Each month, we feature an Ohio Legacy City on our #GOPCThread Series, #OHCommunitySpotlight. This month, we are sharing a variation on the theme, as we explore Ohio’s Northern Coast and highlight the Lake Erie Costal Trail, which stretches from Conneaut in the east to Toledo in the west and takes travelers through several legacy cities in between. It’s a great way to spend a weekend in the waning days of the summer and explore all that Ohio has to offer.
For this #OHCommunitySpotlight, GOPC’s former Project Manager Maria Walliser-Wejebe (an amateur lighthouse enthusiast and proud holder of a @USLHS passport book) took mad dash up the Lake Erie coast to visit as many stamp locations in one weekend as physically possible
Buckle in as we move across the Lake Erie Coastal Trail and explore the @ShoresIslandsOH
Traveling west to east on the #LakeErieLighthouseTour, your first stop will be at the National Museum of the Great Lakes. Located in #Toledo, @NMGLToledo has 100s of artifacts, interactive exhibits, and you can even tour the 617ft freighter parked right out front
Next stop is the Toledo Harbor Lighthouse, located 7mi off the coast. The lighthouse is best seen on a boat tour offered by the Toledo Harbor Lighthouse Preservation Society, but you can get a good shoreside view from a coin-op binocular at the Maumee Bay State Park Marina
The 1st lighthouse in #PortClinton was built in 1832 and dismantled in 1899, replaced by a wooden, pyramidal pierhead light in 1896. The wooden lighthouse was removed from the breakwater in 1952 and sat in a private marina until it was donated back to the city in 2011
Continue down the peninsula to Marblehead Lighthouse. Active since 1822, this lighthouse is the oldest in continuous operation on the Great Lakes. Get your stamp at the gift shop and climb the 77 steps up to the top of the tower
Catch a Miller or Jet Express ferry and head over to @PutinBayOhio to see the South Bass Island Lighthouse. The lighthouse was first lit in 1897, with tours available from @stonelab on select Saturdays in the summer
Hop over the Sandusky Bay to the sixth stop, the historic Cedar Point Lighthouse. Today, the lighthouse is owned by Cedar Point and is open to overnight guests. The passport stamp location is at the Maritime Museum of Sandusky in @DwntwnSandusky @cityofsandusky
In one of the earliest settlements on Lake Erie, the @cityofhuron Lighthouse was originally built in 1830s and replaced in 1936. The tower lantern was removed in 1972 and replaced with a modern beacon still used today. The lighthouse can be viewed from the mile-long fishing pier
Continue east along the byway to the City of Vermilion, known as the “town of sea captains.” The 1877 lighthouse was damaged by an ice storm and dismantled in 1929, but you can visit a 16ft replica at the Main Street Beach & get your passport stamped from @MainSTVermilion
The Lorain West Breakwater Pierhead was constructed in 1909, designed to withstand the harsh Lake Erie weather while protecting the Lorain Port. The “Jewel of the Port” was placed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1977 and can be viewed from the @LorainPort_LPFA
Bonus Stop! The Cleveland’s three lighthouses, the Harbor East Breakwater, the West Pierhead, and the East Entrance, are not participating @USLHS stamp locations, but they are striking Lake Erie fixtures. Hop on a Cleveland River cruise to catch a glimpse of them
Fairport Harbor is home to not one but TWO lighthouses on the list of stops. First is the Old Main Lighthouse and Fairport Harbor Marine Museum. For $7, you can climb to the top of this beautiful tower built in 1869, where you get an excellent view of @FHWBL
.@FHWBL was first lit in 1925. The structure has been uninhabited since 1948 but is currently being refurbished, follow updates on their website.
The final stop is at the Ashtabula Maritime and Surface Transportation Museum, housed in the original Lighthouse Keepers House with a phenomenal view of the Ashtabula Lift Bridge. Way out in the distance is the 1916 Ashtabula Harbor Lighthouse
Lighthouses serve as navigational beacons along waterways, but also as cultural beacons for a community, requiring heroic efforts by individuals or nonprofits to maintain. They generate tourism and serve as site of historical significance. Which #Ohio lighthouse is your favorite?
