page_title: Presque Isle Light
section_title: Construction
hierarchical_section_title: Presque Isle Light / History / Construction
caption_attribution_description: English: The Presque Isle Light, before being raised to its current height.
context_page_description: The Presque Isle Light, historically nicknamed the "Flash Light", is a lighthouse on the shore of Lake Erie in U.S. state of Pennsylvania. It is one of three lighthouses in Erie, along with the Erie Land Light and the North Pier Light. The lighthouse is situated on the northern shoreline of Presque Isle State Park overlooking the beach.
  The lighthouse was opened in 1873 and was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1983.
context_section_description: Construction on the lighthouse was delayed until September 2, 1872 after the Lighthouse Board solicited bids and initially received none. Part of the problem lie in the relative isolation of Presque Isle, which would prove notoriously difficult to deliver building materials. No roads connected it to the mainland and, at times in its history, the peninsula would become an island. Originally, barges could be offloaded at the closest point to the lighthouse from Lake Erie. After one foundered in a storm and lost 6,000 bricks, the only recourse was to land on the bay-side and carry everything 1.5 miles (2.4 km) to the lighthouse site. The masonry of both of lighthouse tower and keeper's residence were completed by November 1873. Work was halted for the winter on December 2 and did not resume until April 16, 1873. The Presque Isle Light was completed on July 1, 1873. 
  Once finished, a fourth-order Fresnel lens was installed in the tower, and it went into operation on July 12—Charles Waldo, the Presque Isle Light's first keeper, noted in the log for that day: "This is a new light station and the light will be exhibited for the first time tonight. There was one visitor." The lighthouse originally produced a fixed, white light which flashed red every 60 seconds. In 1882, it was given a new set of lens and its characteristic was changed to an alternating red and white flash every 10 seconds. This signal pattern led the lighthouse to becoming nicknamed the "Flash Light" by Erie residents. Because the trees surrounding the lighthouse required annual trimming to keep the light visible, the decision was made in 1896 to increase the tower's height by 17 feet 4 inches (5.3 m). It took one month—from August 19 to September 18, 1896—for bricklayers to extend to the tower.
caption: The Presque Isle Light in 1885, before the tower height was increased
exif: {"Image ImageWidth": "8950", "Image ImageLength": "6599", "Image BitsPerSample": "[8, 8, 8]", "Image PhotometricInterpretation": "2", "Image Make": "Phase One", "Image Model": "IQ280", "Image Orientation": "Horizontal (normal)", "Image SamplesPerPixel": "3", "Image XResolution": "600", "Image YResolution": "600", "Image ResolutionUnit": "Pixels/Inch", "Image Software": "Adobe Photoshop CS5 Macintosh", "Image DateTime": "2017:02:25 22:05:12", "Image ExifOffset": "272", "Thumbnail Compression": "JPEG (old-style)", "Thumbnail XResolution": "72", "Thumbnail YResolution": "72", "Thumbnail ResolutionUnit": "Pixels/Inch", "Thumbnail JPEGInterchangeFormat": "706", "Thumbnail JPEGInterchangeFormatLength": "6091", "EXIF DateTime": "2016:08:06 09:30:12", "EXIF ExposureTime": "161481/2422214", "EXIF ExposureProgram": "Manual", "EXIF ISOSpeedRatings": "35", "EXIF ExifVersion": "0220", "EXIF DateTimeOriginal": "2016:08:06 09:30:12", "EXIF DateTimeDigitized": "2016:08:06 09:30:12", "EXIF ShutterSpeedValue": "390689/100000", "EXIF LightSource": "other light source", "EXIF ColorSpace": "sRGB", "EXIF ExifImageWidth": "5387", "EXIF ExifImageLength": "4203", "EXIF FileSource": "Digital Camera", "EXIF SceneType": "Directly Photographed", "EXIF BodySerialNumber": "GP001349", "EXIF LensSpecification": "[1, 1, 1, 1]", "EXIF LensModel": "1.0 mm f/1.0"}