page_title: Presque Isle State Park
section_title: Lighthouses and Coast Guard
hierarchical_section_title: Presque Isle State Park / History / Lighthouses and Coast Guard
caption_attribution_description: Presque Isle Light at Presque Isle State Park in Erie County Pennsylvania, United States
context_page_description: Presque Isle State Park is a 3,112-acre Pennsylvania State Park on an arching, sandy peninsula that juts into Lake Erie, 4 miles west of the city of Erie, in Millcreek Township, Erie County, Pennsylvania, in the United States. The peninsula sweeps northeastward, surrounding Presque Isle Bay along the park's southern coast. It has 13 miles of roads, 21 miles of recreational trails, 13 beaches for swimming, and a marina. Popular activities at the park include swimming, boating, hiking, biking, and birdwatching.
  The recorded history of Presque Isle begins with the Erielhonan, a Native American tribe who gave their name to Lake Erie, and includes French, British, and American forts, as well as serving as a base for Commodore Oliver Hazard Perry's fleet in the War of 1812. With the growing importance of shipping on Lake Erie in the 19th century, Presque Isle became home to several lighthouses and what later became a United States Coast Guard station. In 1921, it became a state park, and as of 2007 it hosts over 4 million visitors per year, the most of any Pennsylvania state park.
context_section_description: The Presque Isle peninsula forms Presque Isle Bay, which serves as a natural harbor for Erie. During the 19th century, as Lake Erie navigation grew more important, shipping aids were built on Presque Isle. As of 2007, two main lighthouses can be found in the park. The Erie Harbor North Pier Light began as a wooden tower, erected in 1830. In 1858, a stronger steel structure was brought from France and installed at Erie to replace the wooden beacon, which had been damaged by a schooner. This light still stands at the far eastern side of the park, near the inlet between the lake and the bay.
  The Presque Isle Light was constructed in 1872 on the north side of Presque Isle and was lit on July 12, 1873. This light is 74-foot-tall (23 m), with a red brick house that was used as a lighthouse keeper residence, and later a park residence. Today the lighthouse is maintained by the United States Coast Guard and flashes a white light to warn ships of the sandy peninsula that juts into Lake Erie. The light station is open to public tours from Memorial Day through Labor Day on weekends, weather permitting (see presqueislelighthouse.org). A third, smaller lighthouse was built in 1906 by the Erie Waterworks on the Presque Isle Bay side of the peninsula. Today it stands in the ferry landing for the Presque Isle Water Taxi service, south of the former waterworks along the state park's multi-purpose trail on the southeast side of Presque Isle.
  United States Life-Saving Service District 9 opened a life-saving station at Presque Isle in 1876. William Clark was the keeper from 1877 until he drowned in 1891. He was succeeded by Andrew Jansen, who was the keeper until 1914. When the Life-Saving Service and the Revenue Cutter Service merged in 1915 to become the United States Coast Guard, LSS Presque Isle, also called the Erie life-saving station, became Coast Guard Station #236. The station, still in operation, is assigned to the Ninth District of the United States Coast Guard.
caption: The Presque Isle Light began operation in 1873 and is still in service today.
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