Presque Isle Lighthouses Provide Link to the Past

The Presque Isle Lighthouse may be the best seat in the house - if breathtaking views of Presque Isle are what you came for.

Residents and visitors know that that when you see the lighthouse, you know you're not only in the park, you know you're in Erie, Pennsylvania. 

But it gives more than just a panoramic view of the peninsula. The lighthouse is considered one of the area's most treasured historic sites, watching over the water near Beach 9 since the 1870s.

"The need for it, really, was to warn mariners in the 1800s of the peninsula," said Emily Pritchard, environmental education specialist at Presque Isle State Park. "Lake Erie is a relatively straight coastline, but then all of a sudden, you have the seven-mile peninsula that juts right into the lake."

Pritchard gave us quite the history lesson...once we climbed all 78 steps to the top.

"Roads didn't reach the lighthouse until 1927," Pritchard said. "Up until then, there wasn't very many visitors to this lighthouse. However, that year, as soon as the road reached the lighthouse, visitation skyrocketed."

Fast forward to 2014 and another boost to visitation after the lighthouse was taken over by a nonprofit organization, was renovated and opened to visitors for tours.

And while the Presque Isle Lighthouse may be what most lighthouse enthusiasts come to see, there's an added bonus elsewhere in the park. 

The North Pier Light, originally made of wood, was built in 1830. However, as one might expect, a wooden lighthouse in the elements - on Lake Erie - did not last very long. 

Once the wooden lighthouse was demolished, it was replaced with the one we see today.

And while both lights are still fully operational, Pritchard says their significance today is more about nostalgia.

"With GPS trackers, and everything boats have, they don't necessarily need lighthouses anymore, but it's nice to see them being utilized throughout the Great Lakes and along all of the different shores," said Pritchard."If not just for a little bit of a throwback, it's just a really neat connection to the past."

The Presque Isle Lighthouse currently remains closed to visitors due to the COVID-19 pandemic. 

Watch Erie News Now's Presque Isle Centennial special on Friday, May 28 at 7 p.m.