouse

Port Burwell Lighthouse in 2011
Location	Port Burwell Ontario Canada
Coordinates	42°38′41″N 80°48′21″W
Tower
Constructed	1840
Construction	lumber
Height	13.7 metres (45 ft)
Shape	octagonal tower
Markings	white tower, red lantern
Heritage	designated heritage property (part IV)
Light
Deactivated	1963
Focal height	29.3 metres (96 ft)
Lens	third order Fresnel lens
Range	19 kilometres (12 mi)

Port Burwell Marine Museum and Historic Lighthouse is a historical museum in Port Burwell, Ontario, Canada. Located at the mouth of the Big Otter Creek on Lake Erie, the museum and lighthouse reflect upon when Port Burwell was at the height of its fame as a shipbuilding community.

History

The lighthouse, completed in 1840 and renovated in the 1980s, remains one of Canada's oldest Lighthouses of a completely wooden construction. Present in the museum collection is the most accurate model ever built of the rail car ferry the Ashtabula, which made routine trips between Port Burwell and Ashtabula, Ohio for the purposes of transporting coal. This ship was a mainstay of the Port Burwell shipping experience until the 1950s and played an intricate role in the development of Southern Ontario through its supply of coal energy. The museum's collection includes original Fresnel lenses, finely detailed model ships and a vast assortment of tools, photographs, and artifacts dating from the 19th century.

Affiliations

The Museum is affiliated with: CMA, CHIN, and Virtual Museum of Canada.

See also

• List of lighthouses in Ontario
• List of lighthouses in Canada

References

• Rowlett, Russ. "Lighthouses of Southeastern Ontario". The Lighthouse Directory. University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.

External links

• Canadian Coast Guard
• Port Burwell Marine Museum Archived 2017-08-24 at the Wayback Machine
• HistoricPlaces.ca - Listing - Port Burwell Lighthouse
• Aids to Navigation Canadian Coast Guard